Lisa C. Richardson, MD, MPH

Lisa C. Richardson, MD, MPH, is the Director of CDC’s Division of Cancer Prevention and Control (DCPC). She is responsible for providing leadership and direction for all scientific, policy, and programmatic issues related to four national programs: the Colorectal Cancer Control Program, the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, the National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program, and the National Program of Cancer Registries. She oversees a well-developed research agenda that includes the national Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network.

Dr. Richardson’s previous experience has well-positioned her to lead DCPC. From 1997 to 1998, she served as the medical director for the National Breast and Cervical Cancer and Early Detection Program, which is the only organized screening program for low-income uninsured women in the United States. From 1998 to 2000, she was a medical officer in CDC’s Division of Blood Disorders, where her main responsibility was to monitor new HIV and hepatitis B and C infections among persons with hemophilia. From 2000 to 2004, Dr. Richardson was a faculty member at the University of Florida in Medical Oncology and collaborated extensively with the Florida Cancer Data System, one of the 48 programs funded by CDC’s National Program of Cancer Registries.

She returned to CDC in 2004 as a medical officer in the Division’s Epidemiology and Applied Research Branch. From 2006 to 2009, Dr. Richardson served as the team lead for Scientific Support and Clinical Translation Team, which supports the National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program. From 2010 to 2013, she served as DCPC’s Associate Director for Science. Her primary responsibilities included collaborating with DCPC’s director in setting scientific priorities and working with Division staff to maintain a high caliber of scientific integrity in public health activities. Her most recent position was the Director of CDC’s Division of Blood Disorders.

Dr. Richardson received her medical degree and Bachelor of Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her Master in Public Health from the University of Michigan, School of Public Health. She completed her internal medicine residency and hematology/medical oncology fellowship at the University of Florida, School of Medicine. She continues to provide clinical services to cancer patients at the Atlanta Veteran’s Administration Medical Center. Dr. Richardson is a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar and a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society.

Dr. Richardson’s education and medical training have shaped her research interests, which range from the caring for the individual to broader public health based system changes. She has authored and coauthored more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles on breast cancer treatment patterns of care, skin cancer, health policy, access to cancer care, systems of care, health disparities, and racial discrimination.

• 2016 Patterns and trends in age-specific black-white differences in breast cancer incidence and mortality—United States, 1999–2014.
• 2016 Reducing indoor tanning: an opportunity for melanoma prevention.
• 2015 Public health’s future role in cancer survivorship.
• 2015 Gallbladder cancer incidence and mortality, United States 1999–2011.
• 2015 Vital Signs: Melanoma incidence and mortality trends and projections—United States, 1982–2030.
• 2015 Determinants of venous thromboembolism among hospitalizations of U.S. adults: a multilevel analysis.
• 2015 Breast and cervical cancers diagnosed and stage at diagnosis among women served through the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program.
• 2015 Identifying and addressing the needs of adolescents and young adults with cancer: summary of an Institute of Medicine workshop.
• 2015 End-of-life medical costs of Medicaid cancer patients.
• 2014 Blood disorders and public health.
• 2014 Breast cancer mortality among American Indian and Alaska Native women, 1990–2009.
• 2014 Costs and benefits of an organized fecal immunochemical test-based colorectal cancer screening program in the United States.
• 2014 Socioeconomic disparities in breast cancer treatment among older women.
• 2013 Colorectal cancer survival in the USA and Europe: a CONCORD high-resolution study.
• 2013 Descriptive epidemiology of malignant primary osteosarcoma using population-based registries, United States, 1999–2008.
• 2012 Visit duration for outpatient physician office visits among patients with cancer.
• 2012 Visit duration for outpatient physician office visits among patients with cancer.
• 2012 New roles for public health in cancer screening.
• 2011 Testicular cancer: A narrative review of the role of socioeconomic position from risk to survivorship.
• 2011 Vital Signs: colorectal cancer screening, incidence, and mortality—United States, 2002–2010.
• 2011 Use of 2001–2002 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data to characterize cancer survivors in North Carolina.
• 2010 Obesity and endometrial cancer: challenges for public health action.
• 2010 Timeliness of breast cancer diagnosis and initiation of treatment in the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, 1996–2005.
• 2010 Vital Signs: breast cancer screening among women aged 50–74 years—United States, 2008.
• 2010 Vital Signs: colorectal cancer screening among adults aged 50–75 years—United States, 2008.
• 2008 Ambulatory care for cancer in the United States: results from 2 national surveys comparing visits to physician’s offices and hospital outpatient departments.
• 2008 Health-related quality of life in cancer survivors between ages 20 and 64 years: Population-based estimates from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.
• 2008 The role of health-related quality of life in early discontinuation of chemotherapy for breast cancer.
• 2006 Can high-grade cervical lesions be managed in a single clinic visit?
• 2006 The roles of teaching hospitals, insurance status, and race/ethnicity in receipt of adjuvant therapy for regional-stage breast cancer in Florida.
• 2005 Therapy insight: influence of type 2 diabetes on the development, treatment and outcomes of cancer.
• 2001 Early-stage breast cancer treatment among medically underserved women diagnosed in a national screening program, 1992–1995.

Dr. Richardson is featured in the following videos—

• CDC Expert Commentary on Medscape: Early Detection Means It’s a Promising Time for Lung Cancer
• Cancer and Family History: Using Genomics for Prevention (Beyond the Data)
• Cancer and Family History: Using Genomics for Prevention (Grand Rounds)
• CDC Expert Commentary on Medscape: New Tool to Prevent Infections During Chemotherapy

Dr. Richardson offers her perspective in the following blog posts—

• CDC Celebrates World Cancer Day
• CDC Helps “Shoot for the Moon”
• Overwhelmed by Too Many Health Tips? Cheat Sheet for Men’s Cancer Screenings and Good Health
• Overwhelmed by Too Much Health Advice? Cheat Sheet for Women’s Cancer Screenings and Good Health
• Chemotherapy’s Most Serious Side Effect
• Prevent Colorectal Cancer: The Best Test Is The One That Gets Done

Dr. Richardson is featured in the following podcasts—

• Colorectal cancer awareness and screening (2:54)
• Why I got tested for colorectal cancer (1:46)
• Take a moment for a mammogram (2:49)
• Prevent infections during chemotherapy (2:52)
• Timing is everything with breast cancer (3:06)

Dr. Richardson offers her perspective in the following formatted article (matte release)—

• Preventing Cancer for CDC—And for Me [PDF-134KB]