Elizabeth Cuervo Tilson, MD, MPH serves North Carolina as the State Health Director and the Chief Medical Officer for the Department of Health and Human Services.  In this role, she promotes public health and prevention activities, as well as provides guidance and oversight on a variety of cross-Departmental issues including the Opioid Epidemic, Early Childhood, Medicaid Transformation, and Healthy Opportunities.

Dr. Tilson received her BA in biology from Dartmouth College, earned her Medical Degree at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and a Master of Public Health from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.  She completed a Pediatric residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital and a General Preventive Medicine/Public Health Residency at the University of North Carolina –Chapel Hill and is board certified in both fields.

Prior roles include serving as the Medical Director of Community Care of Wake and Johnston Counties, Chief Network Medical Director for Community Care of North Carolina, Assistant Consulting Professor and Cancer Control Specialist with Duke University Medical Center, and a Clinical Pediatric Fellow at UNC-Chapel Hill.   She practiced primary care pediatrics for 26 years, primarily at her local health department – Wake County Human Services Child Health Clinic. She has been active and has served in leadership roles in many local, state, and national pediatric, public health and preventive medicine organizations.