News releases

March 23, 2011

UW faculty member Ali Tarhouni named finance minister by Libyan opposition

Foster School of Business faculty member Ali Tarhouni named finance minister by Libyan opposition provisional government.

Near closing time March 25, 1911, a New York City factory fire took the lives of 146 garment workers. Hazardous conditions prevented their escape. A March 31 symposium, “Responding to Disasters in the Workplace,” commemorates the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.

March 22, 2011

Interest in toys predicts effectiveness of autism treatment in toddlers

A short-term, parent-guided treatment improved communication skills in some toddlers showing early signs of autism spectrum disorders.

March 15, 2011

UW grad programs among best in nation, according to U.S. News

The University of Washington has been ranked first among primary-care medical schools in the country for the 18th consecutive year, according to annual rankings of graduate and professional programs provided March 15 by “U.S. News & World Report.”

March 14, 2011

UW study finds adolescent alcohol use associated with altered ability to evaluate risk

A new study from researchers at the UW concludes that adolescent alcohol use corrupts decision-making later in life.

UW researchers report that children express the stereotype that mathematics is for boys, not for girls, before gender differences in math achievement emerge.

March 13, 2011

Danger to U.S. unlikely from Japanese nuclear reactors

A University of Washington atmospheric scientist believes it is unlikely North America is in any danger from airborne radiation from Japanese nuclear reactors.

March 2, 2011

Algal antifreeze makes inroads into ice

Sea-ice algae – the important first rung of the food web each spring in places like the Arctic Ocean – can engineer ice to its advantage, according to the first published findings about this ability.

March 1, 2011

Intensive counseling on adhering to HIV treatment improves patient outcomes

Intensive counseling on the importance of adhering to HIV treatment significantly reduces poor compliance and treatment failure in sub-Saharan Africa, according to an article in PLoS Medicine March 1 by UW researcher Michael Chung and colleagues.

Results of study suggest new vaccine strategies to debilitate viruses by tapping into their response to selective pressure.

February 21, 2011

Foggy, volcanic Kuril Islands illuminate limits of where humans can live (with slideshow)

Ben Fitzhugh, a UW anthropologist, is leading an international team of anthropologists, archaeologists, geologists and earth and atmospheric scientists in studying the history of human settlement on the Kuril Islands.

February 16, 2011

Ten years after Nisqually quake, Northwests seismic dangers still lurk

A decade after the Nisqually earthquake shook Western Washington, scientific ideas about the region’s seismic danger have evolved and the ability to study and prepare for it has improved immensely.

February 15, 2011

If greenhouse gas emissions stopped now, Earth still would likely get warmer

As debate continues about potential policies to curb greenhouse gas emissions, new UW research shows the world is already committed to a warmer climate because of emissions that have occurred up to now.

UW launches initiative to double online enrollments

Online course enrollments will increase to 24,000 over next three years.

February 14, 2011

Carbon Leadership Forum will devise standards to limit carbon footprints in building products

University of Washington researchers, along with design and construction professionals, will devise standards that will help limit carbon footprints of building products and systems.

February 11, 2011

Kent School District and UW launch partnership program for three-year degree completion

The UW is launching an accelerated program allowing students to graduate in three years.

February 9, 2011

Stardust set to meet its NExT comet

It’s been 12 years since Stardust, the brainchild of a UW astronomer, was launched and seven years since it encountered a comet called Wild 2 out beyond Mars. Next Monday the probe will make history again when it meets its second comet, Tempel 1.

February 8, 2011

UW's Hank Levy elected to National Academy of Engineering

Henry “Hank” Levy, professor and chair of the UW’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

February 7, 2011

Implantable computers to restore brain function lost to injury or disease is Keck Foundation grant goal

The UW has made significant progress in neural engineering — the study of communication and control between biological and machine systems. The Keck project is the next step in advancing the technology of miniature devices developed at the UW to record from and stimulate the brain, spinal cord and muscles.

