Mary-Margaret Fill
40 Under 40 Class of 2021
Nashville, Tennessee
Deputy State Epidemiologist
Tennessee Department of Health
Request Speaker or Expertise
My work in public health is more than a job or career. It is a lifelong commitment to public service and the betterment of the public’s health.
Three words to describe me:
conscientious, diligent, passionate
The best part of my job:
the dedication, skill, and passion of the people I work with every day
Something that would surprise others about me:
I've performed in front of a crowd of >100,000 people dozens of times - as a 4-year member of The Ohio State University Marching band (TBDBITL).
As the deputy state epidemiologist, Dr. Mary-Margaret Fill has played an important role in helping Tennessee combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Serving as a liaison between the on-the-ground public health teams and senior leadership at the Tennessee Department of Health and the Governor’s Office, Mary Margaret has helped officials explain the intricacies of the underlying data about the virus’s spread and how the state was responding to the pandemic.
Prior to the pandemic, Mary-Margaret was selected for the highly competitive Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Fellowship through the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and served a two-year fellowship as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She was also chosen as the sole divisional representative to serve on a Tennessee Department of Health Commissioner of Health “rising stars” workgroup addressing public health message translation.
Mary-Margaret received her MD from the Mercer University School of Medicine, an MPH from Vanderbilt University, and a BS in microbiology with a minor in security and intelligence from The Ohio State University in Columbus.
