Research, Applied Analytics & Publications

About UHC Applied Analytics & Research

Goals

We are grounded in mission, vision and values to advance the following goals:

  • Improve the health and well-being of the U-M community
  • Optimize the student experience of healthcare (e.g., access, equity)
  • Partner across the institution to create actionable insights and best practices
  • Increase data interoperability and exchange
  • Increase insights into both timeless and emerging health concerns for college students
  • Improve analytic capacity at both the individual and population level

Principal Investigators (PIs):
Lindsey Mortenson, MD, MS
Susan Ernst, MD
Rob Ernst, MD
Chris Frank, MD, PhD

Data Team:
JoLynn Montgomery, MPH, PhD
Elizabeth Edwards, MPH
Roen Montalva, MS
Jessica Cannon, MPH
Libby McEvoy, MPH

Population Focus:
College students, including undergraduate, graduate and professional students.

Active Projects:

Strategic Focus Area

Project

Mental health & addiction
  • Mental health emergency and inpatient care
  • Sports gambling
  • Role of the arts to prevent and reduce loneliness
  • Climate change anxiety among college students
  • Emerging risks for student-athletes

Acute & emergency care
  • Emergency department care
  • Injury monitoring
  • Concussion management and return-to-learn

Gender & sexual health
  • Reproductive health care disparities for persons with disabilities
  • Patient experience for transgender and gender diverse students

Infectious disease
  • Respiratory illness monitoring
  • Syndrome-based monitoring

Well-being impacts 

of policies & systems
  • Impact of insurance, federal, and state policies on student mental health and other outcomes

 

Recent Studies & Publications

Arts & Loneliness Survey

From January-May 2025, around 1,400 U-M students completed a short survey that included demographic questions, self-reported measures of loneliness, and inquiries about artistic engagement. These findings are informing efforts across campus, including the development of a new social prescribing program in the arts in collaboration with the Arts Initiative, the Well-being Collective, and other campus partners.