IHPI recognizes outstanding faculty among its membership who are addressing pressing questions related to health or healthcare quality, safety, equity, and affordability, and whose work has informed health policy or practice at the local, state, national, or global level. Beyond receiving grants and publishing in academic journals, the awardees have actively engaged with policymakers or key policy stakeholders to inform health policy or practice changes.
For more information about the award and nomination process, visit the IHPI Policy Impact Award nomination page.
And the winners are...
2024
- Hallie Prescott, M.D., M.Sc., was selected for her leadership in advancing sepsis care by improving clinical guidelines and patient outcomes at state, national, and international levels. She directs the Michigan Hospital Medicine Safety Sepsis Initiative, a 69-hospital collaborative funded by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and highlighted in AHRQ’s 2024 report to Congress. Prescott serves as a CDC subject matter expert, advises the VA on national sepsis care improvements, and co-chairs the international Surviving Sepsis Campaign, shaping guideline updates to strengthen sepsis treatment and outcomes worldwide. Read more >
- April Zeoli, Ph.D., M.P.H., received the IHPI Policy Impact Award for her leadership in advancing firearm safety laws. A national expert on preventing firearm-related intimate partner violence, she had some of the largest studies on Extreme Risk Protection Orders (Red Flag Laws) and advised Michigan on its most comprehensive gun safety reforms in decades. Zeoli has shaped state and federal policies, including the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, and her expertise has been recognized by the White House and the U-M President’s Award for Public Impact. Read more >
2023
- Steven Broglio, Ph.D., was selected for his sustained engagement and leadership in concussion research and policy that have led to better safety protocols for active people on a global scale. Broglio’s research has informed state, national, and international policy decisions and clinical guidelines in the realm of concussion assessment, management, and prevention. Notably, the findings from his largest study, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and U.S. Department of Defense CARE Consortium, have strengthened health and safety measures for athletes and military service members worldwide by improving concussion management techniques and laying the groundwork for better protective gear. Read more >
- Chad Ellimoottil, M.D., M.S., was selected for his significant contributions to policy and practice at institutional, state, and national levels in the rapidly evolving landscape of virtual care. At Michigan Medicine, Ellimoottil serves as medical director of virtual care, overseeing the delivery of 450,000 virtual encounters annually and guiding the health system’s five-year strategic plan for virtual care. He also founded the U-M Telehealth Research Incubator at IHPI, through which he has built a robust research network, authored many publications, and secured grants to advance telehealth research. His impact extends nationally, including testimony before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee’s Subcommittee on Health Care, where he offered insights to inform telehealth policy for Medicare beneficiaries. Read more >
2022
- Sue Anne Bell, Ph.D., FNP-BC, FAAN, a nationally recognized scholar of disasters and health, was honored for her leadership in advising disaster preparedness and response efforts for vulnerable populations at the federal level. She has served as a health scientist advisor on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)’s National Advisory Council since 2017. In 2021, her testimony before the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging and published research informed legislation establishing programs and services to assist individuals with disabilities and older adults with disaster preparedness. Read more >
- Karandeep Singh, M.D., M.M.Sc., was recognized for his sustained efforts to evaluate and improve clinical prediction models that leverage electronic health record data to help medical staff across the country recognize atypical symptoms faster and make more accurate diagnoses. His research has highlighted several problems with proprietary prediction models such as inadequate reporting by vendors, a disregard for clinical context, and a lack of regulation. To address these issues, Singh shares his findings and recommendations with leaders in the health information technology industry, government regulators, and policymakers. Read more >
2021
- Lewei (Allison) Lin, M.D., M.Sc., was honored for her work identifying disparities in substance use disorder treatment and developing and testing novel virtually-delivered interventions to improve access and outcomes for this vulnerable patient population. Lin has engaged with numerous state and national stakeholders to inform telehealth and addiction treatment policy. In November 2022, Lin and her team published an IHPI brief that indicates telehealth has played a major role in maintaining and increasing access to buprenorphine treatment for individuals with opioid use disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more >
- Michael Sjoding, M.D., was honored for his research that has uncovered racial disparities in the accuracy of pulse oximeters, finding that Black patients were significantly more likely than white patients to have low oxygen levels that were missed by pulse oximeters. Sjoding has connected with national and international policymakers, press and stakeholders to raise awareness of this issue of biased medical tech and discuss opportunities to correct it. In September 2022, Sjoding and his team published an IHPI brief summarizing findings from studies of pulse oximeter discrepancies across three patient populations. Read more >
