Malani appointed U-M's new chief health officer

The University of Michigan has a new chief health officer, following the UM Board of Regents decision to approve the appointment of Preeti Malani during its regular meeting late last week.

Malani, was appointed to a three-year term, beginning June 1. She currently serves as a clinical professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at UM, where her clinical expertise includes infectious diseases and geriatric medicine.

She also is the director of the recently launched National Poll on Healthy Aging based at the Institute for Health Policy and Innovation. Malani replaces Robert Winfield, who passed away on Oct. 14, after serving as chief health officer since 1999.

As chief health officer, Malani serves as an adviser to the president and executive officers on matters of the health and wellness of the university community, including issues of disease management, public health preparedness and promotion of healthy practices and climate on all three campuses.

Since 2012, Malani has served as an associate editor of the Journal of the
American Medical Association (JAMA), and has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and has edited five books. 

Malani, a Michigan alumna, earned her doctoral degree from Wayne State in 1995 and a master's degree in journalism at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. She completed her internal medicine residency in 1998 and infectious diseases fellowship in 2000 at UM.