The Michigan Public Health Institute: A Model for University, Government and Community Research and Practice Partnerships

INTRODUCTION Nonprofit institutes are widely regarded as being perhaps the best location for an experimental social innovation unit. As described by Fairweather and Tornatzky (1977), the ideal location for an experimental social policy research unit is one that "lies between and overlaps various aspects of government and the university. The best organizational form seems to be one that involves funding and legitimacy by the executive, legislative, and operational units of government and of the university" (p. 389). Such an organization offers a number of advantages, including the ability to bring researchers, policymakers, and community members together to work on neutral ground with a focus on cooperation and problem solving. Research is divided into contracted research, performed at the request of participating governmental agencies, and innovative research. (Fairweather & Tornatzky, 1977). By the late 1980s, several state health departments across the country - among them New York, California and Massachusetts - had "in-between "organizational arrangements that enabled them to conduct selected research, education, and service activities through closely aligned nonprofit entities. These "first wave institutes" encompassed a variety of functions as nonprofit research, development and educational institutes or foundations, and they gave their host states a number of inherent advantages. As news of their success spread, other states and entities - including Michigan, Louisiana and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - established similar nonprofit institutes. Although perhaps different in organizational details and range of projects, these institutes share inherent advantages. Unlike their government colleagues, they can: * Compete for applied health science and community research awards from the National Institutes of Health and private foundations that virtually never award such funds to political entities, such as governmental agencies. * Patent, license and market advances in vaccines, molecular biology, blood products, and other biologicals. * Generate fee-for-service income by providing specialized health service capabilities to non-governmental client groups (e.g., the sale of health data, the provision of health training, or the sale of surplus biological products). * Accept and undertake new projects in a timely manner, including recruiting professional, scientific and support staff and securing the necessary equipment and supplies. * Terminate projects in an equally timely manner. * Take advantage of unique cost savings measures, such as hiring personnel for the duration of the project, purchasing equipment through the use of preferential procurement contracts held by collaborating institutions, and controlling indirect cost rates. These advantages have not gone unnoticed. Today, an entirely new wave of players is contemplating the establishment of such institutes. In a guest commentary published earlier this year (McDade & Hausler, 1998), Joseph McDade of the National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and William Hausler Jr. of the University of Iowa Hygienic Laboratory stated that the changing roles and responsibilities of the public and private health sectors have necessitated new arrangements able to "identify the specific functions of public- and private-sector laboratories, facilitate collaboration in areas of shared responsibility, and prevent unnecessary duplication of services." They recommended that "local public health institutes be formed, with public health laboratories as founding members, to improve strategic planning for public health," and cited the Michigan Public Health Institute (MPHI) as an example of an institute that can provide such a forum. Many groups, like the public health officials of Victoria, Australia (VicHealth, 1997), are considering the establishment of institutes quite similar to the one put into practice in Michigan. …