IHA Research Initiatives

IHA’s Research Program

The Institute for Healthcare Advancement (IHA) is committed to conducting and funding research to advance the field of health literacy.

  • Internally, IHA seeks strategic partnerships with academic institutions, healthcare organizations, and research groups to shepherd collaborative research to tackle some of the challenging questions in the field.
  • Externally, in 2021, IHA launched a funding opportunity for small research grants to advance the field. IHA seeks to fund studies aimed at generating evidence that links health literacy best practices with improved health outcomes and reduced health disparities. 

IHA Research Grant Program

IHA awards small research grants (up to $25,000) to advance the field of health literacy.

First Grant Awardees (2022)

Grant Awardees (2024)

Future Funding Opportunity

Health Literacy Research and Practice Journal

Health Literacy Research and Practice is an interdisciplinary and international journal dedicated to bridging research with best practices to advance the field of health literacy, promote health equity, and reduce health disparities.

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HARC-Health Literacy Annual Research Conference

The Health Literacy Annual Research Conference is an interdisciplinary meeting for investigators dedicated to health literacy research. It is an opportunity to advance the field of health literacy, a method to raise the quality of our research, and a venue for professional development.

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This new research program is led by Marian Ryan, PhD, MA, MPH
IHA’s Chief Policy and Research Officer.

Dr. Ryan’s 35-year healthcare and public health career has included direct clinical care, physician and nurse training, patient education and health literacy, disease management and care transitions program development and evaluation, and system-wide quality improvement initiatives. She held leadership and direct service positions with both payer and provider sectors serving underserved populations and created multidisciplinary teams inclusive of community outreach workers to meet maternal/child public health goals. During her doctoral program she participated in research on relational, whole-person care and payment systems that supported under resourced hospitals serving communities of color. Following her AHRQ fellowship at Brandeis University to earn her PhD in Social Policy (with a concentration in health policy and health services research), Dr. Ryan remains passionate about conducting translational research to improve the accessibility and effectiveness of healthcare services for all people. She facilitates collaboration and innovative resource development that promote embedding health literacy practices as a pathway to achieving health equity, high quality, and whole-person care.