Two Taubman College students combined their architectural expertise with public health and were selected as finalists for the 2025 Michigan Health Equity Challenge. As finalists, the two received stipends and eight weeks of policy and program mentorship to further their project’s proposal and development.

Lauren Pettinga, M.U.D. ’25, and Irene Wei, M.Arch ’25, were one of 14 teams selected as finalists out of 59 proposals. The two suggested creating a digital resource guide for traumatic brain injury patients and caregivers. 

Established in 2023, the Michigan Health Equity Challenge is supported by Molina Healthcare of Michigan and pairs U-M graduate students with community-based organizations to develop solutions for health disparities in Michigan. 

“We are so inspired by all of the finalists, who have combined their energy, creativity and innovative thinking to devise solutions to health equity challenges in a variety of communities,” said Cathy Killaly, adjunct lecturer in health management and policy and executive director of the Griffith Leadership Center at the School of Public Health.

More about this year’s winners can be read here: https://record.umich.edu/articles/michigan-health-equity-challenge-winners-announced/