IPH Campus Engagement

Partnering with and creating opportunities for faculty and students.

The Institute works to increase the Creighton community’s understanding of population health, to breakdown silos by encouraging cross-disciplinary collaboration and research and to provide opportunities for faculty, staff and students to participate in population health efforts on campus and in the community.

President’s Fund in Population Health

The President’s Fund in Population Health was established to encourage and support faculty-led efforts to improve the health and wellbeing of communities at the population level. Administered by the IPH, faculty are supported in various initiatives that improve the health of targeted populations through needs assessments, implementation of interventions, and their evaluation and sustainability. The 2025 President's Fund in Population Health projects include – AI-Enhanced Refugee Health: Smarter Solutions for Wellness; Assessing the Needs of the Unhoused Populations Served by St. Vincent de Paul in Phoenix; Empowering Vulnerable and Unhoused Youth for Positive Change Through Cross-Sector Collaboration; and Understanding and Addressing the Needs of Youth and Families at the Stephen Center. The 2024 projects included – Meeting Patients Where They Are: A Street Psychiatry Initiative; Life Together: Seeking What Makes Us Whole (understanding loneliness on Creighton’s campus); Listening and Learning: Experiences of North and South Omaha Residents in partnership with CHI Healthy Communities; Creighton Connecting Children, Youth, and Families at the Stephen Center; and Fostering Health Equity Through a Community-Based Advanced Care Planning Clinic.

Creighton University School of Medicine and Institute for Population Health

Faculty Development and Curricular Programs

The IPH is partnering with the School of Medicine and the College of Professional and Continuing Education to develop meaningful graduate medical education programs and fellowships. The institute has also created a faculty development course in Human Centered Design.

CAREs Unit

The institute is establishing a CORE for Applied Research and Evaluations (CAREs unit) as a campuswide resource for qualitative and mixed-methods research, in support of academic, community and health system-oriented program evaluations, contracts and grants.

Health Equity and Workforce Diversity Research Interest Group

The IPH hosts a monthly online meeting for faculty and students that spotlights current faculty efforts to improve health equity through research and evaluation.

CommonSpirit Health LEAD Scholars Program

The CommonSpirit Health LEAD Scholars program focuses service-learning and training on leadership, diversity and inclusion, advocacy and community engagement. This pilot program is overseen by IPH in partnership with clinical and educational leaders in Phoenix and kicked off in fall 2024.

Envisioning Population Health Student Photo Contest

IPH and Kingfisher Institute partnered to hold the 2025 Envisioning Population Health Student Photo Contest. The contest challenged students across the University’s schools and colleges to find creative ways to capture various factors influencing individual and community health and well-being, resulting in 88 entries in three categories: mental health and well-being; planetary health; and social determinants of health.

First- and second-place winners were chosen for each category for both the Omaha and Phoenix campuses. “The thoughtful and creative entries we received this year reflect our students’ increasing understanding of population health and views about how they can make a positive impact on factors that affect not only their own health and well-being, but the health and well-being of their friends and neighbors, people in their state and nation, and even across the globe,” said Scott Shipman, MD, MPH, IPH executive director and CyncHealth Endowed Professor of Population Health. Take a look at the winners below.

Other Campus Work in Population Health

Population health management is a team endeavor, requiring the alignment of diverse perspectives and expertise to improve health equity and access to healthcare. Creighton is connected to the communities that surround us in a variety of ways across several disciplines. The Institute for Population Health sits at the intersection of these initiatives and more.

The Cura Project

The Cura Project is a collaboration between the School of Pharmacy and Health Professions and CHI Health. It assists Omahans with Type II Diabetes who are struggling to afford healthy eating. The program provides support through financial coaching, health lifestyle coaching, groceries and access to a financial social worker. 

Magis Clinic

The Magis Clinic is a student-run clinic offering free healthcare to unhoused and uninsured populations. It also offers referrals to existing community services.

Creighton in Phoenix

At Creighton's Phoenix campus, students and faculty promote population health via their involvement with a variety of initiatives, including those that increase access to healthcare for uninsured patients, provide housing for adults with autism and Down syndrome, provide personal care attendants for people with disabilities, and more.