February 3, 2011

Global health minor launched in response to student interest

More than 200 students from disciplines across campus have enrolled in an intro course in global health offered for the first time this quarter.

February 2, 2011

UW Experts on the Arab crises

As the Arab crises continue, UW experts are available for media interviews.

February 1, 2011

New center aims to dramatically lower barrier to making silicon photonic chips

The University of Washington has launched a new program, co-funded by Intel Corp., to make it easier and cheaper to build silicon photonic circuits. Sending information using light, instead of electrons, will allow for faster, lower-power and more versatile microchips.

January 25, 2011

Higher costs of more nutritious diets contribute to socio-economic disparities in health

People with lower incomes and less education typically have less healthful eating habits than people with higher incomes and more education. A UW study concludes that socio-economic disparities in diet quality are directly affected by diet costs.

Last summers disastrous and deadly Pakistan floods were caused by a rogue weather system that wandered hundreds of miles farther west than is normal for such systems, new UW research shows.

January 24, 2011

Higher costs of more nutritious diets contribute to socio-economic disparities in health: UW research

January 21, 2011

President Obama honors UW maternal health researcher Dr. Michelle Williams

Williams will receive a prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring next week at a White House ceremony.

President Obama honors UW epidemiologist Dr. Michelle Williams as one of the nation’s outstanding mentors

Williams will receive a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Math and Engineering mentoring.

January 20, 2011

Gulf grows between research practice and participant preferences in genetic studies

Realigning with participants’ interests is important for the future of research. UW and Group Health bioethicists suggest ways for scientists and study volunteers to build trusting relationships in a policy forum appearing Jan. 21 in the journal Science.

The On-Ramps into Academia workshop at the UW aims to lure women researchers working in government, industry or as consultants to academic positions. Applications for the second workshop, this spring, are due Feb. 15.

Gulf grows between research practice and participant preferences in genetic research

Realigning with participants’ interest is important for the future of genomic research.

January 18, 2011

UW Medicine, Valley Medical Center to explore strategic alliance

Today, Jan. 18, the chief executive officers of UW Medicine and Valley Medical Center announced the signing of a non-binding Letter of Inten

January 12, 2011

Iceberg snaps, produces strange song

Want to hear one of the biggest icebergs of the last decade crack up? UW researchers compressed a five-hour event in Antarctica into a two-minute audio file that you can listen to.

January 5, 2011

Co-management holds promise of sustainable fisheries worldwide

Encouraging new evidence suggests that the bulk of the worlds fisheries – including small-scale, often non-industrialized fisheries on which millions of people depend for food – could be sustained using community-based co-management.

January 3, 2011

Engineering students hack Kinect for surgical robotics research

Students in the Biorobotics Laboratory hacked the Kinect, a motion-based controller for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 gaming system, for research on telerobotic surgery.

UW researchers report that elementary school students who participated in a three-month anti-bullying program in Seattle schools showed a 72 percent decrease in malicious gossip.

Anti-bullying program reduces malicious gossip on school playgrounds

Elementary school students who participated in a three-month anti-bullying program in Seattle schools showed a 72 percent decrease in malicious gossip.

December 30, 2010

Team approach shows successes for depressed patients with diabetes, heart disease

Depression and physical disease were managed together in a primary-care intervention called TEAMCare in a UW/Group Health study. The results for patients: less depression, better control of blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol — and a greater enjoyment of life.

Team-based approach to patient care shows success in fight against depression with diabetes, heart disease

Team-based approach to patient care shows success

December 23, 2010

Layoffs of teachers in Washington state are unrelated to effectiveness

A recent study by researchers Dan Goldhaber and Roddy Theobald of the Center for Education Data and Research at the University of Washington Bothell found that layoff decisions within the teaching profession are disproportionally determined by seniority and other factors unrelated to teaching effectiveness.

December 22, 2010

UW Medicine scientists among international consortium of researchers to conduct first-ever analysis of roundworm genome

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