“Most of the world’s problems are communication problems.”
Craig P. Lustig is a strategic healthcare leader whose career has consistently turned complex cancer care challenges into clear, actionable solutions. Over three decades, he has blended program development, patient advocacy, and communications strategy to build coalitions, expand access, and accelerate impact for patients and providers alike. His work spans world-class academic medicine, federal health agencies, national nonprofits, global initiatives, and entrepreneurial consulting—each chapter deepening his conviction that precision in message and partnership can move systems, budgets, and, most importantly, outcomes.
Today, Craig is President of Message Lab Consulting (2025–present), an independent advisory practice focused on health program development, advocacy, communications, health IT, and fundraising. He partners with mission-driven organizations to clarify goals, architect the alliances that make them possible, and translate those alliances into measurable progress. His counsel reflects the rare combination of operations experience, research literacy, and on-the-ground coalition building; clients value his ability to see the whole system, sequence pragmatic steps, and communicate with discipline across diverse stakeholders—from clinicians and scientists to policymakers, payers, and patient communities.
Before returning to consulting, Craig spent a defining 12-year tenure at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Ruesch Center for the Cure of GI Cancers (2013–2025), where he most recently served as Associate Director. There, he led program development, alliance strategy, communications management, and biomedical research initiatives for one of the field’s most dynamic centers. He directed the annual Ruesch Symposium and expanded it into a 500+ attendee convening that delivered CME-accredited programming for clinicians while also centering a powerful educational track for patients and caregivers. The result was not just a bigger event but a stronger ecosystem—one that connected discovery science, best-in-class clinical practice, and real-world patient need.
Craig’s leadership at the Ruesch Center was marked by durable growth and carefully aligned partnership. He built and managed a 75+ member GI cancers advocacy coalition that aligned academic, advocacy, and industry partners around shared priorities. He launched “Ruesch Reels,” a video education library that multiplied the reach of the Center’s content. He created a regional collaborative to carry evidence-based education into underserved communities. And he led development strategies that produced a six-fold increase in corporate support, unlocking resources for research expansion and scalable programming. These were not isolated wins; they reflected a disciplined operating model that ties communication to strategy and strategy to measurable outcomes.
Prior to his associate director role, Craig served as Business and Advocacy Manager at the Ruesch Center (2013–2015), formalizing a cadence of engagement with scientific leaders, policymakers, and the advocacy community. He shaped the Center’s brand and narrative, orchestrated integrated communications campaigns, and designed advocacy initiatives that elevated the Center’s voice in national conversations about GI cancers. These efforts established the foundation upon which later partnerships, funding, and program growth would be built.
Craig’s entrepreneurial instincts first took shape in the initial iteration of Message Lab Consulting (2010–2013), where he advised institutions across the oncology continuum. He managed the Citywide Cancer Patient Navigation Network for the George Washington University Cancer Institute, overseeing a team of 20 navigators to strengthen prevention, screening, and treatment access for underserved populations. He directed an INCTR initiative that expanded pediatric cancer treatment capacity in Ethiopia, organizing a multi-day symposium that convened international faculty and catalyzed ongoing knowledge exchange. He grew Ulman’s Young Adult Patient Navigation program from one site to four in under a year, developed policies and procedures that scaled, and led qualitative research for Vital Options International that surfaced the communication needs of Armenians affected by cancer in Southern California. Across these engagements, Craig demonstrated a signature capability: building processes that hold, stories that travel, and partnerships that endure.
Earlier, as Advocacy Relations Manager at the National Cancer Institute (2009–2010), Craig strengthened the bridge between federal research priorities and the patient advocacy community. He aligned external partners with NCI’s efforts in bioinformatics, biospecimens, and health information technology—domains where technical fluency and stakeholder trust are equally indispensable. His results-driven approach—clarifying incentives, closing communication gaps, and measuring engagement—advanced collaboration in areas foundational to high-quality cancer research.
Craig’s leadership roots extend to the nonprofit sector, where he served for six years at Children’s Cause for Cancer Advocacy, including as Executive Director (2003–2009). He oversaw daily operations and finances, launched the Rise to Action survivor education program that reached approximately 500 survivors across four cities, and expanded development through multi-city events, direct mail, and major donor strategies. He represented the organization before Congress and federal agencies, advocating for policies that center survivors’ long-term needs. These experiences honed his executive discipline—balancing mission, message, and management in equal measure.
