Law student the first Cuban to attend the UW in half a century

38-year-old David Camps is studying at the UW School of Law as one of three 2015 fellows in the Barer Institute for Law and Global Human Services. Launched in 2012 by retired attorney and UW law alumni Stan Barer, the program pays for attorneys from developing countries to spend an academic year studying issues related to health, education and economic development in their home countries through the university’s Sustainable International Development LL.M. program.

Camps is the first Cuban student enrolled at the UW since the U.S. embargo against the island nation in 1960. In the 2014-15 academic year, there were 94 Cuban students studying in the United States, according to the Institute of International Education. Camps met Barer while serving as a tour guide for a UW learning trip organized by then-provost and now UW President Ana Mari Cauce, a native of Cuba. Barer chatted with Camps as the bus rolled through the streets and discovered he had previously worked as an attorney in Cuba. Barer was struck by his intelligence and resourcefulness, and later encouraged Camps to apply for the fellowship.

Professor, researcher, detective – saving endangered animals

UW Professor Samuel . K Wasser “is a Sherlock Holmes of the wildlife trade. With modern biochemical tools and old-fashioned shoe leather, he sleuths out the merchants behind the market for poached animal products.”

‘Breaking barriers’: The BBC profiles President Cauce

In a recent feature, the BBC hailed UW President Ana Mari Cauce’s unique perspective and life experiences.

Innovative cup designed to save babies

Experts from the University of Washington and PATH have invented a special low-cost cup for feeding special needs babies. Each year in the developing world, millions of babies are born with health challenges that impair feeding and can lead to starvation. The $1 NIFTY cup provides a new solution.

US-India collaboration finds molecular signatures of severe malaria

The University of Washington’s International Center of Excellence for Malaria Research in South Asia — along with partners at the Center for Infectious Disease Research (CIDR) and Goa Medical College (GMC) of India — have discovered that specific types of parasite proteins, when combined with high parasite biomass, strongly predict severe malaria disease in adults. The discovery, published May 16 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is a significant advancement in understanding the causes of severe malaria. Quantitative characterization of disease presentations and biotechnology capabilities at the ICEMR lab at Goa Medical College combined with specialized assays for molecular host-parasite interactions and machine learning tools at the CIDR helped unlock the mysteries of what leads to the development of severe malaria disease.

Learn locally, speak globally: welcoming students to a world of language study

UW students can choose from 45 different languages. Videos created by Asian Languages & Literature introduce students to the study of Bengali, Indonesian, Hindi and Urdu, and offer tips on career opportunities and scholarships available to students of these languages.

Watch the videos…

Sir? Caballero? Faculty member knighted by Spain

Anthony Geist, professor and former chair of the University of Washington’s Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies, has been awarded one of Spain’s highest civil honors.

Myanmar goes mobile, with UW’s help

A reformist government speeded Myanmar’s transition to democracy three years ago, dramatically increasing access to information. In 2011, just four percent of the population had mobile phones. Now the figure is closer to eighty percent, with many people owning smartphones. But navigating the flood of online information can be problematic for new users with no experience assessing the trustworthiness of sites and sources. An initiative launched by UW faculty aims to change that.

The initiative, Information Strategies for Societies in Transition (ISST), is designed to build digital literacy, information literacy, and data literacy across Myanmar. Professors Mary Callahan and Sara Curran in the Jackson School of International Studies, Chris Coward, director of the Technology & Social Change Group in the Information School, and Michael Crandall, a principal research scientist in the Information School, lead the project in collaboration with USAID, Microsoft, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Boosting global health partnerships for Chinese universities

Supported by the Global Innovation Fund, a landmark symposium hosted by the UW last week brought together leaders and faculty from five Chinese universities, across the UW campus and the Seattle community. “Collaborating with Chinese colleagues is a tremendously high priority, both personally for faculty and institutionally here at UW,” said Judy Wasserheit, chair of the Department of Global Health and symposium co-chair.

Belgian Ambassador to the U.S. speaks on campus

The United States and Belgium have worked together across the globe to promote security, human rights, and bilateral trade. They share a mutual interest in creating safe communities in the United States, Belgium, and elsewhere by cooperating on counterterrorism and countering violent extremism. The two nations also have longstanding economic and commercial ties with more than 13 million jobs on both sides of the Atlantic already supported by US-EU trade.

The UW community is invited a talk with the Belgian Ambassador to the United States, Johan Verbeke, April 18th in the Smith Room, Allen Library at 3:00pm.

More details…