$5M gift backs new University of Houston housing, homelessness research institute

The University of Houston (UH) has launched a research institute focused on improving the Houston region’s response to homelessness, backed by a $5 million anonymous donation.

The Institute for Housing, Homelessness and Health, known as IH3, will bring together researchers in health care, social work, public policy, law and data science. Rather than primarily provide direct services, the institute will work with hospitals, housing providers, nonprofits and local governments to identify gaps between systems, evaluate programs and expand approaches that produce measurable results.

IH3 will operate under UH Health, an academic health enterprise created in July to coordinate the university’s health-related colleges, research programs, community clinics and clinical partnerships. The new structure also sets the stage for a larger legislative initiative: UH plans to ask state lawmakers in 2027 to designate a health science center within UH Health.

President Renu Khator has said the designation would provide additional resources for the university’s health programs. Texas funds designated health-related institutions through richer formulas separate from those used for general academic institutions, including formulas supporting instruction, research and facilities.

Khator told the UH Faculty Council in March that the university planned to submit the health sciences proposal to the Legislative Budget Board as a special-item funding request while seeking the designation from lawmakers. The two efforts would move in tandem.

The UH System Board of Regents approved a similar proposal in 2013, but it failed to pass the Legislature. UH has not publicly identified how much funding it will request in 2027 or precisely which programs the proposed state-designated center would include.

UH Health brings together the Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine, Andy and Barbara Gessner College of Nursing, College of Pharmacy, College of Optometry and Graduate College of Social Work, along with programs in psychology, population health and other disciplines. Jonathan McCullers, UH’s vice president for health affairs and medical school dean, leads the enterprise.

Although the umbrella is new, UH has operated health programs for decades. Its pharmacy school was founded in 1946, followed by optometry in 1952 and social work in 1967. The nursing program moved from the University of Houston-Victoria to the main UH campus in 2015. The medical school welcomed its first class in 2020 and graduated its first physicians in 2024.

Placing homelessness research under the health umbrella gives IH3 a broader organizational base than several comparable university efforts. The University of Southern California (USC) Center for Homelessness, Housing and Health Equity Research, for example, operates within its Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. USC also operates a separate street-medicine program through its Keck School of Medicine.

UH’s institute instead will draw expertise from 11 colleges. Its work reflects a growing focus on the connections among housing, physical and behavioral health, public benefits, legal systems and local policy.

The institute is intended to build on the Houston region’s progress in coordinating housing and support systems. UH is already working with the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County on The Way Home’s next community plan and is expected to provide continuing evaluation support.

“People experiencing homelessness have unique needs, and helping them requires those systems to work together,” said David Buck, UH’s associate dean for community health and founder of Healthcare for the Homeless – Houston. “Building that coordination – and learning how to strengthen it – is where this institute can make a lasting difference.”

IH3 is the second institute announced under UH Health in August. The university launched its Institute for Digital Healthcare Transformation earlier in the month to develop and commercialize technologies involving artificial intelligence, remote monitoring, wearable devices and telehealth.

Although IH3’s initial work will focus on Houston, UH officials said its research methods, data tools and policy lessons eventually could be used by communities elsewhere in Texas and across the country.

The $5 million gift will support faculty and staff recruitment, graduate students, research capacity and data systems. UH said it also will create opportunities for students to work with researchers and community partners.

The donation is part of UH’s $1 billion “Can’t Stop Houston: The Centennial Campaign,” which supports student success, research and innovation and campus improvements. The campaign reported raising 87.08 percent of its goal, approximately $870.8 million, as of August.

Story by Kimberly Reeves; photo by Photo Eddie O from Pexels