Mugdha Samant, Ph.D.

Dr. Mugdha Samant is a Public Health Analyst in the Office of the Associate Director, Cancer Diagnosis Program at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). In this role, she advises the Associate Director on the impact of an evolving regulatory landscape on the program and analyzes the ethical, legal, and social implications of emerging technologies in cancer diagnosis research, including Artificial Intelligence. She also leads engagement initiatives and serves as an analyst and advisor to the Cancer Moonshot Biobank team. 

Prior to joining NCI's Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis in 2023, Dr. Samant served as Special Assistant to the CEO of the All of Us Research Program. She brings broad experience across the public and private sectors, having worked at a consulting firm and a clinical research organization, where she developed expertise in regulatory operations in clinical research, with a particular focus on cancer diagnostics. 

Dr. Samant's scientific background spans Microbiology, Cancer Cell and Molecular Biology, and Stem Cell Biology. As a Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Eye Institute, she developed organoid models using iPSCs to study Leber Congenital Amaurosis, a rare inherited eye disease. She earned her Ph.D. in Cancer Pharmacology from the University at Buffalo's Roswell Park Cancer Institute, where her research examined the role of drug transporters in stem cell differentiation and prostate cancer.