Founded in March 2000, the Schull Institute grew out of a series of community-based symposia on medical disparities in vulnerable populations. It was created to preserve the lifelong principles and accomplishments Dr. William J. Schull, a distinguished geneticist, epidemiologist, and international scientist. The overarching mission of the Schull Institute is to “address the health care needs of vulnerable populations.” The long-term goals of the institute are to promote multidisciplinary community-based training and research within vulnerable populations; to support an exchange of scholars at the national and international levels; to encourage student student altruism and a spirit of community service; provide technical advice to policy makers involved in the establishment of health care and research practices affecting vulnerable populations; and to further academic, community, and industrial collaboration in developing communities and disseminating health care information and technology, locally, nationally and internationally.
Our vision is to:
- Establish a multidisciplinary network of local, national and international leaders with operational health care, research and educational programs in their own communities and countries
- Foster new discoveries through learning, discovery and technology which will lead to improved health and healthcare for vulnerable people worldwide
- Mentor and provide monetary support for scholars to achieve the highest level of education in public health, genetics and informatics
- Encourage academic, community, and industrial collaboration in the development and dissemination of health care information and technology, nationally and internationally.
The goal of the Schull Institute Scholar’s Program is to improve global healthcare by training scholars to:
- Investigate the biological, behavioral, environmental, economic and social dynamics of health rigorously.
- Develop, evaluate and disseminate knowledge and interventions based upon integration of these determinants and technology. The program seeks to produce leaders who will pose provocative questions, and examine the methods employed to analyze problems and the range of solutions offered to improve health issues on a global scale.
- Develop and implement programs to improve population health.
The Schull Institute’s Scholar’s Program will enhance and broaden the intellectual perspectives that scholars bring from their original disciplines. Training activities for Schull Scholars are designed to meet the diverse backgrounds, interests and needs of individual scholars. They will learn to think creatively about converging intersections between healthcare disciplines and technology. Training may include:
- Seminars
- Focused training in skills necessary for effective leadership, program design, implementation and evaluation and policy change
- Scholar-directed research and analysis conducted with the guidance or collaboration of distinguished faculty mentors
- Effective communication of knowledge to decision-makers and opinion leaders in multiple sectors
- Models of behavior change; methods of determining cost-effectiveness;
- Sponsor CME presentations with St. Joseph Medical Center and other medical institutions
Curriculum will foster cross-disciplinary thinking and dialogue, as scholars and faculty from various disciplines explore contributing risk factors, interactions among contextual forces, behavioral predispositions, biological susceptibility, developmental timing and influences, and approaches to intervention. The program thus will expand the intellectual scope, collaborative competence, shared language and scientific creativity of both scholars and faculty.
The Schull Institute is committed to easing the global crisis in health care by cultivating healthcare professionals whose education encompasses the many determinants of health, and discussions of health issues that affect vulnerable people. Preventing disease is at the heart of Dr. Schull’s lifelong efforts in genetics, radiation studies, epidemiology and public health.
The Schull Institute is committed to building the capacity of individuals and their communities by developing human resources that net greater rewards. By focusing on people to create new opportunities for collaboration between professionals and community residents, Schull scholars can facilitate community partnerships that produce more lasting health improvements. The Schull Institute focuses on resilience, community strengths, and self-determination to build human capacity, promote fundamental social and economic change, and bolster fragile infrastructures.
The result of our work will be an institutional history guided by Dr. Schull’s vision of education, research and community service and shaped by the stories of many hundreds of people, communities and organizations that will become the beneficiaries.
In its infancy, the Schull Institute has achieved the following benchmarks:
- Ten funded collaborative research projects with universities and the local government in Japan and the School of Bimedical Informatics at The University of Texas Health Science Center-Houston
- Funded two Scholars; Mentored eight Scholars and three Fellows, Mentoring two Scholars
- Two courses conducted in Informatics and outcomes in Japan
- Collaborative education and research program development in health informatics/ management with nonprofit organizations and graduate schools in Japan and the School of Biomedical Informatics at The University of Texas Health Science Center-Houston
- Successful launch of a demonstration project that engages targeted communities in a collaborative partnership to reduce risk behaviors that increase the probability for heart disease and cardiovascular disease
- Conducted five CME presentations with St. Joseph Medical Center and other medical institutions.
The Institution continues to build on this outstanding record of achievement through our programs: The Scholars Program - This program is dedicated to mentoring the next generation of local, national and international health care providers and scientific leaders. It was designed to preserve the global network crafted by Dr. Schull in his over fifty years of service to the world community to empower health care leaders to combat the problems facing the health care community today.
We are dedicated to developing initiatives to improve healthcare for vulnerable populations here in Houston, Texas and around the world.
Tax deductible contributions can be made the the Schull Institute, a non-profit 501(c)(3) foundation by checks in any currency to:
The Schull Institute
PO BOX 131755
Houston, TX 77219-1755