The Humana Center for Community Health

In December of 2024, the University of Louisville (UofL) received a significant $6.75 million grant from the Humana Foundation to ensure the long-term sustainability and further expand the impact of Community Health Research within the School of Public Health and Information Sciences. This six-year commitment reinforces the shared priority of community health between UofL and the Humana Foundation, specifically focusing on developing scalable, innovative solutions to community health challenges in Louisville and across Kentucky, which will position UofL as a national leader in this field. Social determinants and place-based factors have a significant impact on health outcomes in Kentucky. 

The Humana Center for Community Health Research, co-led by Interim Provost and public health professor Katie Cardarelli and Interim School of Public Health Associate Dean for Research and professor of environmental medicine Ted Smith, will drive interdisciplinary research and collaborations to deepen the understanding of health challenges and solutions for issues such as healthy food access and social isolation among seniors. 

The core mission involves generating data-driven insights, developing best practices for community engagement, and creating innovative, evidence-based interventions that will inform public health policy and practice at a national scale. 

This new funding builds on UofL’s existing strength and reputation in community health research and engagement, enhancing its capacity to attract top faculty, expand resources, and retain the prestigious Carnegie Foundation’s Classification for Community Engagement. 

Ultimately, the Center will create frameworks for addressing a range of community health challenges, benefiting communities throughout Kentucky, and serving as a replicable model for other regions, strengthening UofL’s commitment to building healthier communities.