As fires rage and smoke smothers the Pacific Northwest, UW News sat down with five UW experts in fire science, forestry, air pollution and more to ask how they manage wildfire season.
Author: Alden Woods
Housed in the UW School of Pharmacy, the Institute for Innovations in Drug Delivery and Disposition (I2D3) brings together experts in artificial intelligence, drug discovery, pharmacology, data science and biotechnology to ease the bottleneck between promising molecules and successful drugs.
Explore recent research from the University of Washington: low-income communities and communities of color disproportionately impacted by air pollution, an unfathomably fast chemical reaction, ups and downs in the methane record, and the cigar galaxy pictured at high resolution.
Nobody can agree on how, exactly, to define ultra-processed foods. The lack of a clear definition has stymied legislative and regulatory efforts to curb UPF consumption, and caused confusion for people evaluating their own diets.
To rebalance the oral microbiome and cure chronic halitosis, researchers at the University of Washington are embarking on a first-of-its-kind experiment. These clinical trials transplant bacteria and other minuscule critters from healthy donors into patients with halitosis. If successful, the healthy microbiota will crowd out the bad and patients’ bad breath will improve.
When pollinators decline, families risk poorer nutrition leading to higher vulnerability to illness and infections, and deeper cycles of poverty and poor health. One quarter of the global population currently suffer from this “hidden hunger.”
A directive signed by former Gov. Jay Inslee in 2018 aimed to eliminate hepatitis C from Washington state by 2030. A new study led by the University of Washington found that the plan not only expanded access to tests and treatment, but may save money in the long run.
New research led in part by the University of Washington found that state-level abortion restrictions enacted after the Dobbs ruling are not only affecting the current medical workforce — they may be shaping the next generation of physicians.
The WIC program provides families food in specific categories. New research finds that households who redeem more of their benefits in the most popular food categories are more likely to remain in the program long-term.
Research led by the University of Washington and Kaiser Permanente Southern California sheds new light on how the 2025 Los Angeles fires affected people’s health, and how people navigated the health care system during an emergency.
The green hermit hummingbird, which lives primarily in mountain forests of Central and South America, fights to win a mate. New research found that these fights have shaped the species’ evolution, yielding significant differences in bill shape for male and female green hermits.
In mid-pregnancy, exposure to any smoke was associated with an elevated risk of preterm birth, with that risk peaking around the 21st week of gestation. In late pregnancy, elevated risk was most closely associated with exposure to high concentrations of wildfire PM2.5, above 10 micrograms per cubic meter.
The public-private partnership led by Washington State University with support from the UW targets a global health problem: the lack of whole grains in people’s diets, which contributes to widespread health problems.
Students schools that offered free meals to all students were less likely to have high blood pressure, suggesting that universal free meals might be a powerful tool for improving public health.
UW dental students, faculty members and community volunteers provide free care to communities across Washington, serving hundreds of patients each academic quarter.
Dengue fever incidence could rise as much as 76% by 2050 due to climate warming across a large swath of Asia and the Americas, according to a new study.
A UW-led project aimed to test the viability of seaweed as a soil amendment, and, if successful, develop a market for sea-based farmers to sell excess seaweed to their counterparts on land. The USDA froze the project’s funding, and for now, a solution remains just out of reach.
At the One Health Clinic, a nurse practitioner and veterinarian, often accompanied by veterinary students, provide primary care services while UW students volunteer as patient navigators, helping to coordinate care and address shared health needs such as extreme weather, environmental contaminants and zoonotic disease. The clinic also helps clients document their pets as emotional support animals, which enables them to access a wider range of housing and other services.
Election recognizes the new member’s “outstanding record of scientific and technical achievement and willingness to assist the Academy in providing the best available scientific information and technical understanding to inform complex policy decisions in Washington.”
New research found that a market-based approach to managing water could provide more reliable supplies for farmers, communities and industry. The right market design and a little extra investment could also help threatened fish species.
The University of Washington has for years been instrumental in the state’s efforts to keep workers safe. But those efforts are now under threat.
Children exposed to higher levels of ozone in their first two years of life were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with asthma or wheezing at ages 4-6 — but researchers didn’t observe the increased risk of asthma at ages 8-9.
Trickery by female white-necked jacobin hummingbirds results in reduced aggression from other hummingbirds and increased access to nectar resources.
Workers from small, rural communities often move into the outer edges of cities, which offer greater economic opportunities but often have low-quality housing that is likely to suffer greater damage during an earthquake. The risk grows even more when migrants come from low-income or tribal villages.
An analysis of the health care records of 1.2 million Southern California residents found that higher long-term smoke exposure was associated with a significant increase in the odds that a person would be diagnosed with dementia. Exposure to non-wildfire PM2.5 also increased a person’s risk of dementia, but to a much lesser degree.
UW News sat down with experts in public health and AI to discuss AI could enhance health care, what’s standing in the way, and whether there’s a downside to democratizing medical research.
America’s homeless services system relies on a massive amount of data, and at first glance, that data is exacting. Federal reports describe the country’s unhoused population in granular detail, listing precisely how many people are experiencing homelessness in each city along with detailed demographic data. Want to know how many people ages 55-64 slept outside in Spokane last year? A spreadsheet confidently provides the answer: just one. That data influences decisions at every level of government, from how the U.S….
In just eight years, the UW Population Health Initiative has funded 227 innovative, interdisciplinary projects. With the Initiative now a third of the way into its 25-year vision, UW News checked in with three projects that recently received funding to scale their efforts.
Young adults with psychosis tend to use cannabis at extremely high rates, and their symptoms can be exacerbated by long-term marijuana use. A team of University of Washington researchers is focused on this particular group.
A study led by UW researcher Diana Ceballos is most comprehensive study to date of the specific fragrance chemical mixtures found in nail salon air, and will allow researchers to further study the potential health risks.
A major outbreak of a new strain of bird flu — formally named Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 — has killed millions of wild birds and infected poultry, dairy cattle, domestic cats and a small number of humans. UW experts explain how bird flu evolves and what it could mean for humans.
As often as four days a week, Boeing EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island fly loops overhead as pilots practice touch-and-go landings. The noise is immense. New research from the University of Washington shows that the noise isn’t just disruptive — it presents a substantial risk to public health.
Starting in the earliest days of the 2020 outbreak, a team of researchers at the University of Washington conducted real-time surveys of King County residents, asking what measures people had taken to protect themselves, how their daily lives had been affected and what worried them most.
A new UW study places the prevalence of immunosuppression at around 6.6% of American adults — more than twice as high as previously understood. That rise could have broad implications for how we navigate the late stages of COVID-19 and prepare for future pandemics.
An analysis of seven safety projects across Seattle found they had no negative impact on the annual revenues of nearby businesses for three years after construction began.
The rise of artificial sweeteners has made it easier for conscious consumers to reduce their sugar intake, but these products may present their own health risks.
An international team led by researchers at the University of Washington built a framework to help land managers assess the air quality implications of land management scenarios with different levels of prescribed burning.
Currently, more than half of all cervical cancers diagnosed in the United States are in people who are overdue for screening or have never been screened. In a new study, researchers report that mailing HPV test kits significantly increased cervical cancer screening rates.
A new study from the UW found that unfiltered air from rush-hour traffic significantly increased passengers’ blood pressure, both while in the car and up to 24 hours later.
The UW will convene partners across Washington, Alaska, Idaho and Oregon to develop a workplan to establish a future regional Center for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response.