In September 2020, during a global pandemic that took its toll on physical and mental health, economic prosperity, and disproportionate harm on underrepresented communities, Wayne State University officially launched Bold Moves. This initiative surveyed the campus community to blend expertise and imagination to identify transformational ideas with far-reaching impact.

Faculty, staff and students from throughout the university submitted 110 ideas. The Bold Moves Steering Committee worked to narrow those ideas to 22 and finally, the seven listed below.

Although these ideas have changed and evoloved, the following are the submissions chosen for this inaugural Bold Moves initiative.

Advanced Digital Solutions for Stress, Trauma and Anxiety Research and Treatment (ADS-START)

This project will leverage WSU's pioneering faculty, research and services in telemedicine and augmented reality technology to develop a nationally recognized collaborative center that supports and develops the next generation of psychiatric treatment for fear, anxiety, trauma and PTSD. Bolstered by collaborators nationwide, this center will be the nexus for research and advanced treatments, and a central provider of cutting-edge services to patients and resources to providers regionally and nationally. This work will build on the already exceptional academic and clinical work currently at Wayne State and will grow into a self-sustaining academic center that enhances the global reputation of WSU.

The project is led by representatives from the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences with support from collaborators in the Office of Technology Commercialization, Computing and Information Technology, the Department of Psychology, the Mike Ilitch School of Business and Wayne Health. External collaborators include experts in telehealth and augmented reality, organizations representing key patient groups, and researchers in psychiatry, psychology and anxiety disorders.

ArtsHUB Detroit: Leveraging the Power of Arts and Music to Empower Detroit Children, Families and Communities

ArtsHUB Detroit will improve access to high- quality and affordable arts-based interventions that address health disparities in Detroit communities, and will research the impact of these interventions on a variety of individual and community outcomes. Building upon existing community resources, ArtsHUB Detroit will create a network of community arts and music centers in neighborhoods by uniting and strengthening existing programs and resources, and by offering additional programming to fill the gaps. The arts "HUB" itself will be a rehabilitated Detroit home or building, refurbished by our project partner, Family Assistance for Renaissance Men (FARM), an existing community service organization whose mission is to strengthen families by teaching pre-skilled trades to unemployed fathers.

The project team comprises nine co-investigators representing the College of Education, the School of Social Work, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts, Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute and the School of Medicine. Members of this team have complementary expertise and will work collaboratively in all stages of the project. ArtsHUB Detroit will employ an advisory board with internal and external representatives including key collaborators from the university, industry, health services organizations, local nonprofits, and community stakeholders.

Center for Health Equity and Community Knowledge in Urban Populations (CHECK-UP)

The Detroit metropolitan area is characterized by many community strengths, yet the city of Detroit in particular experiences health inequities on a broad scale, especially in the areas of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and mental health. Wayne State University supports multidisciplinary faculty members whose research addresses these inequities, but no infrastructure exists to facilitate collaboration between these researchers or partnerships between researchers and community stakeholders and assets. The proposed Center for Health Equity and Community Knowledge in Urban Populations (CHECK-UP) will provide this infrastructure and will work across metropolitan Detroit communities and WSU's schools, colleges, centers and departments to identify, investigate and act upon the barriers and bridges to health equity in the region.

More than 30 faculty members have expressed interest in serving as CHECK-UP faculty, and they represent diverse disciplinary and personal backgrounds, with unique skill sets from the College of Education, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, College of Nursing, Institute of Gerontology, School of Medicine, Karmanos Cancer Institute and the Department of Oncology, School of Social Work, and Wayne Law. The faculty includes members of NIH disparity populations, including 8 (27%) who are Black/African American. Extensive external collaborations with community groups and stakeholders will support CHECK-UP's commitment to community-based participatory research.

Integrative Center for Engineering and Medicine

The role that engineering plays in the advancement of medicine has progressed significantly over the past decade, allowing for state-of-the-art technologies in all areas of the health care field. From diagnosis to treatment and prevention, the combination of engineering with medicine has enhanced all aspects of health care. This technology and digital revolution is critical to advancing health care, and the next wave of innovations will come from professionals with considerable training in blending engineering and health. By formally bringing together the researchers, clinicians and experts from across the university community, Wayne State University can play a major role in this global movement while training the next generation of leaders and innovators.

The Integrative Center for Engineering and Medicine will develop a cohesive network between the College of Engineering, the School of Medicine, and STEM-related departments in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. This initiative will provide opportunities to form multidisciplinary collaborative teams that include engineers, computer scientists, and clinicians and researchers across the health professions.

Levin Center State Oversight Academy (SOA)

The proposed State Oversight Academy (SOA) positions Wayne State University as the first and only national institution dedicated to promoting effective oversight by state legislatures and elevating bipartisan fact-finding as an essential legislative function. Faced with America's dangerous drift toward chaos and insurrection, legislators have a particular duty to help rebuild the political institutions and practices that foster informed debate and prevent disinformation and extremism from taking hold in the public mind. By advancing the theory and practice of bipartisan, fact-based legislative oversight, SOA would make Wayne State University a leader in advancing democratic renewal and civil discourse across the United States.

With leadership from the Levin Center at Wayne Law, SOA is an inherently interdisciplinary endeavor that will draw on the expertise of the Departments of Political Science, Criminology and Criminal Justice, and History in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, as well as the Department of Communication in the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts. SOA will engage faculty and students in political science, sociology, peace and conflict studies, communication, history, urban studies, economics and other disciplines. External collaborators include national legislative service organizations and national experts from partner universities.

Reimagining Justice: Community-Engaged Strategies to Facilitate Reform

This project would establish the Wayne State University School of Social Work's Center for Behavioral Health and Justice (CBHJ) as a center of excellence in Michigan. The CBHJ would fill two vital roles for the state and the 83 counties across Michigan by providing local counties with regional change management technical assistance to improve the deflection and diversion of those with behavioral health concerns from the criminal/legal system and creating a statewide jail data repository to inform county and state policy- and decision-making. At a time in our country's history when citizens are crying out for social justice and systems-level reform, this Bold Move positions the CBHJ to inform and implement necessary policy changes within our state.

Leadership from the School of Social Work and the Center for Behavioral Health and Justice will collaborate with partners across the university and the state of Michigan. These include the School of Medicine, the Office of the Vice President for Research, the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Wayne Law and the Center for Urban Studies, as well as local sheriff's offices, police departments, jails, courts, community mental health service providers, and emergency medical services (EMS). Faculty from the College of Engineering will be involved in the development and implementation of a statewide data repository.

Wayne Mobility Initiative (WMI)

Mobility presents many new opportunities and challenges to the fields of engineering, business, health, law and many others. The mission of the Wayne Mobility Initiative (WMI) is to promote coordination, collaboration and innovation across Wayne State University to create a comprehensive, interdisciplinary mobility initiative. The WMI vision is to improve quality of life for individuals and communities through excellence in mobility-related research, teaching and service. The overall objective of this Bold Move initiative is to identify and solve mobility challenges, leverage opportunities and create a global interdisciplinary Mobility Center of Excellence at Wayne State University.

By working collaboratively across campus, and with corporate and community partners, the Wayne Mobility Initiative will provide an enduring public service that starts in Detroit and reaches around the globe. Leadership from the College of Engineering includes representatives from Computer Science and Civil and Environmental Engineering. Key contributors hail from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the College of Education, the School of Medicine, the Mike Ilitch School of Business, and the Michigan Developmental Disabilities Institute.