As part of a reorganization within the College of Public Health, the Iowa Institute of Public Health Research and Policy will be renamed and combined with the Institute for Public Health Practice and the Center for Public Health Statistics.

The new organizational structure encompassing these units will be named the Institute for Public Health Practice, Research and Policy (IPHPRP).

The IPHPRP will include the following units:

• Public Health Practice and Workforce Development Core (incorporating the Institute for Public Health Practice and the Midwestern Public Health Training Center)
• Statistics/Analytics Core (incorporating the Center for Public Health Statistics)
• Research and Evaluation Core (incorporating the Health Policy Research Program previously at the UI Public Policy Center)

This new structure, approved today by the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, will expand support of Iowa’s public health and health care entities in population health and strategically invest available financial resources and staffing expertise to maximize the college’s impact in the practice, research, and policy arena. In addition, it will raise the visibility of the cores and centers within the IPHPRP, provide enhanced collaboration opportunities across the combined units, and create more opportunities for CPH faculty involvement in the Institute. We will be hosting a session in the near future to share more information about activities and opportunities within the IPHPRP.

The mission of the IPHPRP will continue to be:

• Fostering grassroots application of cutting-edge public health research to address grand challenges in population health.
• Promoting linkages between the College of Public Health’s academic and service activities with public health practitioners at the local, state, and federal levels.
• Serving as a catalyst to create intellectual communities that reach across disciplinary boundaries by bringing together researchers, healthcare organizations, providers, citizens, community leaders, private partners, and policy makers to help shape and inform public health policy.
• Serving as a repository to collect, analyze, and disseminate public health data.
• Continuing to serve as a leader in public health workforce development for the state and Midwest region.

As was the case when the IIPHRP was established, the dean of the College of Public Health will serve as the leader of the IPHPRP. Other leadership roles within the IPHPRP include:

• Vickie Miene, Executive Director
• Laurie Walkner, Director of Public Health Practice and Workforce Development Core
• Jacob Oleson, Director of Statistics/Analytics Core
• Natoshia Askelson, Director of Research and Evaluation Core

“I look forward to working with fellow leaders of the new IPHPRP, others in the College of Public Health, and colleagues across campus to expand our capacity and increase collaborative partnerships to respond to changing public health needs in our state,” said Edith Parker, dean of the College of Public Health.