Michael Meit, MA, MPH, is Director of Research and Programs in the Center for Rural Health Research at East Tennessee State University where he is also Research Associate Professor in the Department of Health Services Management and Policy. Previously, he served as a Senior Fellow in NORC’s Public Health Research Department and as Co-Director of the NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis. Michael currently leads studies focused on rural and tribal health programs, health equity, opioid misuse, food insecurity, and the national public health agency accreditation program, among others. Recently, he led development of an Appalachian Regional Commission study, exploring Diseases of Despair in Appalachia, a companion Appalachian Overdose Mapping Tool, and the national expansion of that tool, the Opioid Misuse Community Assessment Tool. Michael has also recently conducted formative research for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to explore community assets to improve health and equity in rural communities, and completed a body of research exploring the impacts of health reform on state and local health departments.

Michael has experience working at both the state and national levels, first with the Pennsylvania Department of Health and then with the National Association of County and City Health Officials. He served as founding director of the University of Pittsburgh Center for Rural Health Practice, and has served on the Boards of Directors of the National Rural Health Association and the Maryland Rural Health Association. He currently serves on the American Public Health Association’s Committee for Health Equity, and on the editorial boards for the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, the Journal of Appalachian Health, and Public Health Reports. 

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