Renee Canady, PhD, MPA

Dr. Renee Branch Canady serves as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MPHI; a unique public trust dedicated to advancing population health through public health innovation and collaboration. In this role she leads the strategic direction of the organization as they strive to build a world-class infrastructure to support the Institute’s diverse and progressive program areas and projects, while establishing and maintaining stakeholder relationships.

Prior to joining MPHI in 2014, Dr. Canady served as Health Officer and Director of Ingham County Health Department, located in Lansing, Michigan. In that role she oversaw the county’s statutory responsibility to protect and promote the health of county residents and lead the expansion of the innovative and nationally known, Ingham County Health Equity Social Justice program.

Dr. Canady has held faculty and administrative positions within the C.S. Mott Department of Public Health in the College of Medicine College and the College of Nursing at Michigan State University where she developed a research trajectory in health inequities. She continues to serve as an assistant professor chairing the core course “Health Equity for Public Health Practitioners.”

Dr. Canady is recognized as a national thought leader in the areas of health inequities and disparities, cultural competence, and social justice. She has published and presented broadly on these topics and her passion for this work is evident in her personal, academic, and professional life. Dr. Canady has been highly influential in broadening the discussion of health equity and social justice while serving on numerous national boards, review panels, and advisory groups.

She has served and currently serves on numerous advisory boards including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) County Health Rankings Scientific Advisory Group, the National Collaborative for Health Equity Advisory Committee, and previously, the Institute for Alternative Futures Public Health 2030 project Advisory Group, and the National 10 Essential Public Health Services Task Force.

Dr. Canady serves as chair of the Boards of Directors of the National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI), immediate past chair of the Council on Black Health, and on the National Public Health Accreditation Board as a member of the executive committee. Within the state of MI, she serves as secretary of the Ascension Health System Michigan Market Board of Directors and was appointed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer to the State of MI Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities, where she chaired the Health Equity workgroup.

Dr. Canady has been an outstanding public health advocate, researcher, educator, and facilitator. She earned her PhD in Medical Sociology from Michigan State University, master’s degree in Public Administration from Western Michigan University and bachelor’s degree in Public Health Nutrition from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.