Grant to IU aims to improve state health with reciprocal innovation
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The Indiana University Center for Global Health Equity will use a three-year, $1.5 million Eli Lilly and Co. Foundation grant in hopes of improving the state’s health.
The university will use the grant, called Applying Global Lessons to Advance Health Equity in Indiana, to adapt and use research from its Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH) partnership in Kenya. IU began working with a university and hospital in the country 35 years ago to build health systems and promote well-being in underserved areas.
The university said in a news release people in Indiana and in Kenya share similarities when it comes to barriers to health care, including provider shortages, transportation access and high costs.
“We will start with a focus on Indianapolis and a county in rural Indiana where we will work with the communities to adapt and implement innovative solutions to improve health outcomes and reduce health disparities,” Dr. Laura Ruhl, director of reciprocal innovation for the IU Center for Global Health Equity, said in the release. “Addressing the world’s most critical health challenges requires high-quality innovations that can work in diverse settings around the globe.”
Reciprocal innovation refers to the process of identifying successful ways to improve care for underserved people in one place and adapting them to do the same in another place.
The Kenya initiative has tested over a million patients for HIV as well as established care programs for conditions like cancer, diabetes and maternal health. AMPATH has also trained over 6,000 medical professionals and community health workers in the country.
The Center for Global Health Equity focuses its research on innovations and solutions that can both improve care as well as be adapted in other communities.
The grant builds on a previous five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health given to the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute. There, reciprocal innovation was developed and used to fund 36 grant projects, IU said.
“Through our leadership in innovation and research, IU has worked with global partners to develop transformative solutions to healthcare challenges people face around the world,” IU President Pamela Whitten said in the release. “We are grateful to the Eli Lilly and Company Foundation for supporting our continued commitment to improving the health of Indiana and beyond.”