Michael Meit serves as Director of the East Tennessee State University Center for Rural Health and Research, located in the Appalachian Highlands of Northeast Tennessee.  Michael also retains a role as a Senior Fellow in NORC at the University of Chicago’s Public Health Research Department, and serves as Deputy Director for ETSU’s HRSA-funded rural health research center. Michael currently leads studies focused on the evaluation of rural health programs, rural health disparities, opioid misuse, and public health systems, among others. 

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 as Co-Director of NORC’s Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis. He has served on the Boards of Directors of the National Rural Health Association, Pennsylvania Public Health Association, and the Maryland Rural Health Association. He currently serves on the editorial boards for the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, the Journal of Appalachian Health, Journal of Rural Mental Health and Public Health Reports.  In 2019 Michael was named the National Rural Health Association’s Outstanding Researcher.