City of St. Louis Department of Health Announces New Health Commissioner

Monday, September 6, the City of St. Louis Department of Health announced that Victoria Anwuri will join the Department of Health staff as the Health Commissioner. 

“I’m thrilled to announce the appointment of Victoria Anwuri as the Health Commissioner for the City of St. Louis. She brings more than 20 years of experience in equity-centered public and community health to the Department of Health,” said Dr. Mati Hlatshwayo Davis, Director of Health for the City of St. Louis. “I’m excited to be able to tap into her extensive expertise and experience in strategic planning, programming, multidisciplinary evaluations and management of federal and state grants and contracts.”

Ms. Anwuri joins the Department of Health from her current position as Associate Director of the Institute for Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis. At the Institute she oversees all research, programmatic, administrative and operational activities. Prior to accepting that position, Ms. Anwuri held several other positions at Washington University and also worked at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, as a public health fellow where she conducted research on policy, environmental, and systems-level interventions that promote health.

Thanks to her experience overseeing all programmatic, administrative, and operational activities at the Institute for Public Health Ms. Anwuri will be able to immediately provide much-needed support to Dr. Mati Hlatshwayo Davis in organizational and administrative operations at the Department of Health, which is a current priority for her for the department and in filling this position.

Ms. Anwuri’s other strengths that will allow her to hit the ground running as Health Commissioner include grant writing and leading evaluation, planning, and metric tracking. She has managed large multidisciplinary evaluation projects funded through private and foundation funding as well as large-scale, federal and state grants and contracts. Ms. Anwuri also skilled in partnering with national and local stakeholders from different disciplines to achieve successful outcomes. Partnerships and collaborations are the heart of soul of public health operations and efforts in the City of St. Louis.  

Born in the Los Angeles area of southern California, Ms. Anwuri is a longtime resident of St. Louis. She holds a Master of Public Health degree from the Saint Louis University College for Public Health and Social Justice (formerly Saint Louis University School of Public Health) where she was inducted into Delta Omega, the Honorary Public Health Society. She also holds a bachelor’s degree from Spelman College where she studied psychology.

The commissioner position has general supervision over the public health and is responsible for the administration of the public health programs. The commissioner is also charged with making sure the laws and ordinances relating to public health are observed and enforced.

Related Resources

• Victoria V. Anwuri, MPH