Benjamin F. Crabtree

Benjamin F. Crabtree, PhD, MA is a medical anthropologist and Distinguished Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.  He is a full membe of the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey in the Cancer Prevention and Control Research Program.  Ben earned his master’s degree in applied anthropology from the University of South Florida and his doctorate in medical anthropology from the University of Connecticut.  Prior to his current appointment, Ben was on the faculty of the departments of family medicine at the University of Connecticut and the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Ben has collaborated on many in-depth interview and focus group studies where he’s learned to appreciate the experiences of illness and health care from the perspectives of both clinicians and patients.  Ben’s recent research focuses on quality of health care delivery, primary medical care practice organization, and organizational change.  He has been principal investigator on five National Institutes of Health R01 grants that used qualitative methods and mixed-methods for enhancing quality of care in primary care practices.  His current National Cancer Institute R01 grant engages diverse stakeholders in identifying actionable, practice-based activities for provision of long-term breast cancer survivorship care using depth interviews and then implements and evaluates an intervention for delivering care for breast cancer survivors in primary care.  Ben has contributed to more than 225 peer-reviewed journal articles and numerous book chapters, and served as co-editor on two books, Doing Qualitative Research and Exploring Collaborative Research in Primary Care.  In 2014, Ben and co-author Will Miller were jointly awarded the prestigious Curtis G. Hames Research Award for lifetime contributions to family medicine research.  Ben volunteered twice with the United States Peace Corps, first in the Ethiopian Smallpox Eradication Program and then in the Korean National Tuberculosis Program.  He completed his dissertation research in Korea conducting a mixed-methods study of rural birthing practices in the face of modern medicine.  He and his wife Eiko travel extensively in Japan and enjoy talking long walks and gardening.