WEST DES MOINES, IOWA (November 12, 2025) — Three faculty members from Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences were awarded the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine inaugural Compassionate Community Grant.
The grant program, launched in connection with the Educating Leaders 2025 Friday Forum, provides small grants ranging from $2,500 to $10,000 to pre-accredited and accredited Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine to spark actionable culture change.
The 2025 recipients were selected for their ambitious proposals spanning community outreach, student wellness and curricular integration of empathy. Grant winners from DMU included: Mark Lambert PhD; Lisa Streyffeler PhD; and Julia Van Liew PhD, all from the Department of Behavioral Medicine, Medical Humanities, and Bioethics, with support from Leslie Wimsatt PhD FNAOME, associate dean for academic assessment, quality, and development, and Autumn Brunia DO, psychiatrist at Des Moines University Clinic.
Projects include:
Whole-Person Care: Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care Clerkship as a Model for Compassionate Care Training in UME
Primary Investigator: Mark Lambert PhD
Co-Investigators: Lisa Streyffeler, PhD; Julia Van Liew PhD; and Leslie Wimsatt PhD
Research Question: Following participation in chaplaincy and spiritual care-elective clerkship, does the deployment of verbatims exercises function as effective assessment measures for evaluating osteopathic medical students' achievement of two spiritual care competencies; presence and spiritual assessment, as well as an increase in overall compassion and empathy for patients?
Compassion-Focused Storytelling to Strengthen Connections with Peers and Patients
Primary Investigator: Lisa Streyffeler PhD
Co-Investigators: Julia Van Liew PhD; Mark Lambert PhD; Leslie Wimsatt PhD; and Autumn Brunia DO
Research Question: How can participation in compassion-focused storytelling increase osteopathic medical students' ability to reflect on their own practice and their overall level of compassion?
Community as Classroom: Empowering Compassionate Future Physicians Through Engagement in Service Learning
Primary Investigator: Julia Van Liew PhD
Co-Investigators: Lisa Streyffeler PhD; Mark Lambert PhD; and Autumn Brunia DO
Research Question: How can an osteopathic medical school implement a partnership with its local public health department to provide meaningful, curriculum-integrated service-learning experiences that enhance preclinical students' understanding of health disparities and social determinants of health, while advancing local public health goals?
"Compassion isn't just a tenet of osteopathic practice — it's the cornerstone of a transformative learning environment," says David Connett DO, dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine at DMU.
"These projects exemplify the profound impact colleges can have when they prioritize connection and community. We support these leaders who are actively building cultures where both students and patients thrive."
For a full list of winners and their projects, visit aacom.org.
Located in West Des Moines, part of Iowa's capital metro, Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences offers ten graduate-level professional-degree programs in anatomy, biomedical sciences, health-care administration, occupational therapy, osteopathic medicine, physical therapy, physician-assistant studies, podiatric medicine, and public health. Founded in 1898, the institution offers superior academics in a collaborative environment. DMU students' scores on national examinations, pass-rates on board certifications, and match-rates for medical-residency programs are consistently higher than national averages and rates at peer institutions.
