Paul C. Erwin, MD, DrPH

Before joining the University of Tennessee, Dr. Erwin worked with the Tennessee Department of Health and served as Director of the East Tennessee Regional Health Office. During that time, Dr. Erwin focused extensively on community-based health assessment and planning, engaging local county Health Councils, faculty, and students at the University of Tennessee. He was a member (and later Chair) of the national work group which produced MAPP (Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships), including the Local Tool of the National Public Health Performance Standards Program prior to serving with the Tennessee Department of Health.

Dr. Erwin was a Fellow in International Health at the Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of the South (Sewanee), his MD at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, his MPH at the Johns Hopkins University, and his DrPH at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. He is boarded in internal medicine and public health and preventive medicine and is a Fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine. Dr. Erwin serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice; the Scientific Advisory Committee for America’s Health Rankings; the Research and Evaluation Committee of the Public Health Accreditation Board; the Board of Directors for the Tennessee Institute of Public Health; and the Board of Directors for the Public Health Foundation. His research interests are in the emerging field of public health systems and services research focusing on local and state health departments, population health outcomes, and health disparities particularly in rural areas.

Dr. Erwin established the Center for Public Health at the University of Tennessee to develop a more comprehensive public health academic environment through expanded teaching, research, and service collaborative opportunities. The Center helps coordinate public health-related academic units on campus by creating and facilitating multidisciplinary opportunities which link numerous Colleges and Institutions across campus, the local and regional health departments, and communities throughout the area.

Dr. Erwin teaches the core Epidemiology course and has taught additional coursework in health policy. As a Baker Center Fellow in Health Policy, Dr. Erwin collaborates with others across campus who are interested and involved in policy issues as they pertain to the public’s health.