Dr. Renée Branch Canady serves as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MPHI, a public health institute comprised of process and subject matter experts with a shared vision of a just world that is healthier for all. Dr. Canady is a relationship driven leader and author of the Amazon best seller book, “Room at the Table: A Leader’s Guide to Advancing Health Equity and Justice.”
In this well-received book, Canady presents a leadership challenge to everyone seeking to understand the intricacies of equity and justice, pushing them to become change agents within health/public health and other fields.
Prior to joining MPHI, Dr. Canady served as Health Officer and Director of the 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 development of the innovative and nationally known, Ingham County Health Equity Social Justice program.
Dr. Canady has held faculty and administrative positions at Michigan State University in the College of Nursing where she developed a research trajectory in maternal health and health inequities. She was an assistant professor in the C.S. Mott Department of Public Health, where she developed and chaired the Master of Public Health (MPH) 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. While serving on numerous national boards, review panels, and advisory groups, Dr. Canady has been highly influential in broadening the discussion of working across difference for the health of all.
Canady earned her PhD in Medical Sociology from Michigan State University, a 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.
