Dr. Anne Zink

Dr. Zink is a practicing Emergency Medicine physician in Palmer, Alaska, and a public health leader dedicated to developing innovative health strategies, implementing data- driven solutions, and advocating for improvements at local, tribal, territorial, state, and national levels. She believes that health is deeply personal, and that people, when empowered with tools, transparent information, and resources, can make the best decisions for themselves.

Her work focuses on building systems that help individuals navigate complexity, integrating public health, healthcare, and community partners to improve outcomes, and advancing approaches grounded in transparency, responsiveness, and prevention. She currently serves as a Senior Fellow at the Yale School of Public Health, where she focuses on health data visualization, teaching, and mentoring, and as a Public Health Senior Advisor to The Pew Charitable Trusts, while also serving on the steering committees for the Common Health Coalition and the Biosecurity Game Changer Coalition.

From 2018 to 2024, she served as Chief Medical Officer for the State of Alaska, where she led the state through the COVID-19 pandemic, reorganized the Department of Health and Social Services, built the Healthy Alaskans initiative, launched the state’s Complex Care System, and developed programs addressing issues ranging from tuberculosis to youth mental health. Dr. Zink is the immediate past president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), representing leaders from all 50 states and U.S. territories to foster collaboration and policy change during a period of rapid transformation in public health.

Originally from Denver, she holds a B.A. from Bryn Mawr College and an M.D. from Stanford University, completed her residency at the University of Utah, served as a Thomas J. Watson Fellow, and taught for many years with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS).