Responding to COVID-19
The Wisconsin Partnership Program is working with researchers, community organizations and campus partners to support efforts to lessen the health impacts of COVID-19.
The Wisconsin Partnership Program recognizes that our partners across campus and Wisconsin communities continue to face unprecedented challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We know that many are working on the front lines and behind the scenes – within clinics, hospitals, communities and laboratories – to help mitigate the many impacts of this pandemic. We are grateful for their continued commitment to the health and well-being of the people of our state.
The Wisconsin Partnership Program is responding to the current crisis in several ways: by supporting current grantees, developing COVID-19 Response grant programs and supporting strategic partnerships across campus.
2021 COVID-19 Response Grants
The Wisconsin Partnership Program’s response to the pandemic and its evolving health challenges continues. In August 2021, the Wisconsin Partnership Program announced 14 new awards totaling $2.7 million to community organizations and researchers to address the ongoing health consequences and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new awards build upon WPP’s initial COVID-19 Response Grant Program, bringing its total investment to more than $6 million in 44 grants to community partners and researchers to strengthen the resilience of Wisconsin families and communities, deepen understanding about COVID-19 and inform approaches to prevention and treatments.
COVID-19 Response Partnership Education and Research Grants
The Wisconsin Partnership Program’s COVID-19 Response Research and Education Grant Program, through the Partnership Education and Research Committee (PERC), supports innovative research and education projects that address a wide range of ongoing health consequences of the pandemic. The newly awarded projects address the long-term consequences of COVID-19 among racial and ethnic minorities and vulnerable populations, testing and safety in schools, and basic science research. Grants are awarded up to $200,000 over one or two years.
COVID-19 Response Adolescent Social and Emotional Health Grants
WPP’s Oversight and Advisory Committee (OAC) has announced eight new awards of $200,000 each in COVID-19 Response grant funding to help community organizations address the profound toll the pandemic has taken on the social and emotional health of Wisconsin’s adolescents.
New research project addresses dual epidemics of drug overdose and COVID-19
UW-Madison researcher working to shed light on the disability community’s experience during pandemic
Filiz Yesilkoy lands grant to improve COVID-19 immunity monitoring
PBS Wisconsin Noon Wednesday: The quieter crisis of mental health
2020 COVID-19 Response Grants
The Wisconsin Partnership Program moved quickly to directly respond to COVID-19 and to its health impacts on Wisconsin through the development of the COVID-19 Response Grant Program. This program was designed to support innovative, high impact strategies to address the health challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic is presenting.
On May 6 2020, the Wisconsin Partnership Program announced 21 new COVID-19 Response Grant awards totaling $2.2 million to researchers and community organizations across Wisconsin for their efforts to lessen the impact of COVID-19, as well as a new $470,000 strategic grant to support the development and launch of the new COVID-19 Wisconsin Connect app.
The COVID-19 Response grants support a broad range of initiatives, including innovative projects to help address the immediate health needs of Wisconsin’s urban and rural communities and awards to UW-Madison researchers to support scientific, medical and public health approaches to lessening the impact of COVID-19.
Learn more about projects that received COVID-19 Response Grants
Read about COVID-19 grant projects in Quarterly magazine
Coughing visualization compares effectiveness of various mask styles
Grant used to protect access to fresh food, support farmers amid COVID-19 pandemic
African American Breastfeeding Network using grant to support Black Birth Workers during pandemic
Banking on patient samples to advance COVID-19 research
UW researchers find more precise way to detect pneumonia caused by COVID-19
Tracking virus mutations reveals success of stay-at-home orders
Viral sequencing catches mutations, guides effective public health response
Strategic COVID-19 Response Grants
The Wisconsin Partnership Program's Partnership Education and Research Committee has awarded strategic COVID-19 Response Grants to multidisciplinary research projects to further understand COVID-19.
Grant used to investigate link between 'COVID toes' and the virus
New grant to help emergency departments identify and prepare for future waves of COVID-19
Grant aims to bolster state's health care workforce with tuition credit for nursing students
UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention using grant to analyze COVID-19 data
Strategic partnerships
The Wisconsin Partnership Program provides strategic funding to research and education initiatives across the SMPH. This funding has helped build the capacity within and beyond the school for innovative research and education. Many of these grantees are now mobilizing to address the challenges of COVID-19. Some highlights are noted below.
ICTR-WPP 2020 COVID-19 Response Grant Awards
The UW Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR) and the Wisconsin Partnership Program have joined together to fund three 2020 faculty-led COVID-19 Response Grant Awards. These three new awards extend the 22 awards previously announced by WPP to address urgent health needs imposed by the COVID pandemic. ICTR will support these projects through seed funding and in-kind support.
COVID-19 Response Grant seeks to improve telehealth implementation
Neighborhood Health Partnership Program
The Neighborhood Health Partnership Program has developed the Severe Risk for COVID-19 Reports, which provide health officials with information that highlights which ZIP codes in Wisconsin are at higher risk for having many severe COVID-19 cases. Funding for this work was provided by the Wisconsin Partnership Program.
Preventive Medicine Residency
The Wisconsin Partnership Program proudly supports the School of Medicine and Public Health's Preventive Medicine Residency Program. We are grateful to the current residents and alumni who are using their training to help mitigate COVID-19. A recent Wisconsin State Journal article featured preventive medicine resident Dr. Maggie Nolan and her husband Dr. Matthew Nolan, who are on the front lines and behind the scenes of the pandemic. Preventive Medicine Residency alumnae Dr. Jasmine Zapata and her family are featured in a new public service announcement promoting the Wisconsin Connect COVID-19 app.
Survey of the Health of Wisconsin (SHOW)
The Survey of the Health of Wisconsin, which is funded by the Wisconsin Partnership Program, mobilized its staff and infrastructure to provide vital support to the state during the pandemic.
Read the story: SHOW Pivots to Collect Valuable Statewide COVID-19 Data
Wisconsin Population Health Services Fellowship Program
The Wisconsin Population Health Services Program is a cornerstone of the Partnership Program’s investments in education and workforce development. Current fellows and alumni are directly involved in helping Wisconsin respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many have pivoted their work to respond to COVID-19 through their service at their current placement sites or by serving at the state- or university-level, providing essential and valuable service to address virus containment and policy issues.
Nearly a dozen current fellows are assisting with local response in health departments across the state including Chippewa County, Eau Claire, Madison-Dane County, Milwaukee, Waukesha County, Winnebago County and Wood County. Six fellows are working at the state-level at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and several others are assisting in COVID-19-related research and planning at UW-Madison.
Supporting current grantees
We continue to take steps to support our current grantees in this pandemic. We recognize that our grantees are experiencing unique challenges impacting their organizations and projects both operationally and financially. Program officers are working closely with grantees, and we are striving to be flexible and responsive to their needs and concerns.