UW News

Global Citizens


October 15, 2013

Study: Nearly 500,000 perished in Iraq war

A market scene in Erbil, Iraq, from September 2011.

A new study estimates nearly a half-million people died from causes attributable to the war in Iraq from 2003 through 2011. The results come from the first population-based survey since 2006 to estimate war-related deaths in Iraq, and the first study covering the conflict’s full timespan.


September 30, 2013

UW researchers helped draft international assessment of climate change

Graphic of IPCC report depicts temperatures at the end of the 21st century.

UW faculty members were among international researchers who compiled the fifth climate-change assessment report. The UW will host a seminar Tuesday, Oct. 1 with some of the Seattle-area authors.


September 26, 2013

History lecture series to explore slavery in making of America

Part of a poster for 2013 history department lecture sereis.

The UW history department will review America’s history of slavery from four different angles in its annual lecture series, which begins on Oct. 23.


November 30, 2012

Electrically spun fabric offers dual defense against pregnancy, HIV

Magnified image of fibers and sperm

Electrically spun cloth with nanometer-sized fibers show promise as a cheap, versatile platform to simultaneously offer contraception and prevent HIV. New funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will further test the system’s versatility and feasibility.


November 14, 2012

Power, work struggles in Bangladesh households linked to domestic violence

A Bangladeshi woman.

In Bangladesh as elsewhere, women are empowered by working outside the home. But new research from the University of Washington shows such work can also increase the threat of domestic violence for some Bangladeshi wives. The study brings to light how the South Asian nation is seeing a change in relations within the household, with…


November 13, 2012

Roots of deadly 2010 India flood identified; findings could improve warnings

Leh, India, just a few days before a devastating 2010 flood.

UW researchers find the flash flood was set off by a string of unusual weather events similar to those that caused catastrophic U.S. floods in the 1970s.


November 5, 2012

Raised in segregated south, diversity expert reflects on progress, upcoming conference

James Banks headshot

The Center for Multicultural Education, part of the University of Washington’s College of Education, will celebrate its 20th year with a conference and book launch Friday, Nov. 9.


October 25, 2012

Students win $100K for 3-D printer to turn waste plastic into composting toilets, rainwater harvesting systems

students winning the award

Three undergraduates won $100,000 to form a company that will work with partners in Oaxaca, Mexico, to build machines that can transform waste plastic into composting toilets and pieces for rainwater harvesting systems.


August 31, 2012

‘Mobile Moms’ to boost health of women in Timor-Leste

To improve the odds for mothers and their newborns in the new nation of Timor-Leste, a non-profit affiliated with the UW School of Public Health has launched a first-ever mobile phone project.


August 30, 2012

New program joins computer science and design experts at UW, Tsinghua University

Rii User Interface

This summer the UW hosted the first World Lab Summer Institute, which brings together computing and design students from the UW and Beijing’s Tsinghua University. The students spent seven weeks devising ways that technology could be used to address global issues in health, environment and education.


August 21, 2012

66th field season underway in world’s longest-running effort to monitor salmon

Sockeye salmon migrate up stream to spawn

The UW’s Alaska Salmon Program, now in its 66th field season, focuses not just on fisheries management, but on ecology and evolution as well, and has just won a top fisheries prize.


August 20, 2012

Experiment would test cloud geoengineering as way to slow warming

unusual water craft with three large sprayers shooting water into the sky

A University of Washington scientist has proposed an experiment to test cloud brightening, a geoengineering concept that alters clouds in an effort to counter global warming.


August 14, 2012

UW named America’s fourth ‘coolest’ school by Sierra magazine

Working on the UW Farm.

The University of Washington again has been ranked among the coolest schools in America, placing fourth this year, according to Sierra Magazine.


August 1, 2012

UW researchers urge integrating deworming into HIV care in Africa

HIV care centers are an important and highly accessed point of care for HIV-infected children and their families in sub-Saharan Africa, but opportunities to address other health issues are being missed. Proven interventions, including routine deworming among children, could be effectively integrated into HIV care according to a new paper by University of Washington researchers…


July 19, 2012

Global health exhibit at Seattle Center is family-friendly, free and open to all

UW Environmental Health student Tolu Okitika of Nigeria and UW master's of public health graduate and CNN Hero Peter Kithene of Kenya at the Pathways to Global Health exhibit

Seattle is showcasing the work of more than 30 area organizations at an exhibit at Seattle Center through Aug. 19. Global Health Exhibit at Seattle Center Dates: Now – Aug. 19, 2012 Time: Tuesday-Sunday, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. Location: Seattle Center, Next Fifty Plaza World Vision donated a mock village that has been turned…


July 16, 2012

UW study plays pivotal role in todays FDA approval of HIV prevention drug

In evaluating whether to allow Truvada® to be prescribed for HIV prevention the FDA reviewed evidence from two studies. The largest was conducted by the UWs International Clinical Research Center.


July 11, 2012

Groundbreaking research paves way for HIV prevention drug approval

The UW International Clinical Research Center played a key role in examining Truvada’s effectiveness for HIV prevention. The center’s director Connie Celum talks about the impact of the findings in a Q & A.


July 3, 2012

Humphrey Fellowship helps Sierra Leone man aid in rebuilding his country

Ansu Tucker, who was a Hubert H. Humphrey fellow at the Evans School of Public Affairs from 2004 to 2005, is now a key figure in the government of Sierra Leone.