His government and academic experience are equally deep. At the University of Maryland Center on Aging, Craig supported Medicare/Medicaid integration efforts and long-term care initiatives, providing technical assistance to state-based chronic care demonstrations that became national models. As a Presidential Management Fellow at the National Institutes of Health, he completed high-impact rotations—from budget analysis at HHS to survivorship research at NCI to public engagement at NIH’s Office of Communications. This portfolio built the system-level perspective that he brings to every leadership role: the ability to translate between policy, science, and the public in ways that are accurate, accessible, and actionable.
Craig’s early career at Porter Novelli in health care advertising sharpened his skills in integrated communications—account strategy, media planning, creative development, and new business. Those tools, refined by decades of mission-centered leadership, are now deployed to drive adoption of evidence-based practices, secure sustainable funding, and scale programs that work.
Committed to continuous learning, Craig earned an MPA in Health Policy from Columbia University’s SIPA—where he served as President of the SIPA Student Association—and a BS in Accounting with a concentration in Marketing from Binghamton University. He later completed graduate study in Health Information Technology at Weill Cornell, deepening his expertise in health information exchange, privacy and security, and the quality implications of informatics. This academic foundation grounds his practical leadership in the data, policy frameworks, and fiscal realities that shape health systems.
Craig is active in governance and community leadership. He serves on the board of The Aslan Project, advancing pediatric oncology capacity in Africa, and previously served on boards and committees including the Foster and Adoptive Parent Advocacy Center and the National Cancer Institute’s Central IRB. He is the creator and host of the Cancer Rebranded podcast (launched 2024), where he examines what has changed—and what hasn’t—in cancer care, and explores the work ahead with candor and care. His international perspective includes work in Europe and Poland, and he continues to welcome opportunities for cross-border collaboration that improves patient outcomes.
Across roles and contexts, a throughline defines Craig’s approach: communication is not a veneer on strategy; it is the engine of strategy. He is adept at convening stakeholders with divergent incentives, reframing complex science for varied audiences, and aligning partners around a shared, measurable agenda. Whether building a coalition of 75+ organizations, designing a CME program that also serves patients, or architecting development plans that multiply resources sixfold, he brings the same rigor: listen widely, design clearly, execute faithfully, and report transparently.
His personal values—service, integrity, curiosity, and pragmatism—are visible in the teams he builds and the programs he stewards. He gardens and engages in community-based efforts not as hobbies separate from his professional life but as extensions of it: patient, collaborative, and oriented toward growth. He believes that most of the world’s problems are communication problems—and he has devoted his career to proving how much can be solved when we get the message, the method, and the metrics right.
Character:
Craig leads with steadiness, humility, and follow-through, making commitments he keeps and building trust across scientific, clinical, and community settings. He treats communication as an ethical practice—honoring evidence, context, and audience—so stakeholders feel seen and heard even when tradeoffs are hard. He models service by designing programs that meet people where they are, focusing on underserved communities and sustaining initiatives beyond their launch.
Knowledge:
He brings three decades of experience across academic medicine, federal agencies, nonprofits, and industry partnerships, allowing him to navigate complexity with fluency. His graduate training in health policy and health IT anchors decision-making in data, privacy, exchange, and quality frameworks that matter to modern health systems. He stays current through scholarship and public discourse—from peer-reviewed abstracts to a podcast that interrogates the evolving landscape of cancer care.
Strategic:
Craig sequences action toward outcomes, connecting communications to program design, program design to partnership, and partnership to sustainable funding. He specializes in coalition architecture and governance, aligning 75+ organizations under shared priorities and measurement. He builds strategies that scale—like CME programs paired with patient education and regional collaboratives that carry knowledge into underserved communities.
Communication:
He is a translator by craft, bridging scientists, clinicians, policymakers, payers, and patients with messages tailored to each and faithful to the evidence. He designs narratives that travel—video libraries, symposia, and campaigns—so knowledge outlives the room and fuels adoption. He measures what matters, using data to refine message, improve access, and demonstrate value to stakeholders and funders.
