Kandyce Brennan named a Macy Faculty Fellow

A smiling woman with long dark hair stands with arms crossed on a red graphic announcing Macy Faculty Scholars, Introducing the Class of 2026. Text reads: Kandyce Brennan, DNP, CNM, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing.

Kandyce Brennan, DNP, CNM, has been selected as a 2026 Macy Faculty Scholar, one of five health professionals nationwide chosen for the prestigious program. Supported by the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, the Macy Faculty Scholars Program identifies and nurtures promising early-career educators in medicine and nursing.

“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Kandyce Brennan to the 2026 class of Macy Faculty Scholars,” said Peter Goodwin, Interim President of the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation. “As an educator, Dr. Brennan founded a mobile health clinic that serves rural counties in North Carolina and has been a training site for more than 500 students from across the health professions. This experience uniquely positions her to carry out her proposed project, Community Oriented Misinformation Prevention through Advocacy and Shared Strategies (COMPASS)—a project that aims to address one of today’s most pressing health challenges. We welcome the opportunity to learn from and alongside her as she engages learners and communities to counter dangerous health misinformation.”

Brennan is a certified nurse-midwife dedicated to advancing health through clinical education, innovation and community partnership. She serves as medical director of REACH, a mobile health initiative that delivers care and interprofessional learning experiences in rural and underserved communities across North Carolina. A Society of Family Planning Changemaker Fellow, her work focuses on preparing future clinicians to address health inequities, ethical challenges and the growing impact of health misinformation.

Her Macy Scholars project, COMPASS, will develop and evaluate an interprofessional, community-engaged curriculum. The initiative aims to equip clinicians and community health advocates to address health misinformation as a social determinant of health, strengthening trust and improving outcomes in underserved communities.

The 2026 cohort will explore a range of timely topics, including ethical decision-making in clinical practice, trainee well-being and flourishing, interprofessional care for older adults, health misinformation as a social determinant of health and improving communication for patients with limited English proficiency.

“We are excited to support the 2026 cohort in their career journeys, recognizing their promise as future leaders and their desire to affect positive change for the next generation of health professions learners,” wrote Goodwin in the Macy Foundation’s announcement earlier this week. “Each member of the 2026 class of Macy Faculty Scholars voiced a deep and oftentimes personal connection to their proposed project, and we are eager to support them in their scholarly efforts. There is a sense of urgency and timeliness in each of these projects—projects that squarely address the Macy Foundation’s priority areas.”

Brennan will be mentored by 2014 Macy Faculty Scholar Meg Zomorodi, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN, professor and associate provost for interprofessional health initiatives at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

About the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation
Since 1930, the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation has worked to improve health care in the United States. Founded by Kate Macy Ladd in memory of her father, Josiah Macy Jr., the Foundation supports projects in three priority areas: increasing collaboration among future health professionals, preparing them to navigate ethical dilemmas and advancing inclusive excellence in health professions education. It is the only national foundation solely dedicated to improving health professions education. Learn more at macyfoundation.org and follow the Foundation on LinkedIn.