AHW Awards $3.9 Million for 66 Health Improvement Projects

January 21, 2025 Posted by AHW Endowment

The Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment (AHW) is excited to announce the 66 new projects selected for Seed Grant funding. The projects focus on improving health and advancing health equity across Wisconsin.

AHW’s Seed Grants support initiatives designed to lay the groundwork for longer-term efforts to address Wisconsin’s leading health challenges. The grants, each up to $50,000, were awarded through a competitive application process and approved for funding by the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) Consortium on Public and Community Health, the AHW Research and Education Advisory Committee, and the MCW Board of Trustees.

“The Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment continues to develop strong partnerships throughout Wisconsin to improve the health of the people and communities we serve,” said AHW Director Jesse Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH. “This latest round of Seed Grant funding further demonstrates the successful formula we’ve used throughout our 20-year history to propel the best ideas for maximizing the health of our friends and neighbors throughout the state and beyond.”

Seed Grant Funding for a Healthier Wisconsin

AHW awarded 66 grants amounting to $3,879,305 that will fuel 21 community-led projects throughout the state, 32 projects led by MCW faculty, and 13 projects shepherded by MCW post-doctoral researchers with faculty supervision. The Seed Grant awards will take effect in January 2025.

Community-based organizations receiving AHW Seed Grants work with MCW faculty members to carry out their community-led projects collaboratively. Community-led projects receiving AHW funding represent 36 Wisconsin counties, with eight projects impacting the entire state. These projects include initiatives devoted to housing security; mental health services; healthy food access; suicide prevention; refugee and immigrant integration programs; sexually transmitted infection prevention and care; and maternal and child health.

Among the MCW projects receiving AHW funding are studies focused on the diagnosis and treatment of opioid use disorders; spinal cord and traumatic brain injury; liver disease; Alzheimer’s disease; epilepsy; and cancer.

Use the links below to visit each project’s summary page and learn more.

2025 AHW Seed Grant Recipients

Health-Focused Research

Health Workforce Education and Development

Wisconsin Health Career Lab: A Novel Approach to Upstream Workforce Development
Principal Investigator: Andrew Klein, MD, Radiology

Vaccinating Parents and Siblings of Pediatric ED Patients, a Novel Method to Improve Vaccine Equity
Principal Investigator: Shannon Baumer-Mouradian, MD, Pediatrics

Engaging VPIT to Enhance Emergency Resident Training in Telehealth (E-VERT)
Principal Investigator: Thomas Yang, MD, Emergency Medicine

Wisconsin's Behavioral Healthcare Future: Bettering Our Systems through Peer Recovery Coach Training
Primary Community Organization: Arbor Place, Inc.
Primary Academic Partner: Felice Borisy-Rudin, JD, PhD, Pharmacology and Toxicology

HCET Provider Education Project: STI Masterclass (STIM)
Primary Community Organization: Health Care Education & Training, Inc.
Primary Academic Partner: Jennifer Walsh, PhD, Center for AIDS Intervention Research

Transforming Patient Interactions: A Performance Improvement Approach to Health Literacy
Primary Community Organization: Wisconsin Medical Society
Primary Academic Partner: Corina Norrbom, MD, Regional Campus-Central Wisconsin

Empowering Sauk County's Public Health Workforce with AI Tools for Enhanced Efficiency and Equity
Primary Community Organization: Public Health Sauk County
Primary Academic Partner: Stacee Lerret, PhD, Pediatrics

Community-Led Mental Health Transformation on Milwaukee's Southside
Primary Community Organization: Saint Adalbert Congregation
Primary Academic Partner: Courtney Barry, PsyD, MS, Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine

Public and Community Health Improvement

Health and Housing Insecurity among Milwaukee County’s Older Adults
Primary Community Organization: Community Advocates, Inc.
Primary Academic Partner: David Nelson, Ph.D., MS, Family Medicine

YCare: Supporting Young Caregivers in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Families
Primary Community Organization: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Primary Academic Partner: Courtney Barry, PsyD, MS, Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine

Health Videos as a Culturally Sound Approach to Integration among Refugee and Immigrant Populations
Primary Community Organization: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Primary Academic Partner: Fabrice Jotterand, PhD, Institute for Health and Equity

Milwaukee County Community Mental Health Navigation Initiative
Primary Community Organization: Mental Health America of Wisconsin
Primary Academic Partner: Leslie Ruffalo, PhD, Family Medicine

Nourishing Futures: Enhancing Maternal Child Health through Nutrition and Education
Primary Community Organization: Great Rivers United Way
Primary Academic Partner: Abbey Kruper, PsyD, Obstetrics & Gynecology

CAtCH Project: Data Integration for Rapid Crisis Response
Primary Community Organization: NorthLakes Community Clinic
Primary Academic Partner: Fabrice Jotterand, PhD, Institute for Health and Equity

Partnerships for Success: Innovative Health Support for Young Parents in Schools
Primary Community Organization: Madison Metropolitan School District
Primary Academic Partner: Mochamad Nataliansyah, PhD, MD, MPH, Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine

SSM Heart Math and Trauma Informed Care Suicide Prevention Training
Primary Community Organization: SSM Health
Primary Academic Partner: David Nelson, PhD, MS, Family Medicine

211 Wisconsin/WIRE Validated Screening Pilot
Primary Community Organization: 211 Wisconsin, Inc
Primary Academic Partner: Constance Gundacker, MD, MPH, FAAP, Pediatrics

Identifying Pathways to Implement the Help Me Grow Model within Health Systems
Primary Community Organization: First 5 Fox Valley
Primary Academic Partner: Jennifer Koop, PhD, ABPP, Neurology

Integrity for Data Equity and Accuracy (IDEA)
Primary Community Organization: WHA Foundation, Inc.
Primary Academic Partner: Mochamad Nataliansyah, PhD, MD, MPH, Surgery

Minobiimaadiziiwin-Good Mental Health in Community-Based Qualitative Research Storytelling Program
Primary Community Organization: Waaswaaganing Institute of Indigenous Teaching and Learning
Primary Academic Partner: Brian Jackson, PhD, Institute for Health and Equity

Ozaukee Food Alliance Fresh Foods/Food as Medicine Initiative
Primary Community Organization: Ozaukee Food Alliance
Primary Academic Partner: Corina Norrbom, MD, Regional Campus-Central Wisconsin

Nurturing the Nurturers
Primary Community Organization: The Doula Village MKE
Primary Academic Partner: Christopher Simenz, Ms, PhD, Institute for Health and Equity

Empowering Community Health
Primary Community Organization: Green County Development Corporation
Primary Academic Partner: Katinka Hooyer, PhD, Family Medicine

Empowering Wisconsin Faith-Based Groups to Combat Elderly Isolation and Depression
Primary Community Organization: Health Equity Leadership Partnership Global
Primary Academic Partner: Jamila Kwarteng, PhD, MS, Institute for Health and Equity