The University of Houston and Humana Inc., one of the nation’s leading health and well-being companies, have announced a long-term partnership to train the health care leaders of tomorrow. Together they have created the Humana Integrated Health System Sciences Institute at the University of Houston, uniting the University’s new College of Medicine, as well as the existing colleges of Nursing, Pharmacy, Social Work and Optometry. Humana’s $15 million gift over the next 10 years will help with start-up and operational costs for the College of Medicine and also fund endowed chairs from each of the five colleges.

The University of Houston and Humana partnership aligns with Humana’s Bold Goal of improving the health of the communities it serves by making it easier for people to achieve their best health. They are working with community partners, clinicians, for-profit companies, government and academic leaders, to address clinical and non-clinical needs of patients, regardless of their health plan. The result of this strategy and the partnership with the University of Houston is to build a talent pipeline of medical school graduates who believe in, train and practice population health.