We are proud to announce that our Center collaborator, Nico Pronk, PhD, has been appointed President of HealthPartners Institute (HPI). Pronk is a nationally recognized researcher, educator, and public health expert.
“HealthPartners Institute is an important part of our organization, conducting leading research and delivering innovative education that is being applied to improve health and well-being of patients, members and the community,” HealthPartners President and CEO Mary Brainerd said. “Nico will help lead the Institute by accelerating improvements through research, education and collaboration.”
Pronk is currently a senior research investigator at the Institute and chief science officer at HealthPartners. He has been a researcher with the Institute since 1994. Pronk is an adjunct professor for Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; visiting research professor in Environmental Health Sciences at the University of Minnesota, School of Public Health; member of the Task Force on Community Preventive Services; member of the Roundtable for Obesity Solutions at the National Academy of Medicine; and founding and past-president of the International Association for Worksite Health Promotion.
“I am very excited to take on the role of HealthPartners Institute president,” Pronk said. “The opportunity to connect the dots between research, education, and practice highlights the unique nature of HealthPartners Institute, its important role as part of the HealthPartners overall mission, and the potential to improve health, experience, and affordability.”
Earlier this year, Pronk received the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health “Excellence in Teaching Award” for executive and continuing professional education. And he was recently named as co-chair to the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services’ Advisory Committee on National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives for 2030, also known as “Healthy People 2030.” He will become HealthPartners Institute’s president on January 23, 2017.