MSU-Flint relationship extends beyond water crisis

February 29, 2016 - Lansing State Journal

Michigan State University recognized the city's public health needs back in 2012 and expanded its presence in Flint to meet those needs. The College of Human Medicine has doubled its number of third and fourth-year medical students in Flint-area hospitals to 100 in recent years and partnered with Hurley Children's Hospital to start a new Pediatric Public Health Initiative earlier this year. Two grants from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation totaling nearly $12 million helped MSU reclaim a landmark building in downtown Flint. The grants also paid for the hiring of a team of researchers to diagnose and find solutions to health concerns, a team that found itself in the position to respond quickly to lead crisis, doing work that ranged from mapping where lead levels were most devastating to educating Flint residents about what they need to do to combat symptoms of lead poisoning.