This past summer, Provost Karen Hansen invited faculty to identify areas of exceptional crossdisciplinary strength where the Twin Cities campus might stake out special claims as a research university. University faculty, including SPH faculty, submitted 130 ideas that are the basis for focused campus-wide discussions leading to the identification of 3-5 Grand Challenges to be embraced as institutional priorities.
SPH-faculty submissions will be discussed under 5 forum headings. Please consider attending the forums and listening to their ideas.
Forum 1:
Monday, Oct. 12—10:30 a.m.–12 noon, Rec & Wellness Ctr. Room MP5
How will we ensure just and equitable societies?
- Creation of Critical/Applied Disability Studies at the University of Minnesota
Co-Submitter: Kirk Allison - Investing in Early Child Development for Prosperity in a Changing World
Co-Submitter: Wendy Hellerstedt - Mass Incarceration: The Grand Civil Rights Challenge of Our Day
Co-Submitter: Wendy Hellerstedt
Forum 2:
Tuesday, Oct. 13—10–11:30 a.m., Rec & Wellness Ctr., Room MP5
How will we foster human potential and well-being across the life course in a diverse and changing world?
- Digital Date Health Collaborative
Lead Submitter: Becky Wurtz
Forum 3:
Wednesday, Oct. 14— 8:30–10 a.m., Coffman/Campus Club, W. Wing
How will we advance human health?
- Creating Health Through Cross-Cultural Engagement
Co-Submitter: John Finnegan - Aging and Chronic Care
Lead Submitter: Robert Kane - Obesity Prevention: A Grand Challenge the University is Positioned to Address
Lead Submitters: Lisa Harnack and Melissa Laska - The 10,000 Families Study
Lead Submitter: Heather Nelson
Co-Submitters: Ellen Demerath, Anna Prizment, DeAnn Lazovich, Nicole Basta, Shalini Kulasingam, Alvaro Alonso, Susan Mason
Forum 4:
Friday, Oct. 16—8:30–10 a.m., Coffman/Campus Club, W. Wing
How will we develop sustainable cities and resilient communities in a world of climate change?
- Designing Cities to Maximize Opportunity, Health, and Happiness
Co-Submitter: Matteo Convertino - Towards a Sustainable Global Environment: PM2.5 Health Effects and Control Technologies
Co-Submitter: Gurumurthy Ramachandran - Sustainable Infrastructure and Cities: Reimagining Urban Infrastructure
Lead Submitter: Matteo Convertino
Forum 5:
Thursday, Oct. 22— 9:30–11 a.m., Coffman/Mississippi Room
How will we provide secure food, water, and energy today and for the future?
- MN Global Food Ventures
Lead Submitter: Craig Hedberg
Co-Submitter: John Finnegan - Stem and Economics in One Health: Quality, Quantity, Policy, and Development
Co-Submitter: John Finnegan - Challenges in Our Pathway to Develop Strategies to Feed the Planet: Sustainability and Animal and Human Health in Highly Intensive Food Production Systems
Co-Submitters: Craig Hedberg, Bruce Alexander - A Private-Public Partnership to Support Swine Health and Production
Co-Submitter: Peter Raynor
