Chapel Hill, NC (Dec 6, 2023) -- Associate Director Michelle Ries, MPH, has been named Interim President and CEO of the North Carolina Institute of Medicine.

A 10-year veteran of the NCIOM, Ries will assume this role upon the departure of President and CEO Kathleen Colville, PhD, MSPH, MSW, on January 3, 2024.

"I am excited to serve the NCIOM in this new capacity,” said Ries. “I look forward to continuing the great work of our team and our partners to develop evidence-based strategies to improve health across our state."

A permanent leadership search is underway, led by the NCIOM Board of Directors. The position description and application can be accessed through UNC-Chapel Hill Human Resources at this link. The application deadline has been extended to December 11.

“We are fortunate to have a leader of Michelle's caliber available to step in while the Board continues its search for a permanent successor,” said Adam Sholar, incoming NCIOM Board Chair and President and CEO of the North Carolina Health Care Facilities Association. She has a wealth of leadership experience, and I am confident that NCIOM’s important work will continue to move forward uninterrupted.”

Ries was named Associate Director in April 2020. In this position, she provides strategic direction, oversight, and development of programmatic activities of the NCIOM including statewide convenings, task force reports, and other special projects. In addition, Ries represents NCIOM across statewide committees and coalitions that serve the mission of the NCIOM, including the NC Center on the Workforce for Health, the NC Youth Behavioral Health Thought Partnership, the North Carolina Serious Illness Coalition, and the Department of Information Technology’s North Carolina Health Information Exchange Authority Work Group.

Ries was Interim Director of the NCIOM from August 2020 through December 2020, during which time she led the development of the Carolinas Pandemic Preparedness Task Force and the convening of the North Carolina COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Committee. Previously, she served as a project director at the NCIOM, leading projects including the Task Force on Serious Illness Care and Dementia-Capable North Carolina, and the Task Force on Essentials for Childhood. Ries also spearheaded NCIOM’s pioneering Legislative Health Policy Fellows program, which provides state lawmakers with data and resources needed to make effective decisions about the health of our state. Ries is a 2019 alumnus of Leadership North Carolina.

“As Michelle Ries begins her second decade with the NCIOM, we celebrate her commitment to our organization and our state,” said Colville. “Michelle is a seasoned leader who brings solid relationships, creative thinking, compassion, and experience to the role of Interim President and CEO. The NCIOM team is in very good hands.”

In October, Colville announced her decision to resign in order to be present with her family as they take on new opportunities abroad. She joined the NCIOM as President and CEO in December 2020, and during her tenure oversaw the convening of six task forces and nearly a dozen additional projects and publications, all aimed at improving the health of North Carolinians by informing health policy.

“Kathy has provided tremendous leadership to the NCIOM and the entire North Carolina health community,” said Dr. Carrie Rosario, outgoing NCIOM Board Chair and associate professor in the School of Health and Human Sciences at UNC-Greensboro. “We will deeply miss her wisdom and expertise at the NCIOM."

The NCIOM President/CEO reports to an independent 21-member Board of Directors appointed by the Governor, the President Pro Tempore of the North Carolina Senate, and the Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives.

The North Carolina Institute of Medicine (NCIOM) is forward-looking and focused on solutions. The organization was founded in 1983 by the North Carolina General Assembly to serve as a source of non-partisan information and analysis to promote effective health policies focused on improving the health and well-being of all North Carolinians. Learn more at nciom.org.