New Leadership for Wisconsin Healthy Birth Outcomes Initiative

Madison, Wisconsin - The Lifecourse Initiative for Healthy Families (LIHF) welcomes nine health and community leaders to its Steering Committee charged with addressing Wisconsin's infant mortality crisis.

LIHF is a project of the Wisconsin Partnership Program and University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health that will investigate and address the high incidence of African-American infant mortality in Wisconsin.

Lifecourse Initiative for Healthy Families coalitions in Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha and Beloit are unveiling plans that advance policy and sustainable solutions to improve birth outcomes among African-Americans in their communities.

"We're moving into an exciting phase of the project," said Dr. Philip Farrell, committee co-chair and dean emeritus and professor of pediatrics and population health sciences at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. "The new committee members bring great expertise and join a multitalented group of leaders that represent and play an instrumental part in how we connect to local communities."

New committee members are:

• Dr. Fredrik (Frits) Broekhuizen, professor, obstetrics and gynecology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee; and clinical professor, UW School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison
• Deborah L. Embry, director, Mayor's Office for Strategic Partnerships and grant facilitator, City of Racine
• Dr. Cindy Haq, professor, family medicine and population health sciences and director, Training in Urban Medicine and Public Health (TRIUMPH), UW School of Medicine and Public Health
• Mark Huber, vice president, Social Responsibility, Aurora Health Care, Milwaukee
• Reverend James M. Ivy, pastor, New Zion Baptist Church, Beloit
• Cheryl Jackson, attorney and president, Beloit LIHF Collaborative, Beloit
• Dr. Veronica Lawson Gunn, medical director, Community Services Division, Children's Hospital and Health System, Milwaukee
• Jack Waters, executive director, Kenosha Community Health Center, Kenosha
• Dr. Lora Wiggins, associate professor, medicine, UW School of Medicine and Public Health

They join nine reappointed steering committee members, including co-chair Katherine Marks, chief executive officer of United Way of Kenosha County.

A subcommittee of the Wisconsin Partnership Program's Oversight and Advisory Committee, the Lifecourse Initiative for Healthy Families Steering Committee provides guidance on the direction for the initiative's overarching goal to eliminate racial disparities in birth outcomes in Wisconsin. The Oversight and Advisory Committee will invest up to $10 million over a multi-year period for this initiative.