Staff: Tanya Agurs-Collins, Ph.D., R.D.
Tanya Agurs-Collins, Ph.D., R.D.
collinsta@mail.nih.gov
240-276-6956
Tanya Agurs-Collins, Ph.D., R.D., is a Program Director in the Health Behaviors Research Branch, Behavioral Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute (NCI). In this capacity, she is responsible for directing, coordinating, and managing a research grant portfolio in diet, physical activity, and weight-loss behavioral interventions for cancer prevention and survival. Dr. Agurs-Collins' research focuses on race and ethnic disparities in dietary intake and obesity on cancer risk and survival. She is also interested in understanding individual genetic variation in diet and physical activity behaviors and response to weight loss interventions.
Dr. Agurs-Collins has a Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences with an emphasis in epidemiology and a master's degree in Public Health Nutrition from the Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pennsylvania. She also holds a bachelor's degree in Nutrition and Dietetics from Howard University in Washington, DC. Prior to joining NCI, Dr. Agurs-Collins was an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at Howard University College of Medicine and a nutritional epidemiologist at the Howard University Cancer Center. She is a registered dietitian with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Past BRP mentees include Sara Tamers, Doratha Byrd, and Shakira Nelson.
Secondary Branch/Office Appointment:
Basic Biobehavioral and Psychological Sciences Branch (BBPSB)
Current and/or past BRP mentees include Raimee Eck, Olga Herren and Amanda Acevedo.
Research Areas
- Lifestyle factors
- Biomarkers and cancer risk in ethnic/minority populations
- Gene-behavior interactions
- Obesity and cancer risk
- Health Disparities
Selected Publications and Presentations
- Ezeani A, Tcheugui JBE, Agurs-Collins T. Sex/gender differences in metabolic syndrome among cancer survivors in the US: an NHANES analysis. J Cancer Surviv 2023 Jun 22.
- Brown JC, Carson TL, Thompson HJ, Agurs-Collins T. The Triple Health Threat of Diabetes, Obesity, and Cancer-Epidemiology, Disparities, Mechanisms, and Interventions. Obesity (Silver Spring) 2021 Jun; 29(6):954-959.
- Agurs-Collins T, Ross SA, Dunn BK. The Many Faces of Obesity and Its Influence on Breast Cancer Risk. Front Oncol 2019 Sep 4; 9:765.
- Agurs-Collins T, Persky S, Paskett ED, Barkin SL, Meissner HI, Nansel TR, Arteaga SS, Zhang X, Das R, Farhat T. Designing and Assessing Multilevel Interventions to Improve Minority Health and Reduce Health Disparities. Am J Public Health 2019 Jan; 109(S1):S86-S93.
- Bray MS, Loos RJ, McCaffery JM, Ling C, Franks PW, Weinstock GM, Snyder MP, Vassy JL, Agurs-Collins T; Conference Working Group NIH working group report-using genomic information to guide weight management: From universal to precision treatment. Obesity (Silver Spring) 2016 Jan; 24(1):14-22.
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