Dr. Rita Nahta is an Associate Director in the Center for Advancing Healthy Communities. In this role, she provides strategic scientific leadership to CDC-funded health equity, cancer, and tobacco prevention programs. She leads the National Disability Inclusion Network for Tobacco Control and Cancer Prevention, one of nine CDC-funded National Networks, as well as two CDC grants focused on building health workforce capacity.

Dr. Nahta holds a PhD in Pathology from Duke University, Executive MPH in Behavior Science Prevention Science from Emory University, and BS in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina. As a basic lab scientist, she completed postdoctoral breast cancer research at Massachusetts General Hospital-Harvard Medical School and MD Anderson Cancer Center. Her main background is in academic research as principal investigator of an NIH-funded breast cancer research program and educator at Emory School of Medicine. She applies mixed methods, quantitative and qualitative approaches, to advance knowledge and understanding of complex scientific topics.

She is a Fellow of Emory’s Woodruff Health Educators Academy and served as Strategic Director at the American Cancer Society, overseeing research impact data analytics, communications, and community engagement. Dr. Nahta is committed to advancing health through scientific research, academic writing, and education.