Dr. Corneli is a Professor in the Departments of Population Health Sciences and Medicine. She is also a faculty associate of the Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities, and History of Medicine; a faculty associate of the Duke Initiative for Science & Society; a faculty member of the Duke Clinical Research Institute; and a faculty affiliate at the Duke Global Health Institute. Dr. Corneli serves as the Director of the QualCore and The BASE Lab in the Department of Population Health Sciences, and as the Lead Social Scientist for the Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative.
A social scientist by training, Dr. Corneli has over two decades of experience conducting qualitative, formative, and mixed-method studies in multiple countries worldwide, primarily in biomedical HIV prevention and bioethics. A significant portion of her research portfolio has focused on engaging patients/participants and other key stakeholders in qualitative research to inform clinical studies; socio-behavioral interventions, programs, and policies; and material and scale/questionnaire development. Her HIV-related research focuses on identifying evidence-based strategies for linking populations who could benefit from pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to PrEP care, for supporting PrEP adherence to achieve protective levels, and for keeping clients engaged in PrEP care for as long as their HIV risk persists. Her bioethics research focuses primarily on informed consent and functioning of ethics review boards.
Dr. Corneli received her PhD in Health Behavior from UNC Chapel Hill, with a minor in Anthropology, and her MPH in International Health from Emory University.