Dr. David Craig, Professor of Religious Studies, at the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI, has been selected to participate in one of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s leadership programs. These programs connect changemakers across the country—from every profession and field—to learn from and work with one another in creating more just and thriving communities.
Prof. Craig was selected for Interdisciplinary Research Leaders. Designed for teams of one community partner and two research partners, Interdisciplinary Research Leaders supports teams as they work with their communities to design and conduct rigorous research to explore critical issues, then apply the findings in real time to advance health and equity. Prof. Craig is partnering with Dr. Elaine Hernandez, Assistant Professor of Sociology, IU-Bloomington, and Dr. Ivan Douglas Hicks, Pastor, First Baptist Church North Indianapolis.
As a member of the program’s newest cohort, Dr. Craig will focus on structural racism. The team will conduct a mixed methods study of the Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP), Indiana’s Medicaid expansion. When the federal public health emergency was declared in March 2020, the state of Indiana suspended certain program requirements for all Medicaid programs. HIP enrollment rose the most, increasing 75%. The team seeks to understand how enrollment patterns and health care utilization may have changed for HIP members from minoritized racial and ethnic groups. With the federal public health emergency ending in 2023, the team will work with community partners to develop a toolkit of supports to assist HIP members in keeping and using their health benefits.
To learn more about Interdisciplinary Research Leaders and RWJF’s other leadership programs, and to meet other participants, visit www.irleaders.org.
