The five-year appointment was effective Sept. 7 and will run through June 30, 2026.
Rajesh “Raj” S. Mangrulkar is the Marguerite S. Roll Professor of Medical Education, an associate professor of internal medicine and learning health sciences, former associate dean for medical student education at the Medical School, and the new director of Michigan Center for Interprofessional Education (IPE). He succeeds Center for IPE founding director Frank Ascione, professor and former dean of the College of Pharmacy, who is retiring.
“Addressing the health care needs of today requires an understanding of and appreciation for the expertise provided by practitioners across the health sciences,” said Susan M. Collins, U-M Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs. “Dr. Mangrulkar’s long-standing interest in and deep commitment to innovation in health science education make him an excellent choice to lead the Center for Interprofessional Education. Students and patients alike will benefit from his knowledge, experience, and commitment to collaborative care.”
Mangrulkar has been involved with interprofessional education in multiple ways. For the past 10 years, he has led the creation of new interprofessional education experiences for U-M medical students in his previous role as associate dean. He represented the Medical School dean’s office on the Center for IPE’s executive committee. He has also led numerous efforts to tackle administrative barriers to interprofessional education and practice, including his current work as co-chair of the Center for IPE anti-racism advisory committee.
His academic work focuses on organizational leadership and innovation, and their interface with transforming health professions education at scale, as he did when leading the large curricular transformation in the medical school. He also founded and will continue to direct RISE, a bold new initiative at Michigan Medicine that engages in innovative translational educational experiments for physician and scientist training.
Along with his new role at the Center for IPE and his continuing leadership of RISE, Mangrulkar will also serve as one of two new Innovators in Residence in theCenter for Academic Innovation. He says he sees important synergies in his three roles and how they can mutually feed off of each other and grow creatively. He believes it will benefit the Center for IPE to have formal connections to other innovation units on campus, fostering a campus-wide community of practice that innovates education to improve health.
“I am truly honored to assume the role of director for the Center for Interprofessional Education at U-M, with the opportunity to build upon the outstanding work led by Dr. Ascione, collaborating closely with faculty, staff, and learners from 10 health professional schools and colleges on three campuses,” Mangrulkar said. “This pandemic has reminded us that health, whether individual or in our communities, is one of our most precious values. We must ensure that our health professional students are educated in innovative settings where they can learn how to come together in teams to provide optimal health care. The Center’s commitment to this vision is inspirational, and I’m looking forward to leading it into the next phase.”
Provost Collins expressed appreciation for the work of the search committee, including the chair, School of Social Work Dean Lynn Videka, the Health Sciences Council, which participated in the search process, and its chair, School of Public Health Dean DuBois Bowman. She also thanked Frank Ascione for his service since 2015 “as the visionary and strategic leader of the Center for IPE.”