Challenge Groups

Collective Solutions for Complex Problems

Challenge Groups comprise faculty from across the University of Michigan (U-M) who share similar or complementary expertise and interests. These interdisciplinary communities for U-M faculty explore potential partnerships and projects that align with their respective interests, with an eye toward collaborations that carry the greatest potential for impact. 

Join an upcoming meeting

Climate Vulnerability and Health

The health of communities is dependent on—and inseparable from—the health of their environment. The Climate Vulnerability and Health challenge group explores how environmental, societal, and health factors are connected and how influencing one can positively impact the others.

  • Faculty Leads: Sue Anne Bell (Nursing) and Joseph Eisenberg (Public Health)
  • Staff lead: Kristina Rice, [email protected]
Rooftop tinaco in Mexico

Data Science in Global Health

Cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence might be developed in high-resource settings, but their impact doesn’t have to end there. Explore how the newest technologies might be applied in comparatively low-resource settings to improve health and healthcare.

  • Faculty Leads: Amy Pienta (Institute for Social Research) and Akbar Waljee (Medicine)
  • Staff lead: Kristina Rice, [email protected]

Learn more about the center's Data Collaborative.

Farhana Alarakhiya speaks at a retreat focused on designing the Center’s new Data Collaborative

Designing for Impact in Global Health

Systems designed in and for high-resource settings don’t always translate in other parts of the world. This group aims to reduce morbidity and mortality through the development of scalable models that strengthen the commercialization and implementation of global health technology.

  • Faculty Lead: Paul Clyde (Business/William Davidson Institute) and Lee Schroeder (Medicine)
  • Staff lead: Kristina Rice, [email protected]
Impact Design

Empowering Women and Communities

This group aims to create a space where researchers, public health practitioners, community partners, and others can learn from one another, seek support, and push forward a meaningful agenda focused on understanding, measuring, intervening upon, and assessing the impact of empowerment on health in low-resource global communities.

  • Faculty Leads: Gary Harper (Public Health) and Cheryl Moyer (Medicine)
  • Staff lead: Alana Rodriguez, [email protected]
Becky and Caroline in Kisumu, Western Kenya LBQT Feminist Forum

Start a new group

All areas of academic study and research can be part of the global health equity movement. New interdisciplinary communities of practice centered on our thematic areas can be formed at any time. If you would like to propose a new Challenge Group, contact us to develop your idea: [email protected].

Center members gather for an Empowering Women and Communities Challenge Group meeting