Chao Yang has joined CTSI to serve as Assistant Director of its community-engagement function, Community Engagement to Advance Research and Community Health (CEARCH). In this role, she’ll develop, lead, and sustain community-engaged research initiatives, programs, and activities, working collaboratively with CEARCH leadership, the CEARCH Management Council, and CTSI staff and faculty.
Prior to joining CTSI, Yang served as a senior public health educator for Ramsey County Public Health. There, she led the integration of public health prevention practices and programming to close disparate health gaps for underserved communities and provided health equity thought leadership. She also managed a CDC grant focused on innovative chronic disease management initiatives, served as an Asian Health Liaison for policymakers, and supervised the Asian COVID-19 response team efforts.
Yang has also worked as a community health coordinator at the University of Minnesota and held roles at Nexus Community Partners, Minnesota Council on Foundations, and the YMCA.
Yang holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, where she is currently pursuing a master’s in public health through the Executive Public Health Administration & Policy MPH program.