The University of Michigan Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education (CIPE) is the third recipient of the Barbara F. Brandt, PhD Leadership Award, a national honor recognizing sustained leadership and scholarly contributions to interprofessional practice and education.
The National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education, situated at the University of Minnesota, presented the award today during its plenary at the Nexus Summit 2026, an annual gathering and professional conference of educators, practitioners, researchers, and leaders advancing interprofessional practice and education.
CIPE represents the kind of transformative leadership and commitment to the Nexus of interprofessional practice and education that this award was created to celebrate. I am especially pleased to recognize the work CIPE is doing in the Nexus of practice and education, bringing interprofessional expertise to bear to improve clinical learning environments to achieve the Quadruple Aim of patient outcomes and well-being of practicing teams, while supporting exemplary team environments for future health professionals to learn in."
Christine Arenson, MD, FNAP, Director of the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education
Established in 2015, CIPE has grown into an institution-wide effort that connects interprofessional education with clinical practice, community engagement, scholarship, and health system improvement. Today, CIPE brings together 10 health science schools and colleges across U-M's Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Flint campuses, and nearly 3,000 learners participated in components of its interprofessional longitudinal curriculum during the 2025–26 academic year.
"We are deeply honored to receive the Barbara F. Brandt Leadership Award and grateful to have our work recognized by colleagues and leaders across the interprofessional practice and education community," said Rajesh Mangrulkar, MD, FNAP, Executive Director of CIPE. "This recognition reflects the dedication of our team of faculty, staff, learners, clinicians, and community partners who have helped shape CIPE over the past decade. We have built strong momentum together, and this award gives us even greater energy as we look ahead to what comes next."
CIPE's work spans a longitudinal curriculum that gives learners opportunities to develop interprofessional skills through classroom, clinical, and community experiences. Signature experiential initiatives include the Longitudinal Interprofessional Family-based Experience (LIFE) and Teams Engaged in Acquiring Meaningful Skills (TEAMS), alongside community-based learning through the Interprofessional Community Health Collaborative, student-run clinics, and other practice settings.
The organization's work also extends into the practice environment through partnerships with Michigan Medicine. Through its Systems and Interprofessional Practice-Based Transformation initiative and Thriving Together, CIPE is working with clinical and administrative leaders to strengthen team culture, collaborative leadership, clinical learning environments, and workforce well-being. Thriving Together is currently being piloted in one ambulatory and one inpatient unit, with early data demonstrating strong improvement.
CIPE's scholarship has grown alongside its educational and practice-based work with dozens of peer-reviewed publications and more than 100 presentations at regional, national, and international conferences in the past few years. In addition, since 2020, 28 University of Michigan faculty have been inducted as Distinguished Fellows of the National Academies of Practice, reflecting the growing national leadership of the university's interprofessional community.
The award comes at a moment of significant momentum for CIPE. The University of Michigan recently selected CIPE's proposal, "Scaling Interprofessional Education to Improve Human Health," as a $2.3M Tier 1 initiative through the University's Strategic Initiative Fund, supporting a five-year effort to expand hands-on, team-based learning across all 26 U-M health science programs, spanning 10 schools and three campuses. The investment reflects the growing institutional commitment to interprofessional education and the opportunity to extend CIPE's work to more learners and practice settings across the university.
Academic and health system leaders at Michigan have also pointed to CIPE's growing institutional influence. University of Michigan academic leaders have described CIPE as "woven into the fabric of the university's academic enterprise.” Michigan Medicine leaders have also emphasized its role as a trusted partner in strengthening collaboration across the health system.
The Barbara F. Brandt, PhD Leadership Award honors the transformative leadership and scholarly contributions of Barbara F. Brandt, EdM, PhD, FNAP, founding director and senior advisor to the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education. The award recognizes individuals or organizations with a sustained record of advancing the Nexus of interprofessional practice and education through leadership, partnership, scholarship, and meaningful outcomes.
As the third recipient of the Barbara F. Brandt, PhD Leadership Award, U-M’s CIPE joins Shelley Cohen Konrad, PhD, LCSW, FNAP, the inaugural 2024 recipient, and Amy Blue, PhD, the 2025 recipient. For more information about the Barbara F. Brandt, PhD Leadership Award, please visit https://summit2026.nexusipe.org/brandt-leadership-award-umich