News releases
November 19, 2019
UW drives $15.7 billion of state’s economy; sustains more than 100,000 jobs
Across its three campuses, the University of Washington generated a total impact on the state’s economy of more than $15.7 billion in FY 2018, according to an economic contribution analysis released today. The study further concludes that the economic activity of the UW system supported or sustained 100,520 jobs throughout the state.
November 18, 2019
Among transgender children, gender identity as strong as in cisgender children, study shows
New findings from the largest study of socially-transitioned transgender children in the world, conducted by researchers at the University of Washington, show that gender identity and gender-typed preferences manifest similarly in both cis- and transgender children, even those who recently transitioned.
November 13, 2019
Founder of World Justice Project, former top Microsoft lawyer Bill Neukom to chair advisory board for UW Population Health Initiative
Known for his decades-long leadership of Microsoft’s law and corporate affairs team and then at the American Bar Association, his success as CEO of the San Francisco Giants and founder/CEO of the World Justice Project, Bill Neukom will now chair the external advisory board for the University of Washington Population Health Initiative. The university initiative is a…
November 12, 2019
New Weill Neurohub will unite UCSF, UC Berkeley, UW in race to find new treatments for brain diseases
With a $106 million gift from the Weill Family Foundation, UC Berkeley, UC San Francisco and the University of Washington have launched the Weill Neurohub, an innovative research network that will forge and nurture new collaborations between neuroscientists and researchers working in an array of other disciplines — including engineering, computer science, physics, chemistry and mathematics — to speed the development of new therapies for diseases and disorders that affect the brain and nervous system.
November 6, 2019
Mailed self-sampling kits helped more women get screened for cervical cancer
Signaling a potential major change in cervical cancer screening options for American women, a new study found that mailed self-sampling kits that test for HPV — the virus that can cause cervical cancer — helped significantly more women get screened for the cancer. The study involving nearly 20,000 women was conducted by researchers from the…
November 4, 2019
Single discrimination events alter college students’ daily behavior
UW researchers aimed to understand both the prevalence of discrimination events and how these events affect college students in their daily lives. Over the course of two academic quarters, the team compared students’ self-reports of unfair treatment to passively tracked changes in daily activities, such as hours slept, steps taken or time spent on the phone.
Light-based ‘tractor beam’ assembles materials at the nanoscale
Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a method that could make reproducible manufacturing at the nanoscale possible. The team adapted a light-based technology employed widely in biology — known as optical traps or optical tweezers — to operate in a water-free liquid environment of carbon-rich organic solvents, thereby enabling new potential applications.
October 31, 2019
Washington’s first student-built satellite preparing for launch
After years of preparation, a tiny satellite built by UW students is scheduled to launch early Saturday, Nov. 2, from a NASA flight facility in Virginia. The launch will be broadcast live on NASA TV.
New technique lets researchers map strain in next-gen solar cells
Researchers from the University of Washington and the FOM Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics in the Netherlands have developed a way to map strain in lead halide perovskite solar cells. Their approach shows that misorientation between microscopic perovskite crystals is the primary contributor to the buildup of strain within the solar cell, which creates small-scale defects in the grain structure, interrupts the transport of electrons within the solar cell, and ultimately leads to heat loss through a process known as non-radiative recombination.
October 29, 2019
Popular third-party genetic genealogy site is vulnerable to compromised data, impersonations
UW researchers have found that the third-party genealogy site GEDmatch is vulnerable to multiple kinds of security risks.
October 28, 2019
Precision mapping with satellite, drone photos could help predict infections of a widespread tropical disease
A team led by the University of Washington and Stanford University has discovered clues in the environment that help identify transmission hotspots for schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease that is second only to malaria in its global health impact.
Teen marijuana use may have next-generation effects
A new study by the University of Washington’s Social Development Research Group shows how a parent’s use of marijuana, past or present, can influence their child’s substance use and well-being.
October 23, 2019
UW is most innovative U.S. public university; No. 5 in the world, according to Reuters
The University of Washington is listed at No. 5 on the Reuters Top 100: The World’s Most Innovative Universities, released Wednesday. Now in its fifth year, the list ranks the educational institutions doing the most to advance science, invent new technologies and help drive the global economy.
October 22, 2019
UW is No. 10 on global ranking; No. 2 among US public institutions
The University of Washington maintained its No. 10 spot on the U.S. News & World Report’s Best Global Universities rankings, released this week. The UW is ranked No. 2 among U.S. public institutions.
October 21, 2019
Humpback whale population on the rise after near miss with extinction
A new study finds that the western South Atlantic humpback population has grown to 25,000 whales. Researchers, including co-authors from the University of Washington, believe this new estimate is now close to pre-whaling numbers.
October 18, 2019
UW Regents approve five-year contract extension for President Ana Mari Cauce
The University of Washington Board of Regents this week approved a five-year contract extension for President Ana Mari Cauce. The agreement was finalized under authority previously delegated to the board chair.
October 17, 2019
Old friends and new enemies: How evolutionary history can predict insect invader impacts
A team led by the University of Washington has developed a way to help foresters predict which nonnative insect invasions will be problematic, and help managers decide where to allocate resources to avoid widespread tree death.
October 15, 2019
Deaf infants more attuned to parent’s visual cues, study shows
A University of Washington-led study finds that Deaf infants exposed to American Sign Language are especially tuned to a parent’s eye gaze, itself a social connection between parent and child that is linked to early learning.
Piranha fish swap old teeth for new simultaneously
With the help of new technologies, a team led by the University of Washington has confirmed that piranhas — and their plant-eating cousins, pacus — lose and regrow all the teeth on one side of their face multiple times throughout their lives. How they do it may help explain why the fish go to such efforts to replace their teeth.
