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Samantha Hurst, PhD, MA is a Health Sciences Clinical Professor in the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Longevity Science. As a medical anthropologist, her research focuses on community health with emphasis on behavioral and cultural interventions for cancer prevention and early detection. Her work addresses two phases of the cancer journey. The first is early detection and screening, where she studies how patients interpret and act on screening information. The second is the diagnosis-to-treatment initiation phase, where she examines how patients navigate the complex transition into care. Her research goals are to develop and test strategies that improve comprehension, follow-through, and timely access to breast and cervical cancer care, and to prepare underserved communities for emerging early detection technologies, such as liquid biopsy and fragmentomics.

Dr. Hurst is recognized for her expertise in participatory research frameworks that position community partners as equal drivers of the research process. She uses qualitative and mixed-methods approaches to document how communities define priorities, shape interventions, and interpret health challenges in ways that reflect their lived experience. By combining rigorous methodological design with authentic partnership, her work generates actionable knowledge that is both scientifically credible and responsive to community needs. She is guided by the conviction that progress in public health depends on the combination of methodological rigor and community trust working hand in hand.

A dedicated educator and mentor, Dr. Hurst teaches in the Master of Public Health (MPH) and Joint Doctoral Program in Public Health (JDP). She trains future public health leaders in qualitative methods, mixed methods, and community-based research. She also integrates a bio-cultural ethics framework into her teaching and scholarship, ensuring that projects uphold ethical integrity while producing knowledge that communities find meaningful.

Dr. Hurst received her Ph.D. in Biological Anthropology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and completed her post-doctoral fellowship in Cultural Psychiatry and Medical Anthropology at the Alcohol Research Center at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla.