Ana Paula Pimentel Walker, an assistant professor of urban and regional planning, has received a grant from the Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research as part of their Translational Research Diamond Program. Pimentel Walker’s work will build on her study of 21 immigrant and refugee community-based organizations in Kent County, Michigan, by exploring various aspects of these groups and considering how they connect immigrants and refugees with housing, health care, transportation, naturalization, and a variety of social services. Ultimately, Pimentel Walker’s research aims to develop a migrant model of care that will help leaders of immigrant- and refugee-focused community organizations optimize outreach and the provision of services.

The grant is sponsored by Mcubed, a University of Michigan initiative that provides seed funding for multi-unit, faculty-lead research teams. Mcube funding allows faculty members to pursue complex, interdisciplinary, and intellectually risky research efforts that might be unsuited for traditional grants. Pimentel Walker is conducting her research on a team with Odessa Gonzalez Benson (School of Social Work), Kelly Orringer (Michigan Medicine), and Mieko Yoshihama (School of Social Work).

Learn more about Mcubed at mcubed.umich.edu/about.