Research at NYU Wagner will explore how transportation and housing sectors can help build a "culture of health"

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has selected NYU Wagner to carry out research on policies, laws, and other regulatory tools that can support RWJF’s mission to build a “culture of health” in the public and private sectors. RWJF’s new research program, Policies for Action, or P4A, is based at the Temple University Center for Health Law, Policy and Practice. P4A will build on the work and insights of the Temple team’s six years of experience with its Public Health Law Research program, an RWFJ grantee. While P4A will continue to explore policies and laws that are traditionally and directly correlated with health outcomes — for instance, seatbelt laws or laws related to who can prescribe prescription drugs — the program is expanding its focus to other areas that impact health and equity in nontraditional ways, including policies and regulations from areas such as education, economics, transportation, justice, and housing.

RWJF has made an initial commitment of roughly $25 million over the next three years for research that begins to explore what builds a culture of health. NYU Wagner is one of several institutions around the country that have been chosen to be a research Hub under the program. Sherry Glied, Dean of Wagner, serves as Hub leader. The funded projects at Wagner will explore ways in which housing affects health, as well as the impact of transportation on health.