Seven 2025 Baltimore Health Equity Impact Grant Recipients Awarded
The Johns Hopkins Urban Health Institute (UHI) is delighted to announce the 2025 Baltimore Health Impact Grant recipients!
Now more than ever, we need bold, collaborative approaches to address the health disparities affecting our communities. BHEIG provides critical funding to support innovative, community-led projects that tackle the root causes of inequity in Baltimore. This year, seven program development and research projects, led by Johns Hopkins students, faculty, and local partners, have been awarded to do just that.
“With applications nearly doubling from last year, this year’s cohort stands out to me for its clear emphasis on collaboration to drive systemic progress,” said Denis G. Antoine II, MD, UHI Associate Director and Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University.
From youth engagement and food justice to trauma-informed care and cancer prevention, the selected projects reflect both the depth of Baltimore’s public health needs and the power of university-community collaborations to generate meaningful change.
Click here to view the full list of the 2025 recipients and explore their work.
BHEIG supports collaborative, community-centered projects that demonstrate strong potential to improve health outcomes and address longstanding health disparities across Baltimore. Through this grant, Johns Hopkins students and faculty collaborate with local organizations to co-create initiatives rooted in trust, shared knowledge, and a commitment to equity.
“By strengthening community-academic research collaborations on programs to address the social determinants of health, these grants enable recipients to make a lasting impact on the lives of Baltimore residents,” said UHI Director Lisa A. Cooper, MD, MPH.
One example of this impact is the 2024 project Peabody at the Shelter, a creative health initiative that collaborated with Helping Up Mission (HUM) to support clients in addiction recovery through the healing power of music.
“The funding helped sustain and grow the HUM Band and Choir, allowing us to invest in better instruments, strengthen partnerships, and support clients in their recovery journey through the arts,” said a student collaborator at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, Taylor Wang.
Similarly, one of the 2025 recipients, Dr. Kimiko Krieger, is collaborating with Historic Sharp-Leadenhall to promote wellness among senior residents through cancer prevention and holistic lifestyle interventions. This initiative emphasizes strengthening community capacity through education and healthy habit-building, investing in what is already there in the community, rather than solely relying on neighborhood changes (i.e., gentrification).
“This grant will help to integrate methods of healthy eating, exercise, stress reduction, and re-socialization for our senior members of the community,” said Dr. Krieger, faculty partner at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
These are just two examples of the diverse and deeply rooted collaborations that define the 2025 cohort. Sustainable approaches like these are essential for creating lasting solutions, even amid a shifting climate.
We are looking forward to seeing the impact of these unique projects throughout the year.
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