The University of Washington Population Health Initiative announced today the award of four Tier 2 pilot grants to teams representing researchers from four different University of Washington schools and colleges as well as several community-based partners.
A total of $265,000 was awarded in this grant cycle, supported by funding from the Initiative along with additional matching contributions from schools, colleges, departments and UW Global.
UW Global provided a portion of the funding for the project called, “Co-designing a culturally responsive vaccine communication intervention with caregivers and community-based organizations to increase childhood vaccine uptake among East African children.”
Resurgence of measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV)—with 2025 marking the highest number of measles cases in 33 years and an ongoing outbreak in 2026—poses a significant population health threat in Washington. East African (EA) communities, including Somali, Eritrean, and Ethiopian populations, face disproportionately high risk due to low MMRV vaccination rates driven by misinformation and systemic barriers. Neighborcare, a community health clinic, and Dr. Michelle Shin from the UW School of Nursing’s Department of Child, Family, and Population Health Nursing, have identified that EA patients under age two have 60–69% lower odds of receiving at least one MMRV vaccine dose compared to peers. Providers and staff emphasized the need to collaborate with EA caregivers and community leaders “beyond the clinic walls” to address fears related to autism and concerns about gelatin in vaccines, but reported limited capacity to build meaningful partnerships.
To address these challenges, Neighborcare, the Somali Health Board, and Dr. Shin propose a tripartite partnership to develop a community-informed intervention using Intervention Mapping.
This project will generate two proofs-of-concept aligned with the Population Health pillars: (1) a community- and theory-informed intervention to increase MMRV vaccination, and (2) a scalable Community Healthcare Center–Community-Based Organization–academic partnership model that embeds culturally responsive strategies into clinical and community settings. The work will provide preliminary data to support future large-scale trials evaluating the intervention’s effectiveness and real-world implementation, advancing health equity.