First smart speaker system that uses white noise to monitor infants’ breathing
UW researchers have developed a new smart speaker skill that lets a device use white noise to both soothe sleeping babies and monitor their breathing and movement.
October 14, 2019
Fishing for the triple bottom line: profit, planet — and people
In a new study, an interdisciplinary group of researchers used Pacific herring in Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, as a case study for modeling the implicit tradeoffs within the triple bottom line that result from various fisheries management decisions.
October 11, 2019
New UW center receives NIH grant to improve the fight against cancer
Even successful methods for diagnosing, treating and caring for people who are suffering from cancer are not enough without effective, practical tools and guidance for putting those methods into practice. To bridge this gap between cancer interventions and their implementation within communities across the country, the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute is funding…
October 10, 2019
UW names population health building after Swedish physician and ‘very serious possibilist’ Hans Rosling
Hans Rosling is known internationally for his captivating analysis of global health data, for discovering a paralyzing disease in Africa and explaining its socio-economic causes, and for his intense curiosity and life-long passion for educating students, world leaders and the public. Now, Hans Rosling — a Swedish doctor, statistician, author and professor — will be…
October 8, 2019
New paper explores race, representation in campaign finance
In American politics, the question of “Who donates?” is linked to the crucial question of “Who governs?” Most campaign donations historically have come from white voters. But new UW-led research indicates that if more candidates of color ran for office, donations from individuals of color would likely increase as well.
October 7, 2019
Soundbites & B-roll: Pop-up gallery portrays homelessness with animals
The University of Washington Center for One Health Research will build “pop-up galleries” in public spaces around Seattle in October that will use autobiographical photographs taken by people experiencing homelessness with their companion animals. The photos will be accompanied by quotes from the participants about the challenges and the important bonds they share with their animals.
Pop-up galleries and data: Visualizing the lives of homeless people and their animals
Sparked by a grant from the UW Population Health Initiative, the UW’s Center for One Health Research has created a series of pop-up galleries featuring autobiographical photographs made by people experiencing homelessness with their animal companions. The first gallery was Oct. 4 in UW’s Red Square. Other pop-up gallery events are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday,…
October 4, 2019
Health disparities, strong social support among state’s LGBTQ community
A report released Oct. 4, the Washington State Equity and Diversity Project, is the first study of its kind to examine the health of LGBTQ people of all ages throughout the state.
New metasurface design can control optical fields in three dimensions
A team led by scientists at the University of Washington has designed and tested a 3D-printed metamaterial that can manipulate light with nanoscale precision. As they report in a paper published Oct. 4 in the journal Science Advances, their designed optical element focuses light to discrete points in a 3D helical pattern.
October 2, 2019
Inspired by Northern clingfish, researchers make a better suction cup
A University of Washington team inspired by the clingfish’s suction power set out to develop an artificial suction cup that borrows from nature’s design. Their prototype actually performed better than the clingfish.
September 26, 2019
Pay, flexibility, advancement: They all matter for workers’ health and safety, study shows
The terms and conditions of your employment — including your pay, hours, schedule flexibility and job security — influence your overall health as well as your risk of being injured on the job, according to new research from the University of Washington. The analysis takes a comprehensive approach to show that the overall pattern of…
Income gains for many, but no change in poverty rates for Seattle and King County
The share of Washingtonians living below the federal poverty threshold declined from 11.0 to 10.3 percent between 2017 and 2018, according to new Census data released Thursday.
Galaxy found to float in a tranquil sea of halo gas
An international team of astronomers has analyzed the signal from a fast radio burst — an enigmatic blast of cosmic radio waves lasting less than a millisecond — to characterize the diffuse gas in the halo of a massive galaxy.
September 25, 2019
Fish micronutrients ‘slipping through the hands’ of malnourished people
Millions of people are suffering from malnutrition despite some of the most nutritious fish species in the world being caught near their homes, according to new research published Sept. 25 in Nature.
Joel Migdal, founder of International Studies Program, to mark UW retirement with public lecture, workshop, Oct. 3
Joel S. Migdal, professor in the UW Jackson School of International Studies, will celebrate retirement after 39 years at the UW on Oct. 3 with a daylong workshop featuring current and former students, followed by a lecture on “State and Society: Then and Now.”
September 19, 2019
New student convocation Sept. 22 opens UW’s 2019-2020 school year
University of Washington communication professor Matt McGarrity, founder of the UW Speaking Center, will be the featured speaker at the university’s 36th annual Convocation. The ceremony begins at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 22, in the Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.
Introducing VPLanet: A virtual planet simulator for modeling distant worlds across time
UW astrobiologist Rory Barnes and co-authors have created software that simulates multiple aspects of planetary evolution across billions of years, with an eye toward finding and studying potentially habitable worlds.
Plasma flow near sun’s surface explains sunspots, other solar phenomena
A new model for plasma flow within the sun provides novel explanations for sunspots, the 11-year sunspot cycle, solar magnetic reversals and other previously unexplained solar phenomena.
September 16, 2019
UW is a ‘Great College to Work For’
The University of Washington has been recognized as a “Great College to Work For” for the sixth consecutive year, according to a new survey from The Great Colleges to Work For program.
Americans would rather drive themselves to work than have an autonomous vehicle drive them, study says
Are you willing to ride in a driverless car? Researchers at the University of Washington studied how Americans’ perceived cost of commute time changes depending on who’s driving.
KATRIN cuts the mass estimate for the elusive neutrino in half
An international team of scientists has announced a breakthrough in its quest to measure the mass of the neutrino, one of the most abundant, yet elusive, elementary particles in our universe. At the 2019 Topics in Astroparticle and Underground Physics conference in Toyama, Japan, leaders from the KATRIN experiment reported Sept. 13 that the estimated range for the rest mass of the neutrino is no larger than 1 electron volt, or eV.
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