$16 million grant awarded to Jackson School centers

The U.S. Department of Education will fund all eight of the Jackson School of International Studies‘ Title VI centers with grants of more than $16 million.

The Department of Education’s Title VI awards were introduced to ensure sufficient foreign language training for U.S. security. Grants are awarded to institutions of higher education every four years to establish and strengthen language and area-studies centers for foreign language instruction, research in international studies and world affairs and community outreach and consultation.

UW study finds Chinese childhood obesity rates rising

Researchers Christopher Murray and Marie Ng at the Institute for Health Metrics & Evaluation recently released a study demonstrating a sharp increase in obesity rates among Chinese children.

Read more from Bloomberg Business Week…

UW ranks 15th among universities worldwide

Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s 2014 Academic Ranking of World Universities gave the University of Washington slot 15 in its ranking of universities worldwide. The schools of pharmacy and medicine were both ranked third.

Grad student gets Young Investigator Award at International AIDS Conference

UW School of Nursing Ph.D. student Jillian Pintye has experience fighting health disparities across the globe. She was recognized at the recent 20th International AIDS Conference for her research investigating connections between male circumcision and disease transmission in Uganda and Kenya.

Read a conversation with Jillian Pintye from UW Health Sciences NewsBeat…

UW expert and international colleagues assess risks to global penguin populations

In the current issue of Conservation Biology, UW Professor Dee Boersma and colleagues around the world outline risks to world penguin populations and urge stakeholders to take action to protect the species. Professor Boersma also directs the UW Center for Penguins as Ocean Sentinels.

Burke Museum exchange connects Washington and Filipino communities

Burke Museum project manager Lace Thornberg (MA, 2010) developed a program connecting tribal community members from Washington with residents of a remote island in the Philippines. Washington and Filipino community members made transcontinental visits for cultural exchange and are now building unique museum exhibits based on their experiences.

International researchers track melting sea ice

Led by principal investigator Craig Lee, an oceanographer at the University of Washington’s Applied Physics Laboratory, researchers from around the world are conducting the longest and most extensive effort ever to track the melting of arctic sea ice. Members of the international research team hail from the United States, the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom and France.

International student first Husky to golf in British Open Championship

For the first time, golf fans will watch a Husky athlete compete at the Open Championship in Holyoke, England. Representing UW at this week’s tournament is Cheng-Tsung Pan, a senior communications major from Taiwan.

Well-placed tweets can help spin news coverage

Commenting in a recent BBC News article, University of Washington professor Philip Howard explained that military forces like Hamas and the Israeli Defense Force are using social media to influence public opinion about conflicts.

‘Support global health workers’, urges alumna in TEDx talk

At last month’s TEDxUofW event, UW alumna Julia Robinson spoke candidly about the importance of human resources in solving global health challenges like AIDS. New technologies are getting a lot of buzz, she told the crowd, but supporting health workers is the best way to solve health challenges globally.

“I think technology is amazing, but I also believe… that technology needs people to implement it. We need to put that same level of effort into supporting health workers.”

Julia is Deputy Director of Côte d’Ivoire Programs and Director of Advocacy Programs at Health Alliance International, a center of the UW Department of Global Health. She earned Master of Social Work and Master of Public Health degrees from the University of Washington.

Watch Julia Robinson’s TEDx talk…