Institutional Member Highlight: University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute

The University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute (UWPHI) brings together faculty, staff, and student expertise collaboratively with local, state and national experts to address real-world problems. One of IAPHS’s earliest institutional members, the Institute is a focal point for public health and health policy discussions within the University of Wisconsin. UWPHI  carries out its mission, Translating Research for Policy and Practice, by developing and evaluating interventions and promoting evidence-based approaches to policy and practice.

UWPHI is directed by Sheri Johnson, former Administrator and State Health Officer for the Wisconsin Division of Public Health and a former Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Medical College of Wisconsin Center for Advancement of Underserved Children. Past leaders of the Institute have included Dave Kindig, Pat Remington, and Karen Timberlake. The Institute is located in the School of Medicine and Public Health and is aligned with the Department of Population Health Sciences.

The Institute’s work bridges public health, health policy, and practice. Led by a team of experts well-recognized in their fields and an active advisory board, UWPHI issues briefs and reports, provides training and technical assistance, and convenes periodic conferences and educational programs. The Institute promotes an exchange of expertise between those within the university and those in the policy and practice area.

“There is common ground to build on. Urban and rural residents want high quality educational opportunities available for children. People from many ethnic and cultural groups want to find ways to increase employment opportunities and to make sure that when people work hard, that they earn enough money to afford safe housing, nutritious food and have a little extra to enjoy some recreation, save for college and retirement, and help others” – Sheri Johnson, Director, UWPHI

The Institute’s activities center on four programs:

• County Health Rankings and Roadmaps, a major program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, supports communities across the nation that are engaged in health improvement with data, evidence, tools, and guidance. The program analyzes and disseminates trends in population health, identifies communities who are at the forefront of population health improvement, and networks communities and organizations leading population health efforts. Its population health model is widely used in communities across the nation and globally.
• Evaluation Research evaluates public health and human service programming.  Its foci include substance abuse prevention and treatment, maternal and child health, school health promotion, behavioral health in criminal justice populations, treatment courts, mental health, and chronic disease.
• Health Policy engages in research, consulting, and analysis in partnership with Wisconsin’s leading public and private sector policymakers in health and health care. These efforts focus especially on cost, financing, coverage, access, and health system performance, along with disparities and the social determinants of health.
• Mobilizing Action Toward Community Health (MATCH) monitors and assesses population health, engages diverse stakeholders in community health improvement, and connects the Institute to the public health and health care sectors in the state through seminars, conferences, training programs and collaborative efforts.

For almost 35 years, the Institute has been a model for partnership between health research and health policy and practice. It has made countless contributions to the field of population health.  IAPHS is deeply proud to count it as one of its institutional members.

Learn more about IAPHS institutional membership here.