Mayor Brandon Scott said Friday he is appointing Dr. Michelle Taylor as Baltimore’s next health commissioner.

She will serve as the top doctor responsible for a sprawling list of services and policies in a city with more than its share of health troubles, from an ongoing opioid overdose crisis to rising sexually transmitted infections.

Taylor will come to the post, vacant for months, from the Shelby County, Tennessee, health department. In addition to heading that agency, she also serves as a colonel and flight surgeon in the Tennessee Air National Guard.

The job will bring her back to Baltimore, where she earned a doctorate in public health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

“I am delighted to announce my return home to serve the Baltimore City community and uphold the Baltimore City Health Department’s unwavering vision for an equitable, just, and well Baltimore where everyone has the opportunity to be healthy and to thrive,” Taylor, 49, said in a statement.

“I am excited to work with the BCHD team to expand public health services for all Baltimoreans through innovative programs, policies, and partnerships, all while aligning with Mayor Scott’s goals for a healthier Baltimore.”

The Baltimore department will have been vacant for about a year when Taylor arrives. Scott fired commissioner, Dr. Ihuoma Emenuga last July, about seven months into her tenure, due to concerns about outside employment. State prosecutors cleared her of any wrongdoing soon after.

With a budget of about $200 million this year, the Baltimore department is about twice the size of Shelby County’s, and Baltimore’s 900 employee agency has about 200 more employees.

“Dr. Taylor is a world-class leader, and I’m grateful that she’s bringing her talents and experience to Baltimore,” Scott said in a statement. “In the coming months and years, she’ll oversee our historic efforts to tackle the opioid crisis, expand physical and mental health resources, and ensure all Baltimoreans have access to the quality care they deserve.”

While opioid overdoses have dropped, the statistics remain grim in Baltimore, which at its peak had more deaths than any other U.S. city.

Through lawsuits, city officials have so far collected about $180 million from distributors and manufacturers tied to the crisis. And the first round of money already has begun to flow to city agencies, including the health department, without Taylor’s input.

In Tennessee, Taylor didn’t shy away from challenging decisions of local leadership.

She has been critical of leaders in Shelby County and the mayor of Memphis for their handling of a controversial “Colossus” computing center proposed for the region by xAI, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company.

According to a letter obtained by the Commercial Appeal of Memphis, Taylor blasted the city’s mayor for not consulting the health department and was critical of the Greater Memphis Chamber for bypassing state and local environmental regulations to speed up the progress of the computing center’s development.

“Ideally, securing health benefits from projects is conducted on the front end when recruiting or providing supporting assets, such as requiring an environmental impact study prior to selling the 13 acres for xAI’s South Memphis project,” Taylor wrote.

Another publication highlighted what informed her public health decision making at the county health department.

A 2023 profile in Memphis Magazine said Taylor was a breast cancer survivor and a divorced mother of two who was deeply affected by her family history of cancer, including a three year-old cousin who died of leukemia.

She went on to become a pediatrician, also earning advanced degrees in public health and epidemiology. When she took over in Shelby County in 2021, she mapped out the biggest challenges to tackle: disease, poverty, violence, mental illness, substandard housing and systemic racism.

She bristled at lawmakers’ insufficient funding of health programs and tussled with some anti-vaxxers during the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Memphis Magazine article.

Ruth Ann Norton, president and CEO of the nonprofit Green and Healthy Homes, has known Taylor for years through her work in Memphis. Norton described Taylor as a strong and grounded advocate for household health issues like lead poisoning and childhood asthma.

The nonprofit executive is hopeful Taylor can provide a steady hand for a department that has lately lacked stability.

“What I know is she’s smart and engaged and thoughtful on the issues we work on, at a time when federal policy is rolling back support for issues like lead remediation,” Norton said.

Councilwoman Phylicia Porter, chairwoman of the council’s Public Health and Environment Committee, said she was pleased with Taylor’s selection, saying her experience and cultural competency should make her a good fit for the role.

“I know of her great work thought the American Public Health Association and specifically focusing in child and maternal health,” Porter said, adding she looks forward to working with Taylor on public health issues in Baltimore.

Taylor is scheduled to take over in Baltimore Aug. 4. Her predecessor, Emenuga, was paid a salary of $231,750.

Taylor’s nomination must be confirmed by the Baltimore City Council.

Baltimore Banner reporter Adam Willis contributed to this article.