Amber Coyne serves as the first Syndemic Coordination Director at the Tennessee Department of Health where she oversees cross-cutting projects to address the HIV, STI, substance use disorder, and viral hepatitis syndemic, including TN’s syringe services programs. She also spearheaded Tennessee’s End the Syndemic (ETS) community-informed strategic planning process, which has become a national model. ETS prevention and treatment strategies were identified through extensive community engagement including 80 regional planning meetings, focus groups, key informant interviews, and a statewide syndemic needs assessment completed by over 1,000 Tennesseans. She was recognized for this work in 2022 with the CDC & ATSDR Excellence in Public Health Service Diane Caves Early Career Award.

Previously, Ms. Coyne worked as a CDC Public Health Associate assigned to the Metropolitan Public Health Department in Nashville, Tennessee. Over her two-year placement, she implemented the use of telemedicine to delivery electronic Directly Observed Therapy (eDOT) for TB treatment, led communications during the Nashville’s hepatitis A outbreak, and was the primary author of Nashville’s Ending the HIV Epidemic Plan. Additionally, her public health education video, “Tubercules Learns How to Get Tested for TB” was recognized nationally in 2018 with the Project Excellence Award from TB Education and Training Network.

Ms. Coyne graduated from Oregon State University in 2015, with a Master of Public Health and a Minor in Queer Studies, and has special interests in LGBTQ health equity, harm reduction, and language justice. During her graduate career, Ms. Coyne worked alongside the Swasti Health Resource Centre in Bangalore, India to re-design and evaluate HIV prevention programming for transgender women in Southern India.