Meet the Institute for Population Health Advisors
The IPH is guided by an advisory committee composed of Creighton faculty and staff representing a cross-section of the University community involved in population health work in some way, along with clinical partner representatives from Nebraska and Phoenix. The committee helped establish the guiding vision and mission for the Institute and continues to provide leadership and guidance through quarterly meetings with IPH team leaders. Committee members also contributed to the development of a five-year strategic plan, which provides clear goals and direction for the IPH team. In each edition of Access, we will introduce you to two members of the advisory board.
Jillian Wallen, BDS, MS, dean of the School of Dentistry and professor of pediatric dentistry, has served on the IPH advisory board since its inception in 2023. Wallen brings a unique perspective to the board as a member of a healthcare profession that is typically not included in interprofessional healthcare efforts. She said she is excited to bring the idea of oral health as part of whole healthcare to the board in discussing the goals and strategies of the IPH. She sees the board’s primary role as guiding and supporting the institute in its efforts.
Wallen also said she is pleased that the IPH has brought Human Centered Design (HCD) to Creighton.
“HCD was part of the work I did at a previous institution,” she said. “HCD certainly can benefit the patient experience in healthcare, but it can also be broadly applied across the schools and colleges to benefit the community.”
Wallen said she also participated in HCD from a different perspective — as a patient advocate as a parent with a child with special healthcare needs.
“I’m excited to see how it evolves here on campus,” she said. “I can speak from experience and share perspectives from different lenses. It’s nice to have an opportunity to reframe the conversation; to ask questions like, ‘How can we use this in the healthcare space?’ and ‘How can we listen to the community we serve to find out what they need?’”
Monica White, assistant professor of cultural and social studies and director of the social work program, is a licensed master social worker and licensed mental health practitioner. White joined the board because she was excited by the Institute’s focus on innovation in healthcare delivery to increase access.
“The IPH is important because Creighton is a leader in educating the workforce,” White said. “The most obvious are those students who will be direct healthcare providers. The less obvious, but equally important, are the many others who will become community leaders who help form the network of resources focused on holistic health, mental health and well-being. The IPH helps synthesize and mobilize many moving parts into sustainable systems-level change.”
The board, White continued, provides a space where people from many perspectives can share ideas, including community, medical providers, researchers, academics, clinicians, staff and more.
“The goal of these ideas is action,” she said, “and trying to sort through a complex medical world with strategies that will make a measurable difference for patients and communities.”
