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Ronny Bell, PhD, MS, is a UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer member with a research focus on understanding and addressing chronic disease disparities in underserved populations. Bell is an enrolled member of the Lumbee tribe of eastern North Carolina and chair of the North Carolina American Indian Health Board.

PhD, MS
Fred Eshelman Distinguished Professor, Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy
Eshelman School of Pharmacy
Associate Director of Cancer Care Access & Excellence, UNC Lineberger
UNC-Chapel Hill
Cancer Prevention and Control
UNC Lineberger Community Outreach & Engagement

Area of Interest

My research focuses on understanding and addressing chronic disease disparities in underserved populations. As an enrolled member of the Lumbee tribe of eastern North Carolina, and Chair of the North Carolina American Indian Health Board, I am particularly interested in factors that contribute to health disparities in American Indian populations.

I co-lead the Southeastern American Indian Cancer Health Equity Partnership (SAICEP), a partnership between the Comprehensive Cancer Centers at NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers at UNC, Duke and Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, designed to engage North Carolina tribal communities in cancer research, outreach and education.

Find publications on PubMed

Awards and Honors

  • Appointed to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Advisory Committee on Minority Health, 2024
  • Minority Student Caucus, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 50 for 50 designation, 2022
  • Distinguished Alumni Award, University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health, Department of Nutrition, 2021
  • Diversity Alumni Award, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2014
  • Program Honoree, 34th Annual Zollicoffer, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, 2014
  • Community Spirit Award, American Diabetes Association, 2012
  • Professional and Community Service Award, Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Division of Public Health Sciences, 2011
  • Distinguished Alumni Award, University of North Carolina Greensboro, School of Human Environmental Sciences, 2009
  • Wake Forest University Health Sciences New Investigator in Clinical Sciences Award, 2002

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Headshot of Ronny Bell.