Interfaith America is excited to announce that fourteen campuses have been selected as part of a second year of Faith & Health Campus Grants. This $60,000 funding opportunity attracted widespread interest nationwide. 

A key component of IA’s three-year Faith in Health Professions project funded by the John Templeton Foundation, the Faith & Health Campus Grants are designed to catalyze institutional change by empowering cross-disciplinary campus teams to embed interfaith competency in health-related curricula, build sustainable partnerships with community organizations, and strengthen academic and public understanding of religion as a social determinant of health. Grantees also join a robust community of practice to accelerate learning and impact across public health, medicine, nursing, and related fields.  

Over the next two years, each awarded campus will implement several initiatives designed to deepen understanding of how faith, spirituality, and health intersect in both clinical and community settings. Campus teams will join prior grantees in this project as part of a growing community of practice. Together, they will participate in workshops designed to share knowledge, learnings, and resources as they join a national movement advancing interfaith approaches to health. Grantees will also attend a Faith & Health Educator Track at IA’s 2026 Interfaith Leadership Summit in Chicago, where they will connect with research and advisory fellows guiding this work. 

Introducing the 2026 Faith & Health Campus Grant cohort: 

Bethel University (MN) 

• Eydie DykeShypulski, PhD 
• Prof. Nicholas Zeimet 
• DesAnne Hippe, PhD 

Elon University 

• Brian K. Pennington, PhD 
• Molly Green, PhD, MPH 
• Jeanmarie Koonts, MSN, RN, CNE
• Helen Orr, PhD 

Grand Canyon University 

• Zach Zeigler, PhD 
• Randall Ordovich-Clarkson, MD 
• Michele Pasley, PhD 

 Hendrix College 

• Emmy Corey, PhD 
• Bill Gorvine, PhD 
• Candice Thomas, PhD 
• Laura MacDonald, PhD 

Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health 

• Svea Closser, PhD  
• Chris Dreisbach, PhD 
• Caitlin Kennedy, PhD  
• Melissa Marx, PhD 
• Youri Moleman, MPH

Loyola University Chicago 

• Mara Brecht, PhD 
• Todd Ruppar, PhD, RN, FAAN 
• John Stys, PhD

Mercer University School of Medicine  

• Paul A. Lewis, PhD 
• Caroline Anglim, PhD 

Pacific Lutheran University (WA)  

• Mary Ellen Biggerstaff, DNP, ARNP 
• Suzanne Crawford-O’Brien, PhD 
• Erik Hammerstrom, PhD  
• Brenda Llewellyn Ihssen, PhD 
• Ami V. Shah, PhD  
• Sean Whalen, PhD 

Stanford University School of Medicine 

• Rania Awaad, MD 
• Abiya Ahmed, PhD 
• Cassie Garcia Weisenberger, MEd 

University of Kansas 

• Jacquelene Brinton, PhD  
• Nikia Smith Robert, PhD, MDiv 
• Vincent Francisco, PhD 

University of Michigan–Ann Arbor Medical School 

• Kristin Collier, MD, FACP 
• Adam Baruch, MD 
• Ellery Sarosi, MD 

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health 

• Karl Johnson, PhD 
• Makala D. Carrington, MPH, MDiv 
• Kim Ramsey-White, PhD 

University of San Francisco 

• Erin Grinshteyn, PhD  
• Nancy Taquino, PhD, RN 
• Rev. Tim Godfrey, SJ, DNP, RN  
• Sara Horton Deutsch, PhD, RN, PMHCNS, FAAN  
• Laura Chyu, PhD 

Virginia Commonwealth University 

• Andrew Crislip, PhD  
• Adin Lears, PhD  
• Sachi Shimomura, PhD  
• Margaret Wardlaw, MD, PhD 
• Mimi Winick, PhD