Kimberlee Wyche-Etheridge, MD, MPH

As a public health physician, Kimberlee Wyche-Etheridge, MD, MPH, has a life-long commitment to improving the quality, access, and acceptability of care for under-resourced families, and to changing the systems that perpetuate health inequities. She has worked to alter clinical practice by teaching medical students and graduate students to practice culturally and economically competent primary care and public health.

After practicing pediatric and adolescent medicine in a health service shortage area outside of Boston, Wyche-Etheridge expanded her influence by returning to school to earn a Master of Public Health degree, with a fellowship in Minority Health Policy and a concentration in Family/Community Health. Her public health care has spanned over 20 years, including a 12-year tenure at the Metropolitan Nashville/Davidson County Public Health Department where she served as the county’s maternal child health expert.

Wyche-Etheridge’s innovative leadership led to her transition into academics, where she has been able to influence the next generation of public health leaders and encourage public health-oriented physicians. She has spearheaded numerous committees, worked closely with the local school system, and served on several national and local boards, including CityMatCH and the National Healthy Start Association, as well as multiple other commissions. In 2021, she was recruited to join the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) as senior vice president for health equity and diversity initiatives. In her current role, she hopes to use her knowledge, experience, and passion to achieve sustainable change in health status for all.

Outside of her role at ASTHO, Wyche-Etheridge is a nationally sought-after speaker and trainer. Her passion has led her to develop tutoring programs to decrease the COVID-19 academic slide, mentorship programs to expose middle school students to STEAM careers, and young adult preconception health strategies to improve future birth outcomes.

Wyche-Etheridge received her medical degree from the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, Massachusetts and completed her pediatric internship and residency at the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. She received her Master of Public Health degree from the Harvard School of Public Health while completing a Commonwealth Fund Harvard University Fellowship in minority health policy. Although accomplished in her chosen field, her number one priority is her family and raising her two teenage children.