Linelle  Blais

Dr. Linelle Blais serves as the Executive Director of Emory Centers for Training and Technical Assistance. She is a Professor of Practice in the Department of Behavioral, Social and Health Education Sciences and Associate Director of the Executive MPH program, Prevention Science Track at the Emory University Rollins School of Public Health. Her professional interest is in making public health easier in real world practice. Dr. Blais is a health psychologist in individual, community and organizational change, and a professional facilitator. Her experiences include development, diffusion, and dissemination of programs to practice nationwide, leading strategic planning, evaluation and facilitation efforts, and designing initiatives and learning strategies that network professionals and mobilize all communities, especially those at greatest need. Dr. Blais has over 30 years of experience using public health approaches and providing training and TA services to a variety of community, state, and national public health partners.

At Emory Centers for Public Health Training and Technical Assistance, Linelle leads 4 practice subcenters and 2 large coordinating centers. The subcenters are:1) DTTAC – diabetes prevention; 2) EnCORE - community organizational development; HIV/AIDS; 3) TTAC – workforce development and strategic planning; crhonic disease and risk factors 4) PEQI - program evaluation and quality improvement. The coordinating centers are: 1) the Diabetes MATCH Initiative: A Strategic Approach to Advancing Health Equity for priority populations with or at risk for diabetes, a $50 million commitment over 5 years (2023-2027) to mobilize access through capacity building and health equity training and TA to 77 CDC funded recipients of companion funding nationwide; and 2) the Gilead COMPASS (COMmitment to Partnership in Addressing HIV/AIDS in Southern States) Initiative®, a $100 million commitment over 10 years to support organizations addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in 9 Southern United States. She is also a Core Lead, for the Research Capacity Building Core, Emory Climate & Health Actionable Research and Translation (CHART) Center (NIH), that is focused on heat-related illness in under-resourced urban populations and developing the next generation of climate and health researchers, and PI on many other projects including several CDC STILTS national cooperative agreements on organizational capacity building.

Prior to joining Emory, Linelle worked as a National Executive at the American Cancer Society’s National Home Office in Atlanta where she directed applied community research and program evaluation projects in health education, designed a strategic approach to voluntarism and community partnerships, and led nationwide organizational engagement initiatives as a National Vice President in Field Operations, Voluntarism, and Talent Strategy. With the Cancer Prevention Research Center at the University of Rhode Island, she conducted health behavior change research and theory testing. Linelle also worked at Brown University’s Center for Gerontology and Health Care Research addressing cancer patient and caregiver unmet needs.

Currently, Dr. Blais teaches BSHES 560R: Implementation Practice and TA in Communtiy-Based Public Health.