WashU Law has named Montrece Ransom as the new Executive Director of the Cordell Institute.
The Cordell Institute for Policy in Medicine & Law is a first-of-its-kind collaboration established to facilitate the emergence of ethical data-driven healthcare. By bringing together medical and health experts with legal and policy experts, the Cordell Institute seeks to reimagine how ethics and regulations can be synchronized with technological advancements.
Ransom joins the Institute with two decades of experience at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where she advanced the field of public health law through leadership in training, workforce development, and legal epidemiology. During her tenure, she helped design and expand national training initiatives that reached tens of thousands of professionals across public health, healthcare, and law, shaping how legal frameworks are used to improve health outcomes.
Most recently, Ransom served as Director of the National Coordinating Center for Public Health Training at the National Network of Public Health Institutes. There, she led a $75 million national portfolio focused on workforce development and systems transformation, including initiatives connected to the CDC’s Public Health Infrastructure Grant.
In addition to her leadership roles, Ransom taught public health law at the University of Miami School of Medicine and serves as an executive leadership coach. Her work centers on how law, policy, leadership, and systems influence public health practice and outcomes.
At the Cordell Institute, Ransom will focus on strengthening its interdisciplinary mission at the intersection of law and medicine. She aims to expand the Institute’s work on timely issues such as health data, privacy, and artificial intelligence, while deepening collaboration across the law school, medical school, and external partners.
Her appointment signals a continued investment in positioning the Cordell Institute as a leading voice in shaping the future of health law, human information policy, and and emerging technologies.