2020
- Emily Martin, Ph.D., M.P.H., was honored for her data-driven approach to informing the state of Michigan and U-M’s response to the COVID19 pandemic, as well as her efforts to communicate the science behind the virus, vaccines, and public health measures to diverse audiences nationwide. In August 2021, Martin and her team published an IHPI brief about the COVID-19 data tracking tools they developed to inform public health responses in Michigan throughout the pandemic. Read more >
- Pooja Lagisetty, M.D., M.Sc., was recognized for her research on expanding access to evidence-based treatments for individuals with chronic pain and opioid use disorders, which has impacted national policy on barriers to opioid addiction treatment. In August 2021, Lagisetty and her team published an IHPI brief examining barriers to primary and specialty pain care for patients taking opioids for chronic pain and outlining a series of policy considerations to improve access. Read more >
2019
- Renuka (Renu) Tipirneni, M.D., M.Sc., was recognized for her role in the evaluation of Medicaid policy changes in Michigan, and her timely and insightful translation of those findings to inform policy discussions and program implementation at the state and national level. Read more >
- The Michigan Opioid Prescribing Engagement Network (Michigan OPEN) team, led by co-directors and co-founders Drs. Michael Englesbe, Jennifer Waljee, and Chad Brummett, was honored for their work in developing evidence-based, preventive approaches to address the opioid crisis. Read more >
2018
- SENIOR
Reshma Jagsi, M.D., D.Phil., was recognized for her significant contributions toward promoting gender equity in medicine through her scholarship and leadership at the national level, by advancing evidence to support policy decision-making within this field. Read more >
- EARLY CAREER
Michelle Moniz, M.D., M.Sc., FACOG, was honored for her work that has directly informed Medicaid reimbursement and commercial insurance coverage policies around contraception, affecting access to essential services for millions of women across the country. Read more >
2017
Lisa Prosser, Ph.D., M.S., was recognized for her work in evaluating the effectiveness and value of new health interventions within two important areas of health services: immunization and newborn screening. Her research has had a direct impact on the decisions shaping the health and healthcare of millions of Americans. Read more >
2016
- SENIOR
Sanjay Saint, M.D., M.P.H., was honored for his pioneering work and leadership in reducing catheter-associated urinary tract infections, which has resulted in improved patient outcomes locally, nationally, and internationally. Read more >
Brant Fries, Ph.D., M.S., was recognized for his work focused on assuring quality, designing effective payment systems and regulation, improving operational efficiency, and enabling effective financing and policy decisions. His work has significantly changed long-term care practice and regulation in the U.S. and around the world, leading to improved outcomes for older adults and other vulnerable groups. Read more >
- EARLY CAREER
Vineet Chopra, M.D., M.S., was honored for his leadership of a research program devoted to improving the use of vascular access devices and preventing device-associated complications, which rank among the most costly and prevalent healthcare-acquired conditions in the U.S. His research has helped shape policy and practice around intravenous (IV) devices at the local, regional, national, and international level in several ways. Read more >
2015
- SENIOR
Matthew M. Davis, M.D., MAPP, was honored for his dedication to bridging the gap between academia and government using research throughout his career. As Michigan's Chief Medical Executive from 2013 to 2015, Davis played a key role in designing aspects of the Healthy Michigan Plan, the state's Medicaid expansion program. He also led initiatives to reduce infant mortality and racial disparities, address concerns about e-cigarettes, and improve chronic disease interventions.
- EARLY CAREER
Julia Adler-Milstein, Ph.D., is a national expert on policy and management issues related to the use of IT in healthcare delivery. She was recognized for her research on the state of electronic health information exchange in the U.S. and her efforts to propose policy solutions to ensure that health information is available whenever and wherever it is needed.
Nicholas Bagley, J.D., was recognized for his legal research and analysis of how the government enacted the Affordable Care Act’s provisions for a broad array of healthcare reforms—from new insurance programs and requirements to new incentive models for better care at lower costs. Read more >
2014
- SENIOR
Darrell (Skip) Campbell, Jr., who worked with Blue Cross Blue Shield to develop the Michigan Surgical Quality Collaborative, was honored for his significant contributions to improving surgical care management in Michigan and beyond. Read more >
- EARLY CAREER
Amy Bohnert, Ph.D., was recognized for her opioid crisis-related research which advanced pain management and treatment by exposing the relationship between opioid prescribing and overdose deaths. Read more >
Michelle Macy, M.D., was honored for her research and policy efforts to improve child passenger safety standards in Michigan. As a member of the Office of Highway Safety Planning’s Michigan Occupant Protection Action Team, she helped inform and draft the Occupant Protection Action Plan, a statement of goals and strategies for increasing appropriate restraint use and reducing injury in the state.