The University of Maryland School of Public Policy is driving forward efforts to confront health inequities through the Roger C. Lipitz Distinguished Chair in Health Policy and the Health in All Policy (HiAP) Initiative. The Lipitz Chair, established in 1998, was created to spark innovative, interdisciplinary solutions that address the social, environmental and political forces shaping health outcomes.
This work is led by Professor Katrina Walsemann, the Roger C. Lipitz Distinguished Chair in Health Policy. Under her leadership, HiAP has expanded its research portfolio, deepened collaborations across campus and beyond and strengthened opportunities for students to engage directly in policy-focused scholarship.
The HiAP Initiative convenes faculty, students and partners from across disciplines to tackle health disparities through evidence-based policy. Over the past year, the consortium hosted four meetings, supported graduate student research and played a key role in launching the Southern Population Aging Research Center (SPARC)—a new P30 Center funded by the National Institute on Aging. SPARC brings together UMD with the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County to expand research on aging in the U.S. South, a region where aging populations are growing but research infrastructure has historically lagged.
HiAP faculty and students also made significant contributions to scholarship and public discourse. Faculty members produced 24 peer-reviewed publications on topics ranging from civic engagement and mental health to migration and environmental policy. Graduate students co-authored or led 16 publications and presented their work at national conferences, emphasizing the consortium’s impact on research and practice.
A central part of HiAP’s mission is preparing the next generation of health policy leaders. Graduate students gain opportunities to present early-stage research for feedback, publish scholarly work and participate in national policy conversations. The consortium also connects students with grant-writing workshops, mentoring programs and collaborative research projects, ensuring a strong pipeline of emerging scholars equipped to address pressing health challenges.
The initiative reflects the vision of Roger C. Lipitz, a distinguished leader in health care and community service. Lipitz has held leadership roles including chair of the University of Maryland Medical System, the Baltimore Development Corporation and Meridian Healthcare. He is a past president of both the American Health Care Association and the Maryland Nursing Home Association, and his long record of service extends to organizations including the United Way of Central Maryland, The Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore and the Johns Hopkins University Board of Trustees.
Most recently, the HiAP contributors had the opportunity to gather with Lipitz to recognize his enduring commitment to improving health care delivery and expanding opportunities for research and training in health policy.
As HiAP enters the next academic year, it is focused on broadening its interdisciplinary reach and strengthening connections between research and policymaking. Reducing health inequities requires rigorous research and meaningful collaboration across disciplines and with policymakers, and HiAP will continue advancing this critical work in the years ahead.