Institute for Health and Society

Overview

Mission

To improve health and advance health equity through community and academic partnerships.

Guiding Principles

• Integrate public and community health across research, education, clinical, and community initiatives.
• Foster collaboration among departments and disciplines, and strengthen relationships with community.
• Support advocacy and policy change as keys for systemic transformation.
• Build capacity by creating and strengthening effective partnerships that are innovative and mutually beneficial.
• Share power and resources equitably among partners to maximize effective outcomes.
• Nurture programs in public health disciplines and encourage methodological research in biostatistics, bioethics, and global health.

Strengths of the Institute Model

• Recognize interdisciplinary nature and breadth of community, population, public, and global health research.
• Uniquely positioned in MCW strategic plan as both platform technology and discipline.
• Capitalizes on College-wide faculty interests and expertise
• Fosters collaboration across departments
• Strengthens linkages with community and builds on community expertise
• Increases opportunities for leveraging funds
• Enhances visibility of MCW's commitment to community engagement
• Builds upon Biostatistics' successful track record of collaborative and basic research
• Advances nationally-known Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities

Institute Components with Faculty Leadership

Research

• Will occur is partnership with MCW departments and interdisciplinary centers
• Research-intensive faculty recruits will be part of collaborating departments and the Institute
• Core space for interdisciplinary efforts across departments will reside in the Institute
• Includes Clinical and Translational Science Institute Biostatistics and Bioethics key functions
• Includes basic research in statistical methodology

Education

• Graduate education programs in bioethics, biostatistics, public and community health, and MPH
• Urban and Community Health and Global Health Medical Education Pathway
• Healthy Wisconsin Leadership Institute
• Education pipeline programs

Health Equity and Urban Clinical Care Partnerships

• Forge partnerships with federally qualified health centers
• Enhance affiliation with Children's Hospital and Froedtert Hospital for care models
• Develop new models for primary care access for underserved populations through academic and community partnerships

Community Engagement

• Healthier Wisconsin Partnership Program
• Youth Violence Prevention Initiative
• Community Engagement Key Function of the CTSI

Cross-Cutting Initiatives

• Biostatistics
• Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities
• Global Health Program

External Collaborations

• Strengthen partnerships with community organizations
• Foster collaboration with academic institutions, health care organizations, and state and local health departments
• Foster collaboration with federally qualified health centers

Planning Process

The institute was developed with a unique 30-member community-academic planning committee

Leadership

Dr. John Meurer, MD, MBA serves as the Director for the Institute for Health and Society.  Each component of the Institute is led by a faculty director.