Rosalind Franklin University Announces Founding Director of Michael Reese Foundation Center for Health Equity Research

NORTH CHICAGO, Ill., May 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Amanda M. Simanek, PhD, MPH, has been named founding director of the Michael Reese Research and Education Foundation Center for Health Equity Research at Rosalind Franklin University (RFU).

The university announced in March that plans to establish a health equity research center were moving forward with a generous grant from the Michael Reese Research and Education Foundation. The funding will help establish center cores focused on community engagement, investigator training and data management. Together, these cores will foster research collaborations that aim to ameliorate health inequities and prevent adverse health outcomes across the lifespan.

Dr. Simanek will work closely with faculty and students across academic programs as well as community organizations and healthcare providers to shape the center mission and goals — the first step, she says, "in ensuring future research projects are responsive to community needs and contribute to more equitable health outcomes among Lake County communities that have been systematically marginalized, disadvantaged and underserved."

"Community-based research is an area where we can really make a difference," said RFU Executive Vice President for Research Dr. Ronald Kaplan, who has led the initiative. "Dr. Simanek brings the experience, passion and commitment to help lead our students, faculty and community partners in building a more equitable future for our closest neighbors."

A social epidemiologist, Dr. Simanek will join RFU in August from an associate professor post in the Joseph J. Zilber School of Public Health at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She earned a Master of Public Health degree in International Health Epidemiology and a doctorate in Epidemiologic Science from the University of Michigan.

Dr. Simanek's research aims to identify pathways by which socioeconomic disadvantage shapes health inequities across generations and the lifecourse. She notes that "health inequities are perpetuated by unjust social structures and systems — and healthcare providers, public health professionals and government officials have a duty to act by disrupting these systems and ensuring the conditions necessary for attaining optimal health are in place for all." The Center for Health Equity Research will take up this call by facilitating research projects that address upstream social determinants of health and test outcome-based interventions aimed at reducing health inequities in Lake County, Illinois.

ABOUT RFU: RFU encompasses six colleges and more than 10 research centers and institutes. Learn more at rosalindfranklin.edu.

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SOURCE Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science