About Us

The UIC Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health (CoE-MCH) is one of the 13 federally-funded Centers of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health Education, Science, and Practice Program, through the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) in the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The UIC CoE-MCH builds and strengthens the Maternal and Child Health workforce by: 1) training graduate and undergraduate public health students and working professionals in MCH; and, 2) by advancing MCH science, research, practice, and policy. The Center emphasizes multi-level approaches to understanding and addressing the complex factors that affect the health and well-being of women, children, and families. An essential ingredient is the partnerships we have with public and private sector agencies serving the MCH population and the communities in which MCH problems are prevalent. The Center is committed to scientific rigor, evidence-based public health practice, and the principles of participatory and collaborative research and practice.

Mission
The mission of the UIC-SPH CoE-MCH is to provide graduate students and working professionals with rigorous evidence-informed curricula and programs steeped in social justice, practical experience, and collaboration with Title V, its partners, and local communities. The program is designed to develop leaders with vision, creativity, and a commitment to life-long learning and action, to improve the health and well-being of women, children, and families including children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN).

Vision
To be a maternal and child health center of academic excellence that builds public health capacity fosters health equity and racial, social, and economic justice, and develops leaders across the workforce continuum in order to strengthen individuals, families, and communities and cultivate a culture of health and well-being for all.

How the Center is Funded
The UIC CoE-MCH is funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) with additional support from the Irving B. Harris Foundation.

• The mission of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau is to improve the health and well-being of America’s mothers, children, and families. MCHB’s vision is an America where all mothers, children, and families thrive and reach their full potential. Their goals include assuring access to high-quality health services to improve the health and well-being for all Maternal and Child Health (MCH) populations, optimizing health for MCH populations, strengthening public health capacity and workforce for MCH, and maximizing impact through leadership, partnership, and stewardship. The focus is on these maternal and child populations across the life course: women of childbearing age, pregnant women, infants, children with special health care needs, and children and adolescents; and the MCHB funds national, state, and community organizations and academic institutions to improve public health.
• The Irving B. Harris Foundation’s mission is to fuel ideas, leaders, and movements led by and for people most impacted by harm. Their values include diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (centering intersectional racial equity and infuse diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging across their work to address disparities, dismantle systemic racism and oppression, and advance anti-racist, liberatory practices); justice (striving to address social injustice to foster a society where every baby, family, and community has the opportunity to thrive); courage (recognizing that making catalytic, sustainable change entails informed risk-taking to advance justice and equity); partnership (listening deeply to and work collaboratively with grantees and others to advance the movements in which all are invested); and persistence (focusing on addressing the root causes of injustice and recognizing that investments and programs take time to bear fruit).

Contact Us
Email:coemch@uic.edu
Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health
University of Illinois at Chicago
School of Public Health, Community Health Sciences Division
1603 W. Taylor Street (MC 923)
Chicago, IL 60612