Prescott, Zeoli receive IHPI honor for impact on health policy and practice

The recipients of the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy & Innovation (IHPI)’s 2025 policy impact awards — Hallie Prescott, M.D., M.Sc., and April Zeoli, Ph.D., M.P.H. — have made far-reaching impacts through their efforts to improve sepsis treatment and firearm safety, respectively.   

The awards presented at the Institute’s annual Member Forum on April 9 recognize the recipients’ sustained engagement with policy audiences and dedication to improving health policy and practice.  

As part of their award, Prescott and Zeoli will each receive $5,000 to support their ongoing research and have their work showcased in a future IHPI written or multimedia product.  

About Prescott: Improving care for patients with sepsis on a global scale 

Hallie Prescott, associate professor of internal medicine at U-M Medical School, a physician at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, and an investigator at the VA Center for Clinical Management Research, is a leading voice in sepsis care and policy, whose work has improved clinical guidelines and outcomes for patients with this life-threatening complication at state, national, and international levels.

Prescott directs the Michigan Hospital Medicine Safety Sepsis Initiative, a statewide quality collaborative funded by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) and comprised of 69 hospitals. The initiative has garnered national recognition, including a feature in the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ’s) 2024 report to Congress, and Prescott's expertise has been sought by the 2024 White House Round Table on Sepsis and other high-level forums.

In 2022, Prescott was appointed as a subject matter expert for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where she drew upon her research on sepsis care to play a pivotal role in developing, promoting, and tracking the uptake of the CDC’s Hospital Sepsis Program Core Elements guidance. She also serves as an advisor to the Veterans Health Administration’s Inpatient Evaluation Center, supporting the development of a quality improvement program to improve and track sepsis outcomes across more than 100 VA medical centers nationwide.

On the international stage, Prescott co-chairs the Surviving Sepsis Campaign, contributing to the creation of globally adopted clinical guidelines for sepsis care that have been broadly recognized in yielding positive sepsis outcomes for patients around the world.  In the development of the most recent 2021 guidelines, her research informed sepsis care updates regarding antibiotic timing, the need for urgency in treating patients in septic shock, and diagnostic uncertainty at the bedside. She also led a charge to better integrate patient and care partner voices, resulting in several fundamental changes to the guidelines and new recommendations.

Beyond her research and leadership, Prescott is a dedicated advocate for patients. She helps bridge the gap between families and health care professionals through advising of advocacy organizations, Sepsis Alliance and END SEPSIS.

“Dr. Prescott has been an exemplar for health services researchers who seek to conduct rigorous scientific work, but then also translate that work into impact through advocacy and integration into policy,” wrote Sameer Saini, M.D., M.S., professor of internal medicine and director of the VA Center for Clinical Management Research, in his letter nominating her for the award. “She has measurably improved outcomes and experiences for patients and families impacted by this life-threatening complication.”

About Zeoli: Informing firearm safety regulations across the U.S. 

April Zeoli, associate professor of health management and policy at the U-M School of Public Health and director of the policy core in the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention, is receiving the IHPI Policy Impact Award for her dedication to translating research into meaningful policy change in firearm injury prevention at the state and national levels.  

A leading national expert, Zeoli has focused her research on policy interventions aimed at reducing firearm use in intimate partner violence and homicide. She is currently leading the most extensive study to date on Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPO), commonly known as Red Flag Laws, which allow law enforcement, or concerned family or friends, to petition a court to temporarily remove firearms from a person who is deemed to be at high risk of harming themselves or others.  

In Michigan, Zeoli advised lawmakers as they developed the most comprehensive package of firearm safety regulations the state has seen in over three decades. These reforms included new laws on ERPOs, safe storage requirements, expanded background checks, responsible firearm disposal, and a ban on firearm possession for individuals convicted of domestic violence misdemeanors. In recognition of her expertise and leadership in the implementation of these laws, Zeoli was appointed chair of the Intimate Partner Violence Subcommittee and a member of the ERPO Subcommittee on the Michigan Gun Violence Prevention Task Force by Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2024.   

Beyond Michigan’s borders, Zeoli’s research has been cited by lawmakers across the country, and she has provided expert testimony before state legislatures in Colorado and Washington. At the federal level, she shared her expertise with the U.S. House of Representatives Gun Violence Prevention Task Force during the drafting of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022, specifically helping to close the "boyfriend loophole" in federal domestic violence firearm restrictions. Her contributions were recognized with an invitation to the White House in September 2024 to mark the 30th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act. Most recently, in February 2025, she joined a U.S. Congressional briefing to address strategies for preventing intimate partner violence. 

“Dr. Zeoli embodies the public mission of the university by actively addressing the significant societal and public health harm caused by firearms,” wrote her nominator, Denise Anthony, Ph.D., professor of health management and policy. “Her research establishes the evidence base to support new policies to limit harm, and she uses her expertise to advise both governmental bodies and community organizations to change policy and practice in ways that protect human lives.”  

In addition to this award from IHPI, Zeoli was named a 2024 recipient of the U-M President’s Award for Public Impact.