Michigan Public Health researchers are leading a new project aimed at improving maternal and child health for Latina women in Detroit. The project — Community-based Collaborative to Improve Birth Outcomes in Latina Women — is funded by a 2-year $350,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

“University of Michigan has been an amazing partner – they have been able to connect us with tons of resources and tons of knowledge. They are a partner we can count on. Partnerships with U-M are invaluable. They take your work to places may not have imagined. Being able to work with brilliant minds and with folks who look at things differently will push you in your own work.”

~ Camille Johnson, director of development and communications for Eastside Community Network

Community Action to Promote Healthy Environments at the University of Michigan School of Public Health is a research partnership that includes community-based and health organizations, representatives from governmental organizations along with academic partners working to develop and implement components of a public health action plan to improve air quality and health in Detroit.

Michigan Public Health researchers sought to identify the major sources of particulate matter (PM2.5) in Southwest Detroit, using data collected over six years (2016-2021) to contrast with previous data collected from 2001-2014.

Working with aerial and satellite imagery and more than 30,000 trees in Detroit, researchers from the University of Michigan set out in 2017 to find a better way to measure pollen. By the time they wrapped up their research two years later, the researchers believed they had tested and proved a more precise and meaningful way to know when and where pollen will most likely affect allergy sufferers. 

“Working with good researchers who aren’t only here for the research but engage with the community and understand participants’ culture and language to help achieve meaningful data is really important to us.”

~ Dr. Richard Bryce

Roshanak Mehdipanah, who has lived in major cities including Tehran, Barcelona and Toronto, has always been fascinated by the urban landscape. It is, in fact, what brought her to the University of Michigan in 2015. 

Faculty awardees work includes the Doctors of Tomorrow program, diversity, equity and inclusion recruiting and teaching methods, diversifying library materials, participatory filmmaking and using mindfulness to address social injustice.

“Throughout my time at Michigan, I developed a unique tool box of technical and cultural skills, and grew a diverse network of relationships that undoubtedly prepared me for the work I am called to today.”
~ Leseliey Welch, MBA ’12