What I do:
Heidi Michels Blanck, MS, PhD, Retired Captain USPHS, most recently served as the Branch Chief for Community Nutrition and Obesity in the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity in the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention & Health Promotion at the CDC. Dr. Blanck is the founder of NOPREN (2009) and served as Federal Scientific Co-Lead for the network from 2009-2025. She currently serves as the Director of Programs & Impact and Director of the Local Food Research Center at ASAP (Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project) where she supports evaluation and research on numerous community-adaptive initiatives including Farm to ECE/School and Fruit and Vegetable Incentives including the Farm Fresh Produce Prescription program. Dr Blanck is also an Adjunct Professor at Emory University in the Graduate Program for Nutrition & Health Sciences.
Heidi attended the University of Michigan where she received her M.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology and her PhD from Emory University in Atlanta, GA where she studied Nutrition & Health Sciences, with a concentration in Epidemiology. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship as part of CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) which included investigating a vitamin deficiency among displaced persons (Bhutanese Refugees) residing in camps in Nepal.
Dr. Blanck has authored more than 175 papers, strategic MMWRs, government reports, and book chapters. She has served as a Scientific Liaison to the National Academies and has supported dozens of fellows and early career professionals. She has received numerous mentorship, programmatic, and partnership awards from a broad range of public health efforts.
Heidi attended the University of Michigan where she received her M.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology and her PhD from Emory University in Atlanta, GA where she studied Nutrition & Health Sciences, with a concentration in Epidemiology. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship as part of CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) which included investigating a vitamin deficiency among displaced persons (Bhutanese Refugees) residing in camps in Nepal.
Dr. Blanck has authored more than 175 papers, strategic MMWRs, government reports, and book chapters. She has served as a Scientific Liaison to the National Academies and has supported dozens of fellows and early career professionals. She has received numerous mentorship, programmatic, and partnership awards from a broad range of public health efforts.