Naser TurabiSector leader

Biography

Naser Turabi is Director of Evidence and Implementation at Cancer Research UK (CRUK), where he leads the Strategic Evidence, Cancer Intelligence, Social and Behavioural Research, and Health Systems Engagement teams. His role centres on accelerating the adoption of innovation and reducing inequalities in access to best-practice cancer care within the NHS. He joined CRUK from the North Central London Cancer Alliance, where he served as Managing Director, and previously held management roles at Whittington Health and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust covering strategy, operations and transformation. He began his career in social research and public sector consultancy. He is also a trustee of Skills for Care, the workforce development body for adult social care in England, joining its board in 2022. He is publicly known for arguing that a focus on waiting-time targets risks neglecting the poorest cancer patients, and has spoken on the mortality risk associated with delays to cancer surgery.

References

1. 1.Naser Turabi | HSJ Cancer Forum — Current role title, team responsibilities, career history from NCL Cancer Alliance and earlier NHS management positions, and public policy stance on equitable cancer treatment access.
2. 2.Naser Turabi, Director of Evidence and Implementation at CRUK on health inequalities – GatenbySanderson — Role, team leadership, objective to close the cancer survival gap, and prior background in NHS management and social research.
3. 3.Our Board and Leadership Team – Skills for Care — Confirms Turabi joined the Skills for Care board in 2022 and describes his focus on innovation adoption and inequalities.
4. 4.Skills for Care appoints three new trustees to its Board of Directors — Official announcement of Turabi's appointment as trustee, December 2022.
5. 5.

Expertise

Cited on

• Hospital discharge / bed-blocking
• Cancer

Stated areas of expertise

• Cancer waiting times and access
• Health inequalities in cancer outcomes
• Cancer intelligence and evidence
• NHS innovation adoption
• Cancer workforce and service transformation
• Social care workforce (trustee role)

Notable achievements

• Appointed trustee of Skills for Care board in December 2022, bringing expertise in data-driven strategy to workforce development for adult social care in England. Source ↗
• Authored HSJ and CRUK commentary (July 2024) arguing that the NHS focus on headline waiting-time targets risks neglecting the poorest cancer patients and entrenching health inequalities. Source ↗
• Interviewed on BBC News (September 2024) on the mortality risk of cancer treatment delays, citing CRUK evidence that a four-week delay to surgery increases risk of death by an estimated 6–8%. Source ↗
• Listed as a member of the National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre (NATCAN) team, representing CRUK. Source ↗
• Served on the panel for the NHS Cancer Programme Innovation Open Call 3 (SBRI Healthcare), assessing health services innovation bids. Source ↗

What they’ve said

• “There's a lot of conflicting evidence. For example, for black men the [increased risk of prostate cancer] is probably a mixture of environmental and genetic factors.”

  director of evidence and implementation at Cancer Research UK · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · ‘Better and cheaper’: the case for prostate cancer screening among black men ↗

• “The evidence is still very unclear on targeted screening.”

  Cancer Research UK · Cancer · 27 Aug 2026 · What is prostate cancer and how is it diagnosed in the UK? ↗

• “But people should speak to their doctor if they notice changes to how often or easily they pee, [spot] blood in their pee or [have] difficulty getting or keeping an erection. These can be symptoms of prostate cancer but are often also signs of other health conditions or getting older.”

  Cancer Research UK's director of evidence · Cancer · 27 Aug 2026 · What is prostate cancer and should I be worried if I wee a lot at night? ↗

Source references

1. ‘Better and cheaper’: the case for prostate cancer screening among black mentheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
2. What is prostate cancer and how is it diagnosed in the UK?theguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
3. What is prostate cancer and should I be worried if I wee a lot at night?theguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Contact & links

• Xhttps://x.com/naserturabipublished here ↗
• LinkedInhttps://uk.linkedin.com/in/naserturabi
• Staff pagehttps://news.cancerresearchuk.org/author/naser-turabi/
• Staff pagehttps://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/About-us/Our-Board-and-Leadership-Team/Our-Board-and-Leadership-Team.aspx
• Press office emailhttps://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-us/press-office

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.