iIMPACT History

Originally, in March 2016, the UofM proposed a model for change driven by connecting education and healthcare to the places where children live and learn, and by making a culture shift through multidisciplinary collaboration to build a culture of health for vulnerable children in Memphis. At the direction of the President and the Provost, the Deans of Arts & Sciences, Law, Nursing, and Public Health were asked to identify the programmatic areas that will make measurable, positive impacts on the community that are reflective of the Urban Child Institute's mission. Further, the UofM was thoughtfully committed to building upon relationships with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and Le Bonheur Children's Hospital to effect this change.

In July 2021, Dr. Susan Elswick was identified as the Faculty Director of iIMPACT, and iIMPACT was housed in the School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy (SUAPP) due to the interprofessional and interdisciplinary nature of this research and work. Dr. Katherine Lambert-Pennington, Director of SUAPP, has been instrumental in this transition and continuation of iIMPACT mission and vision within the university. Under the leadership of Dr. Susan Elswick and support of SUAPP, the new iIMPACT Infrastructure ensures that all the current and future initiatives intentionally work together to achieve the same goals and optimize collective impact by providing a central “hub” to drive, support, and enhance the work of this group of researchers.