Susan Nappi, MPH

Susan Nappi is the Executive Director of the Office of Public Health Practice and a lecturer at the Yale School of Public Health. With a diverse portfolio in public health practice and research, she has held several key positions in Connecticut, including Senior Director of Community Impact at the United Way of Greater New Haven, Executive Director of the Community Center of Excellence in Women's Health (CCOE) at Griffin Hospital, and Practice Administrator of the Griffin Faculty Practice Plan. Susan has also led research teams at the Yale School of Public Health and the VA Alcohol Research Center. Her primary interest is in building collaborative, equitable, and mutually beneficial community-academic partnerships that address the social determinants of health through a multidisciplinary approach.

She currently serves as the Principal Investigator (PI) of the New England Public Health Training Center at YSPH, funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to develop and sustain a skilled public health workforce with free learning tools and support tailored to the unique needs of New England. Additionally, Susan is the Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI) of the Connecticut Public Health Workforce Development initiative, a contract with Connecticut Public Health aimed at diversifying and strengthening the public health workforce across the state through training and student placements with local and state public health agencies. She also represents YSPH on the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) practice section and served as an expert panel member from 2021-24 on the Framing the Future 2030: Education for Public Health (FTF 2030) Fostering Community Partnerships .

A first-generation college graduate, Susan earned her BA in Psychology from the State University of New York at Purchase and her MPH in Chronic Disease Epidemiology from Yale University. She is currently pursuing a DrPH in Public Health Leadership at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health and is examining the role of student pathway programs in replenishing, sustaining, and diversifying the public health workforce.