Dorothy Cilenti, DrPH

About

Dorothy Cilenti has worked in local and state public health agencies in North Carolina for more than 20 years. She is primarily interested in improving systems of care for vulnerable women and children. 

Dr. Cilenti is a clinical professor in the Department of Maternal and Child Health at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health where she directs the National Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Workforce Development Center, a cooperative agreement with the Health Resources Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Division of MCH Workforce Development. She has served as principle investigator for more than 25 contracts and grants totaling more than 15 million, ranging from training grants to public health systems research awards.

Dorothy Cilenti in the Gillings News

Honors and Awards

Director's Award
2018, HRSA Maternal and Child Health Bureau

Representative Courses

MHCH 745 Applied Methods for Health Transformation Implementation in MCH

MCH 710 Leadership in Maternal and Child Health

Research Activities

Service Activities

Practice Activities

Director, National Maternal and Child Health Workforce Development Center, Department of Maternal and Child Health, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

Serve as Principal Investigator of multi-year cooperative agreement from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration.

Oversee training and technical assistance to state agencies implementing health transformation. 

Priority training areas include quality improvement, population health management, evidence-informed decision-making and systems integration.

Key Publications

Learning from the Past to Shape the Future for North Carolina’s Youngest Children. Griffin L* and Cilenti D. (2021). North Carolina Medical Journal, 32(3), 208-213.
View publication

Innovation Theory and Local Health Department Accreditation. Cilenti D.  (2021). American Journal of Public Health, 111(2), 183-184.

Consolidated Framework for Collaboration Research derived from a systematic review of theories, models, frameworks and principles for cross-sector collaboration. Calancie L, Frerichs L, Davis M, Sullivan E, White A, Cilenti D, Corbie-Smith G, Hassmiller Lich K.  (2021). PLOS One, 16(1).

Leveraging an Academic-Practice Partnership to Improve Maternal and Child Health Outcomes in North Carolina. Morgan I, Tucker C, Urlaub D, Shuler TO, Cilenti D.  (2020). NC Medical Journal, 81(1), 5-13.

MCH Workforce Capacity: Maximizing Opportunities Afforded by a Changing Public Health System. I Raskind, T Chapple-McGruder, D Mendez, M Kramer, K Liller, D Cilenti, M Wingate, B Castrucci, E Gould, C Stampfel (2019). Maternal and child health journal, 23(7), 979-988.

System Dynamics Approaches and Collective Action for Community Health: An Integrative Review. D Cilenti, M Issel, R Wells, S Link, K Lich (2019). American journal of community psychology, 63(3), 527-545.

Innovations in Maternal and Child Health: Pairing Undergraduate and Graduate Maternal and Child Health Students in Summer Practica in State Title V Agencies. A Handler, J Klaus, D Long-White, M Roth, R Greenleaf, O Sappenfield, D Cilenti (2018). Maternal and child health journal, 22(2), 154-165.

Developing Collaborative Maternal and Child Health Leaders: A Descriptive Study of the National Maternal and Child Health Workforce Development Center. A Clarke, D Cilenti (2018). Maternal and child health journal, 22(1), 17-23.

Partnerships: Building Blocks for Change. In: Verbiest S, editor. Making Change Happen: Moving Life Course Theory in Action. Cilenti D and Harris G. (2018). APHA Press.

Title V Workforce Development in the Era of Health Transformation. L Margolis, A Mullenix, A Apostolico, L Fehrenbach, D Cilenti (2017). Maternal and child health journal, 21(11), 2001-2007.

Education