Sara Malone and Lindsay Stark are the inaugural faculty scholars of the Ryan Institute for Interdisciplinary Health Solutions.
As faculty scholars, Malone and Stark each will lead an interdisciplinary team focused on a specific public health challenge. The two-year awards provide each team with $130,000 in research funding, support from a postdoctoral fellow and resources to convene a summit on its selected topic.
Established in 2025 through a philanthropic commitment from WashU trustee Tony Ryan and his wife, Ann, the Ryan Institute is the first structured institute within Bursky Public Health, designed to fast-track promising ideas into practical, scalable solutions to public health challenges.
Malone, an assistant professor of public health, will study how to improve the transition from pediatric to adult care for young people with chronic health conditions such as childhood-onset heart disease and chronic kidney disease. Her team will work with medical providers to strengthen transition programs across diagnoses.
Stark, a professor of public health, will study housing assistance as a health intervention for displaced women and children in Colombia. Her project will examine whether stable housing can reduce caregiver stress and improve physical and economic security — and whether those improvements lead to better health, development and safety outcomes for children.
Read more on the Bursky Public Health website.
