Katy Backes Kozhimannil

Katy Backes Kozhimannil is a public health researcher specializing in maternal and child health policy and rural healthcare inequities who left her professorship at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health to join the University of Calgary's Cumming School of Medicine in Canada, as the Eddie Goldenberg Research Chair of Canada in Maternal and Child Health Policy.

The University of Calgary announced her recruitment as part of the Government of Canada's international talent attraction initiative, with her move set to begin in summer 2027.

A Distinguished McKnight University Professor, Kozhimannil co-directs the University of Minnesota's Rural Health Research Center and Rural Health Program. Her research informs health care policy affecting pregnancy, childbirth, and rural communities, and has appeared in journals including Science, the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, and Health Affairs, with coverage from outlets such as the New York Times and NPR. Her findings have helped shape new state and federal laws expanding access to care for pregnant patients and families in underserved communities. She received the 2020 Heinz Award in Public Policy, the National Indian Health Board's 2022 Hero in Health award, and was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2025 for her research and policy leadership on maternal and child health in rural and Native American communities.