Background

Rural health is a critical area of public health concern, both domestically and globally. A comprehensive rural health agenda needs to contend with issues of demographics, equitable access to health care, social and economic inequities, infrastructure constraints, workforce shortages, geographic isolation, and changes to the environment, including the adverse impacts of climate change on agricultural communities. Concomitantly, there are opportunities within such an agenda to highlight individual, organizational, community, and cultural assets in rural communities that can promote health.

Objectives

The Task Force will:

  1. Map current WashU research, community-engagement, curriculum, faculty expertise, and programs related to rural health.
  2. Conduct a landscape analysis of rural health needs and assets in Missouri and the surrounding region, leveraging partnerships with state and local health departments, hospitals, and community-based organizations amongst others.
  3. Develop a framework for advancing rural health improvement through collaboration in research, education, and practice.
    1. Identify and prioritize high-impact areas of research and map these to WashU’s areas of scholarly expertise and practice.
    2. Identify expertise gaps that could be used to inform (a) external collaborations with other researchers/institutions/organizations; and (b) to inform recruitment of new WashU SPH faculty.
    3. Identify key external individuals/organizations that should be prioritized for potential partnerships.
  4. Identify how rural health can become part of the school’s educational offerings, building on local, and extending to global insights.
  5. Highlight opportunities for policy engagement,and dissemination around rural health where WashU may have a comparative advantage.
  6. Identify funding priorities and opportunities from state and federal agencies, philanthropic organizations, and private-sector partners that align with the emerging research agenda.

Deliverables

The task force will prepare a preliminary report that summarizes key findings from the mapping and landscape analysis exercises; identifies opportunities for advancing a research, educational, and practice agenda on rural health; and provides recommendations for areas to be prioritized by the school over the next three years to build a sustainable program of engagement with this agenda.

The report will subsequently be used to inform consultations with faculty from other schools at WashU and then be further refined. Pursuant to this, workshops with rural health stakeholders from representative organizations external to WashU will be convened.

The final work product will be a white paper (e.g., A Rural Health Research Agenda), that articulates research priorities, actionable recommendations, and implementation pathways that will be used to catalyze coordinated investment and collaboration.

Governance

The task force will operate under a collaborative leadership model. Regular updates will be shared with the Dean and School of Public Health leadership.

Membership

The task force will be chaired by Professor Morven McLean, and membership will be comprised of five additional faculty and two staff. The task force will be supported by personnel from the Office of the Dean and the Office of Networks and Innovation.

Timeline

The task force members will meet for three two-hour meetings over Q1 2026:

  • Meeting 1: January TBD
  • Meeting 2: February TBD
  • Meeting 3: March TBD

First draft of the report: April 15, 2026

Final draft of the report: May 15, 2026

Version December 5, 2025