Skip to main content

Lesley H. Curtis

Professor in Population Health Sciences
Population Health Sciences
Duke Box 104023, Durham, NC 27708
215 Morris Street, Suite 210, Durham, NC 27701

Overview


Lesley H. Curtis is Chair and Professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences and Professor in Medicine in the Duke School of Medicine.  A health services researcher by training, Dr. Curtis is an expert in the use of health care and Medicare claims data for health services and clinical outcomes research, and a leader in national data quality efforts. Dr. Curtis has led the linkage of Medicare claims with several large clinical registries and epidemiological cohort studies including the Framingham Heart Study and the Cardiovascular Health Study. Dr. Curtis recently served as a senior policy advisor at the Food and Drug Administration supporting the Agency’s evidence generation initiative, serves as an Investigator in the Coordinating Center for PCORI's PCORnet, and is co-PI of the NIH Pragmatic Trials Collaboratory, an NIH initiative to strengthen the national capacity for large-scale research studies embedded in health care delivery.

Areas of expertise: Health Services Research and Health Policy

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Professor in Population Health Sciences · 2021 - Present Population Health Sciences, Basic Science Departments
Professor in Medicine · 2020 - Present Medicine, General Internal Medicine, Medicine
Chair of Population Health Sciences · 2025 - Present Population Health Sciences, Basic Science Departments
Member in the Duke Clinical Research Institute · 2000 - Present Duke Clinical Research Institute, Institutes and Centers
Executive Core Faculty Member, Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy · 2024 - Present Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy, University Initiatives & Academic Support Units

In the News


Published April 15, 2022
School of Medicine Celebrates 2022 Faculty Achievement Awards
Published January 10, 2022
DCRI Celebrates 25 Years of Improving Health Around the World
Published November 19, 2019
Global List of Highly Cited Puts Duke in Top Ten

View All News

Recent Publications


Racial and ethnic disparities in longitudinal trajectories of hospitalizations in patients diagnosed with heart failure.

Journal Article Am Heart J · September 2025 BACKGROUND: Racial and ethnic disparities in hospitalizations among heart failure (HF) patients have been well documented. However, little is known about racial and ethnic differences in the long-term trajectories of hospital admissions that follow the dia ... Full text Link to item Cite
View All Publications

Recent Grants


Nurse LEADS: Training in Nurse-LEd models of care ADdressing the Social Determinants of Health

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2024 - 2029

NIH Health Care Systems Research Collaboratory-Coordinating Center (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

ResearchCo-Principal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2017 - 2028

A Life Course Approach to Identify Risks of Hospitalization in Older Adults with Heart Failure

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institute on Aging · 2022 - 2027

View All Grants

Education, Training & Certifications


University of Rochester · 2000 Ph.D.