Nicole Kluz, MPH, is the Assistant Director for Cancer Prevention Research at the Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin, where she has worked for almost seven years managing multiple CPRIT-funded prevention programs. She oversees multiple programs and teams focusing on cancer prevention and control, with a strong emphasis in reaching vulnerable and underserved populations. Ms. Kluz has helped build out CPRIT-funded programs for colorectal cancer screening, dissemination of colorectal cancer screening prevention opportunities, lung cancer screening and tobacco cessation counseling, screening and treatment for unhealthy alcohol use as a means of cancer prevention, and screening and treatment for tobacco and alcohol use in the inpatient setting. By developing strong partnerships, providing consistent leadership for program team members, advocating for improved patient access to high quality care, and engaging students and residents in their learning journey, she has facilitated the establishment of effective service delivery programs to continue efforts that improve patient and community health outcomes. She has also had the opportunity to support academic output and provide mentorship to research staff, as well as undergraduate and medical students, who are interested in public health, health services program implementation, or clinical research.
Although not the initial intended path, experience as a Peace Corp volunteer led Ms. Kluz to her first true career passion of public health. After returning to the states, she obtained a graduate degree in Public Health from Emory University, with an emphasis on global health and infectious diseases. While in graduate school, Nicole completed an internship with the World Health Organization Western Pacific Region, evaluating recommended versus actual indicators used in the newly implemented Philippines Malaria Information System. When not dodging mosquitoes overseas, she was a residential counselor at a shelter for young adults experiencing homelessness and worked at the safety net hospital in Atlanta as a research coordinator to engage patients in chronic disease management.
Ms. Kluz continued her career in public health and first stepped into cancer-related research at Johns Hopkins University, where she supported novel research on the natural history of oral HPV, as well as examining the role of HPV in patients with head and neck cancers. Prior to joining Dell Medical School, she left academia for a position as a research manager in the non-profit sector, focusing on infectious disease research in the military population. She has been supporting the research and health services implementation efforts of the Dell Medical School since 2017.
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