Zoey Kernodle brings over a decade of experience at the intersection of healthcare, higher education, and research. As Director of the UNC Center for the Business of Health (CBOH), she oversees the Center’s strategy, research, programs, and team operations. This includes fundraising for and maintenance of a growing annual budget, building a community of healthcare-focused alumni and external constituents and cultivating interdisciplinary partnerships among faculty, health leaders, and students across UNC and North Carolina.

Dr. Kernodle oversees the CBOH Advisory Board and works with school and University leadership to create and implement new programs that prepare students for the challenges and opportunities they will face as they pursue careers across the healthcare industry.

In her research, Dr. Kernodle integrates theories and frameworks from disciplines across the humanities and social sciences to help healthcare and public health leaders better engage, understand, and communicate with the communities that they serve. Her qualitative research crosses traditional discipline boundaries, engaging leaders from healthcare, public health, community development, public policy, religious entities, and academia. The aim of her multidisciplinary approach is to find and integrate shared values and practices at the community and population level that lead to improved health outcomes.

Prior to joining UNC in 2018, Zoey worked in healthcare research and consulting at the Advisory Board Company in Washington, D.C., and held administrative roles at other universities, where she gained extensive experience in fundraising and program implementation. 

She received her DrPH from UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. She has a Master of Theological Studies (MTS) degree from Emory University where she studied ethics and political philosophy, and a BA in religious studies from North Carolina State University. She serves on the board of Emory University’s Candler School of Theology.