About Us

Montana is one of the most rural states in the country, and rural populations suffer disproportionately from several adverse health outcomes and risk factors. The Center for Population Health Research (CPHR) fosters multidisciplinary research success to inform, develop and test strategies for improving health across the lifespan.

The Center for Population Health Research received official approval at the March 8, 2019 Montana Board of Regents Meeting. The Level II Center proposal was put forward for approval by the Academic, Research and Student Affairs Committee and unanimously approved by the Board of Regents.

The recognition of Center status completes a year-long process that included review by the Chief Academic Officers of the Montana University System and community colleges. The Center has recently submitted an application (under the prior title of the Center for Prevention Research) to the National Institutes of Health for the establishment of a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence to support new investigators that are investigating risk factors and intervention strategies to improve the health of children in our rural communities.

In addition to administrative, grant development and mentoring support for early career investigators, CPHR provides two research support cores. The Data and Modeling Core provides researchers with access to sensitive and geospatially precise electronic health records data, biostatistical and geospatial modeling support, and access to a high performance computing. The Intervention Support Core provides CPHR researchers with survey and qualitative methods support to inform rural and stakeholder informed interventions.

The Center for Population Health Research (CPHR) is supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health Award Number P20GM130418.