Carey K. Anders is an American cancer researcher, professor of medicine and medical oncologist. She serves as director for the Duke Center for Brain and Spine Metastasis (DCBSM) in the School of Medicine at Duke University Health System.
Anders studies the genetic sequencing, prognosis and treatment of brain metastasis and its relationship to primary forms of cancer, in particular breast cancer. Patients with brain metastasis have traditionally been excluded from clinical trials. Anders' work has led to the development of novel therapies for those with brain metastases, including triple negative and HER2-positive breast cancer.
Anders is a Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and an inaugural co-recipient of the Weatherspoon Family Brain Tumor Research Award. In 2021, her work was recognized by the American Society of Clinical Oncology as an important advance in clinical progress against cancer.
Carey Kernodle Anders is a daughter of Harold B. Kernodle, Jr., an orthopedic surgeon, and Lucy Hendrick Kernodle, a registered nurse. The couple lived in Graham, North Carolina, and worked in Burlington, North Carolina.
Kernodle received her M.D. from the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University in 2002. She then held an Internal Medicine Residency at the Duke University School of Medicine from 2002 to 2005, followed by a Hematololgy-Oncology Fellowship from 2005 to 2008.
In 2008 Anders joined the School of Medicine of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she worked with the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. In 2012, Anders helped to found the UNC Brain Metastases Specialty Clinic, becoming a co-director. She has served as medical director of the UNC Breast Center and as an associate professor at UNC's School of Medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology.
In January 2019, Anders returned to the School of Medicine at Duke University Health System as a Translating Duke Health Scholar, a professor of medicine, and the Medical Director for the Duke Center for Brain and Spine Metastasis (DCBSM). In addition to being Medical Director, Anders served as Chief of the Division of Medical Oncology from 2021 to 2025. In 2025, Anders was promoted from Co-Director of DCBSM to became the Director of DCBSM.
Anders studies the prognosis and treatment of brain metastasis from breast cancer. She sequences genes from banked brain tumors to better understand the genetics of metastases related to different primary cancers. She examines the effectiveness of treatments for patients with brain metastasis, a population that has been traditionally excluded from clinical trials. Anders' work has led to the development of novel therapies for those with brain metastases.