April 24, 2012

Global health priorities should shift to preventing risky behaviors in adolescence: UW professor

As deaths from infectious diseases have declined worldwide, policymakers are shifting attention to preventing deaths from noncommunicable causes, such as drug and alcohol use, traffic crashes and unsafe sex practices.


April 4, 2012

UW leads NIH-funded consortium to train global health researchers

The UW is one of five consortia of colleges and universities to receive National Institutes of Health funding to foster the next generation of global health scientists.


February 29, 2012

Chinas urbanization unlikely to lead to fast growth of middle class: UW geographer

Chinas growing cities are considered a boon for the consumer goods market, but a UW geographer presents evidence that new city dwellers will unlikely have much disposable income.


February 23, 2012

Stop putting the squeeze on tiger territory, says UW alum, now chief scientist with World Wildlife Fund

The plight of the tiger – none of the worlds 350 protected areas in the tigers range is large enough to support a viable population – is the subject of the UWs “Sustaining our World” lecture March 1. Eric Dinerstein, the World Wildlife Funds chief scientist and a UW alum, will speak on “All Together Now: Linking Ecosystem Services, Endangered Species Conservation and Local Livelihoods” at 6 p.m., in Kane 220.


February 17, 2012

Models underestimate future temperature variability; food security at risk

Climate warming caused by greenhouse gases is very likely to increase summer temperature variability around the world by the end of this century, new UW research shows. The findings have major implications for food production.


February 14, 2012

Global health a world-class program at UW, President Young says in speech

Young spoke an an open house at the new central location for global health faculty, staff and students to gather on south campus.


February 13, 2012

A Peruvian slum gets a massive green makeover — with slide show

In a Peruvian desert slum, UW faculty, students and the local community created a garden and park on a vacant sand dune.


January 26, 2012

Commentary in Nature: Can economy bear what oil prices have in store?

The economic pain of a flattening oil supply will trump the environment as a reason to curb the use of fossil fuels, say two scientists, one from the University of Washington and one from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, in the Jan. 26 issue of the journal Nature.


January 5, 2012

Larger-than-life characters, intrigue part of history behind Battle of Adwa

Ethiopia is the only African country not defeated in the period of empire and Raymond Jonas new book “The Battle of Adwa: African Victory in the Age of Empire” describes the key battle.


December 13, 2011

Brain drain of African doctors costs sub-Saharan Africa billions, saved U.S. nearly $900 million

Sub-Saharan African countries that invest in training doctors lose billions of dollars when those clinicians leave to work in developed nations, finds research recently published on bmj.com with the help of seven universities, including UW.


December 8, 2011

Undergraduates asked to compete in "Be the Change" contest for global health

UW undergrads can propose solutions to the worlds pressing health challenges in preparation for the 50th anniversary of the World’s Fair. Applications due Jan. 13.


December 7, 2011

UW scientist gets major boost in search for HIV vaccine

Dr. Shiu-Lok Hu and his colleagues are looking to generate protective antibodies targeting a part of the HIV virus that binds to immune cells. This segment is widely considered to be the Achilles heel of the virus


Device promises nutrition diagnosis in minutes

A new plasma pencil promises to give nutrition status in minutes that used to take 24 hours, and could improve health in developing world.


November 30, 2011

Across generations: New center unites researchers in womens, childrens, adolescents health

The UW’s new Global Center for Integrated Health of Women, Adolescents and Children (Global WACh) wants to help researchers overcome a daunting task – seeking solutions across generations. Global WACh officially launches Dec. 8 with a campus event featuring speaker Leslie Mancuso, CEO of the health advocacy group Jhpiego.


November 29, 2011

Jewish Studies Program launches series on human injustice

A four-part series of conversations will explore justice and Judaism in a global society.


November 22, 2011

Microsoft alumna works with UW Global Health to bridge faith and science in Ethiopia

When people fall ill in northern Ethiopia, theyre more inclined to call a priest than a doctor. Nancy Andrews has been convincing religious leaders to embrace medicine to prevent the spread of HIV and increase care for those infected.


November 16, 2011

Pushing the envelope on paper-based diagnostics

Paul Yager, chair of the Bioengineering Department at the University of Washington, leads several subcontractors in two major grants totaling up to $26 million pushing the envelope on paper-based diagnostics. Their hope is that in two to three years, people miles from a lab will be able to cough, spit or urinate on a piece of paper, upload the image on a cell phone and get lab-quality results for a range of illnesses.


Pharmacy students lead Honduran medical brigade

Twenty-nine UW pharmacy students, along with some faculty members,alumni and health professionals from other fields, offered a free, temporary clinic in Joya Grande. When they arrived, a long line of Honduran villagers were waiting to welcome them.


November 8, 2011

UW film series begins with documentaries on Chinese industrialization, American shopping malls

The UW geography department will host its second free, public film series exploring inequality, over-consumption and sustainability.


October 4, 2011

Dentistry wins grant to expand oral health training in Thailand

The Fogarty International Center award is part of a federal effort to ameliorate the epidemic of non-communicable diseases in developing countries.


July 13, 2011

Pivotal UW study in Africa finds HIV medications prevent HIV infection

Work in Africa conducted by the UW’s Clinical Research Center is bringing new hope that taking a daily AIDS drug might keep an uninfected person from getting the AIDS virus.


June 24, 2011

Iceland's president talks about collaboration, economic recovery

A brief visit by the president of Iceland to the UW campus was punctuated by overtures for greater scholarly exchange and some observations about the legacy of the global financial crisis.



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