CHIEF HEALTH & WELL-BEING OFFICER
- Immediate Past-President, American College of Lifestyle Medicine
- Former faculty at Vanderbilt University
- Former Chief Medical Director/Executive Director of Global Health and Wellness at Cummins, Inc.
Experienced innovator in driving digital health solutions and technology lead interventions
Dr. Dexter Shurney leads the strategy and execution of Blue Zones research initiatives and scientific partnerships. Dexter is a population health innovator and is board certified in Preventive Medicine, Public Health, and Lifestyle Medicine. He’s the former Chief Medical Officer of Adventist Health, the Immediate Past-President of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, former faculty at Vanderbilt University, and former Chief Medical Director/Executive Director of Global Health and Wellness at Cummins, Inc.
Former roles Dr. Shurney has held include Chief Medical Director / Executive Director for Global Health Benefits and Corporate Wellness for Cummins, Inc., and Chief Medical Director, Employee Health Plan for Vanderbilt University and Medical Center. During his tenure at Vanderbilt he also held joint faculty appointments as Assistant Clinical Professor, Division of Internal Medicine and Public Health, and Adjunct Faculty, Owens Graduate School of Management. For a number of years, he served as the Chief Medical Officer for Healthways. It was at that time that he was appointed by Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen to Chair the Tennessee Diabetes Prevention and Health Improvement Board. He is also the former Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of medical affairs for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, and the most recent Chair of the Business Strategies Committee for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)/National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP). Dr. Shurney is co-author of the book “Integrating Wellness into Your Disease Management Programs” which is a “how- to” strategic guide for employers that wish to innovate their approach to chronic condition management.
He attended Loma Linda University for his undergraduate training, and later Howard University College of Medicine where he received his degree in medicine. He holds Masters’ Degrees in Business and in Public Health from the University of Detroit/Mercy and the Medical College of Wisconsin, respectively. He is a fellow in the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, and is board certified in both Preventive Medicine and in Lifestyle Medicine.
