Michele Heisler

Michele Heisler, MD, MPA, serves as Professor of Health Behavior and Health Equity at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and Professor of Internal Medicine, with additional roles as Research Scientist at the Center for Clinical Management Research and Medical Director of Nobel Peace Prize-winning Physicians for Human Rights (PHR). Her work bridges clinical practice, public health research, and human rights advocacy across global contexts.

Her educational background includes a BA from Amherst College (1983), MPA from Princeton University (1987), and MD from Harvard Medical School (1997). This interdisciplinary training underpins her dual expertise in policy and clinical medicine.

Dr. Heisler's research pioneers peer support models to address social determinants of health, with pathbreaking clinical trials demonstrating how training patients, community members, and families improves chronic disease outcomes. Her human rights work documents health consequences of systemic violence and informs UN protocols, legislation against police violence, and reparations frameworks. Current projects include diabetes prevention trials in Detroit/Ypsilanti and medical-legal documentation of torture against marginalized groups.

Her 2025 publications reveal three dominant research trajectories: glaucoma management through personalized coaching (40% of recent work), diabetes/food insecurity interventions using peer support (35%), and human rights advocacy addressing immigration policies and medical ethics (25%). This triad reflects her integrated approach to clinical care, health equity, and structural violence.

Securing over $45 million in federal grants, Dr. Heisler leads implementation science projects scaling peer support models across US health systems and internationally. As PHR Medical Director, she mobilizes clinicians to document rights violations while directing federally funded diabetes trials and community health worker programs in Brazil/UK.

Her research group operates through the Center for Clinical Management Research, collaborating with safety net health systems to implement peer coaching, reciprocal support models, and community health worker interventions. Current initiatives include the Support, Educate, Empower (SEE) glaucoma program and INSPIRA diabetes prevention trial combining food vouchers with peer support.