Stephanie Mayfield Gibson, who was health commissioner for Steve Beshear, is new board chair of Trust for America's Health

Dr. Stephanie Mayfield Gibson

Dr. Stephanie Mayfield Gibson, who was state health commissioner in 2012-15, is the new board chair of the Trust for America's Health, which defines itself as "a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to saving lives by protecting the health of every community and working to make disease prevention a national priority."

Mayfield Gibson, who lives in Memphis, is a board-certified anatomic and clinical pathologist. In 2012, Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear named her the first African American and first woman public-health commissioner in Kentucky. She had been director of laboratory services in the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. 

When Republican Gov. Matt Bevin took office, Mayfield Gibson became senior vice president and chief medical officer for population health at KentuckyOne Health, which operated several Catholic hospitals and Louisville's Jewish Hospital. She was associate chief of staff and staff pathologist at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Louisville.

In 2020-22, Mayfield Gibson was director of Covid-19 response for Resolve to Save Lives, founded by Dr. Thomas Frieden, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It provided guidance and technical support to local and state health departments, other partners and federal agencies.