Joanna Shaw-KaiKai, MD, FACP, MPH

Joanna Shaw-KaiKai, MD, MPH, FACP, has been the interim Director of Health and Chief Medical Officer for the Metro Public Health Department of Nashville-Davidson County (MPHD) since September 2024. She has worked at MPHD for 8 years and serves as the Medical Services Director. Dr. Shaw-KaiKai formerly served as the tuberculosis physician for 6.5 years. She is a subject matter expert in infectious diseases, assists with outbreak responses and community outreach, and supports multiple programs at MPHD. Prior to joining MPHD in 2016, she worked at Meharry Medical College for 7 years providing inpatient and outpatient primary care and infectious disease services including HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment.

Dr. Shaw-KaiKai received her infectious disease training at UT Southwestern in Dallas, Texas; and medical degree and internal medicine residency certification at University at Buffalo School of Medicine (now Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences) in New York. She is board certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases. Consistent with her belief in life-long learning, she obtained a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Alabama in 2022.

She is a member of the American College of Physicians, Infectious Diseases Society of America, National Medical Association and TN Public Health Association.