Sambol Named Project Manager for Institute for Integrative and Innovative Research

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Philip Sambol

Philip Sambol has been named project manager for the Institute for Integrative and Innovative Research. In this role, he will support projects in integrative health with an initial focus on the NSF Convergence grant, led by I³R assistant research professor Meredith Adkins, and engagement with partners in the food sector.

Sambol pursues solutions to the challenging issues surrounding food security and health equity. Starting in 2012, Sambol spent time in New Orleans and rural North Carolina before finding a home in Washington, D.C., as the founding executive director of Oasis Community Partners, a non-profit that operated the Good Food Markets social enterprise grocery store. Sambol was a two-term member of the DC Food Policy Council and has volunteered with several grassroots organizations focused on youth education, senior services and urban agriculture. He has a proven track record of nonprofit grant making, possesses front-line operating expertise, and has a great deal of experience financing food systems investments.  

"We are thrilled to welcome Philip to the I³R team and to the Northwest Arkansas community! Philip, a long-time entrepreneur, brings over a decade of experience at the intersection of public health, food systems and equitable development," said Meredith Adkins, principal investigator for the grant. "His career has spanned small farm and urban agriculture, to the development of a social enterprise grocery store focused on food deserts, to food systems investment work. Philip will bring this impressive background into his role as a project manager for the institute, immediately joining the NSF Convergence Accelerator team led by I³R in collaboration with multiple U of A researchers, partner universities and private sector partners, Data-driven Agriculture to Bridge Small Farms to Regional Food Supply Chains." 

"Philip's desire to assure the betterment of society and his deep experience in managing and implementing projects from launch to deployment, and securing support from diverse stakeholders, make him precisely the kind of institute member who will allow us to assure success of our strategic goals. His work with the I³R team will contribute to the innovation of the food sector, improving the community and industry as a whole," said Ranu Jung, founding executive director of I³R and associate vice chancellor.