Sindy Escobar Alvarez, Ph.D.

Sindy Escobar Alvarez directs the Doris Duke Foundation’s Medical Research Program, where she drives efforts to reimagine how medical research can fairly and rigorously advance better health outcomes. Under her leadership, the program has evolved to focus on high-impact initiatives, including transforming how race is considered in clinical research and forging pathways to support novel research aimed at preventing and treating disease while prioritizing patient impact.

Previously a senior program officer at the foundation, Escobar Alvarez brought her expertise in therapeutic development and biochemistry to shape strategies that now define the program’s bold, equity-centered agenda. Her leadership has catalyzed support for physician-scientists and fueled critical research in sickle cell disease.

A respected voice in the field, she has contributed to national dialogue through publications and speaking engagements. She is a member of the Civic Science Funders Collaborative Steering Committee, a past chair of the Health Research Alliance board, and has served on advisory panels for PCORI and Vivli. She earned her Ph.D. from Weill Cornell Medicine and trained at the Sloan Kettering Institute.