Five strategic priorities guide the work of the Health Affairs units. Collectively, we embody a learning health system dedicated to continuous quality improvement and innovation that directs our mission: Discover. Teach. Heal. Learn more about each priority and related initiatives below.
STRATEGIC PRIORITY 1
Educate the Next Generation Healthcare Workforce
A diverse future healthcare workforce is needed to serve communities with cultural expertise; interprofessional education and practice (IPEP) will prepare current and future health professionals to work as teams to meet California’s needs.
Featured Initiatives Across Health Affairs
Public Health Informatics & Technology (PHIT) Workforce Development
An impactful specialized studies program to reach vulnerable populations through informatics, data analytics and health technology. PHIT offers degrees, certificates and paid internship opportunities to undergraduate and graduate students, as well as working professionals, aiming to create a pathway for historically underrepresented students in STEM to enter the Public Health Informatics workforce.
Physician Innovator Training Program
An LCME-accredited joint master’s program between the School of Medicine and Samueli School of Engineering, designed to educate and prepare the next generation of physician-engineers. This program equips future healthcare leaders with the skills to translate engineering advances into medical solutions, fostering a workforce capable of addressing complex healthcare challenges through interdisciplinary expertise.
Interprofessional Education & Practice (IPEP) Collaborative
The IPEP Collaborative seeks to transform health professions education and health care delivery by fostering community-centered partnerships, collaborative learning, interprofessional research and continued interprofessional practice advancements. Learn More.
Future Healthcare Workforce Work Group
The Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs convened a Future Healthcare Workforce work group to provide guidance on how to create career paths for students, including UC Irvine undergraduates, and develop recommendations on the future healthcare workforce.
STRATEGIC PRIORITY 2
Discovery and Implementation
Advance health through basic, translational and clinical research innovations where UC Irvine can uniquely address critical local and national needs.
Featured Initiatives Across Health Affairs
Continued Increase in Annual Research Awards; Including Clinical Trials
Health Affairs research awards have increased 72% over the last five years. In 2023-2024, fiscal year research awards totaled $413 million across Health Affairs.
Samueli Endowed Chairs
By creating perpetual support for researchers in integrative health, Susan and Henry Samueli are generously advancing integrative health in Orange County and beyond.
Falling Leaves Foundation Medical Innovation Building
One of the largest interdisciplinary research hubs on the West Coast, focused on project-driven medical innovation. Empowered by UC Irvine’s One Health alliance, the building will unite talent from various health disciplines and attract new recruits from around the globe.
STRATEGIC PRIORITY 3
Accelerate Precision Care
Improve healthcare quality, safety, equity, cost and policy using big data.
Featured Initiatives Across Health Affairs
Institute for Precision Health
The IPH brings together expertise in data science, machine learning, genomics and public health to deliver personalized healthcare. By leveraging the collection, curation and analysis of multimodal data, IPH develops tailored health and wellness strategies. This approach addresses the dual challenges of health inequity and high healthcare costs.
Creation of a UC Irvine Center for Bioethics Institute
Bioethics involves interdisciplinary training in addressing moral and ethical issues that arise in both the public and private sectors. It is a broad field that encompasses a full range of topics including the ethical implications of stem cell research, abortion, medical aid-in-dying, organ transplantation and more.
All of Us Research Program
In partnership with Loma Linda University Health and MemorialCare, UC Irvine has been awarded funding by the National Institutes of Health to establish the All of Us Southern California Consortium. This initiative is part of the nationwide All of Us Research Program, which aims to build a comprehensive body of knowledge to advance healthcare for all through extensive data collection and analysis.
STRATEGIC PRIORITY 4
Advance Health Equity
Deploy strategies to achieve health equity for individuals, families and communities.
Featured Initiatives Across Health Affairs
PRIME-LC, PRIME LEAD-ABC
Our Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community (PRIME-LC) and Program in Medical Education for Leadership Education to Advance Diversity – African, Black and Caribbean (PRIME LEAD – ABC) create leaders and physician-activists who aspire to work in underserved communities. Learn More.
Integrative Health Solutions to Federally Qualified Health Centers
UCI Health Family Health Centers are community-based health care providers that provide primary care to underserved populations in Santa Ana and Anaheim. In partnership with the Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute, UCI Health Family Health Centers implement whole-person care by offering group medical visits, activities in the teaching kitchen, and integrative health treatments such as acupuncture and mindfulness.
Health Equity Collaborative
The Health Equity Collaborative brings together representatives from across the UC Irvine Susan & Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences, united by a mission to advance health equity for the patients and communities we serve. Our approach includes leveraging existing initiatives, driving organizational change, fostering community engagement, and enhancing access to health equity research and education. Learn More.
STRATEGIC PRIORITY 5
Innovate in Healthcare Service and Lifelong Wellness
Lead the emerging discipline of integrative whole-person health and expand access as a regional provider by creation of UCI Health — Irvine and alliances across Orange County.
Featured Initiatives Across Health Affairs
Co-Leadership of BraveNet Network
UC Irvine Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute co-leads BraveNet, the first and largest whole health, practice-based research network in the U.S. BraveNet is a nationwide consortium of academic health systems conducting evidence-based research on therapies used in integrative medicine.
Mussallem Nutritional Education Center
A broadcast-ready, gourmet teaching kitchen in the Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute advances culinary medical education by blending the art of food and cooking with evidence-informed medical practices.
Ocular Stem Cell Transplant Program
Launched first and only ocular/corneal disease stem cell transplant program west of the Mississippi at Gavin Herbert Eye Institute.
Cancer Treatment and Stem Cell Innovation at UCI Health
The UCI Health Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center is at the forefront of innovative cancer treatment and research, continually pushing the boundaries of medical care. As the premier provider in the region, with over 250 dedicated physicians, basic scientists and translational scientists, we manage the highest number of cancer cases, including the most complex and challenging ones.
