School of Public Health
September 19, 2023
Five UW faculty members elected as AGU Fellows, plus more honors
The American Geophysical Union announced Sept. 13 that five University of Washington faculty members have been elected as new fellows, representing the departments of astronomy, Earth and space sciences, oceanography, global health, and environmental and occupational health sciences.
September 7, 2023
UW assessment finds fentanyl and methamphetamine smoke linger on public transit vehicles
Two years ago, as life regained its rhythm and public transit once again filled with people, train and bus operators spotted a troubling trend. Some operators reported instances of people smoking drugs on their vehicles, and worried that the haze it created could linger, potentially affecting workers’ physical and mental health. Spurred by operators’ concerns,…
September 5, 2023
UW, Stanford launch resource to help health care professionals respond to climate concerns
The case studies in Medicine for a Changing Planet, collated from clinical encounters around the world, support health professionals in recognizing and treating a variety of health-related conditions that can be traced to environmental stressors.
August 28, 2023
UW research links wildfire smoke to increased risk of emergency room visits for people of all ages
Taken together, the two papers’ findings suggest that wildfire smoke poses a risk to people of all ages, not just young children and older adults.
June 26, 2023
New report, tool suggest how Washington can better protect against extreme heat
Two years after the Pacific Northwest heat dome — the deadliest weather-related disaster in state history — a collaborative effort has drawn up recommendations for how people and groups across the state could prevent future heat-related illness and save lives. The effort involves a report led by the UW Climate Impacts Group and an interactive risk-mapping tool led by the UW Center for Health and the Global Environment,
April 24, 2023
UW graduate and professional disciplines place highly in US News’ Best Graduate Schools rankings
The University of Washington’s graduate and professional degree programs were widely recognized as among the best in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2024 Best Graduate Schools rankings released late Monday.
April 6, 2023
Washington state’s 2021 heat wave contributed to 159 excess injury deaths over three weeks
A record-breaking heat wave that baked Washington state in 2021 contributed to 159 excess injury deaths, according to research led by a UW professor.
February 14, 2023
New faculty books: Fad diets, how inequality leads to poor health and more
Four new faculty books from the University of Washington cover topics ranging from inequality’s effects on health to fad diets to former German chancellor Angela Merkel’s legacy on gender equality.
November 16, 2022
More US adults carrying loaded handguns daily, study finds
New research led by the University of Washington finds that the number of U.S. adult handgun owners carrying a loaded handgun on their person doubled from 2015 to 2019, and that a larger proportion of handgun owners carried handguns in states with less restrictive carrying regulations.
November 15, 2022
UW celebrates researchers on Highly Cited Researchers 2022 List
The University of Washington is proud to announce that more than 44 faculty and researchers who completed their work while at UW have been named on the annual Highly Cited Researchers 2022 list from Clarivate.
October 14, 2022
ArtSci Roundup: Grammy winner Morris Robinson, Washington State Poet Laureate Rena Priest, and more!
Connect with the UW community every week through public events and exhibitions, summarized in this ArtSci Roundup.
October 7, 2022
ArtSci Roundup: Indigenous Peoples’ Day on-air, Chamber Dance Company, and more
Connect with the UW community every week through public events and exhibitions, summarized in this ArtSci Roundup.
September 26, 2022
Heat-related mortality risk is widespread across Washington state, study shows
Heat-related deaths occur across Washington state, even in regions with typically milder climates. This is the most extensive study yet of heat-related mortality in Washington state, and the first to look beyond the major population to and include rural areas. Researchers used statistical methods to uncover “hidden” deaths that may have listed something else, like illness or a chronic disease, as the primary cause.
September 9, 2022
Pandemic federal programs helped kids in need get access to 1.5 billion meals every month
When schools closed during the first year of the pandemic, an immediate and potentially devastating problem surfaced: How would millions of children in struggling families get the school meals many of them depended on? The U.S. Congress responded by authorizing the Department of Agriculture to roll out two major programs. It launched the “grab…
August 11, 2022
Bird behavior influenced by human activity during COVID-19 lockdowns
For birds that inhabit developed areas of the Pacific Northwest, the reduction in noise and commotion from COVID-19 lockdowns may have allowed them to use a wider range of habitats in cities, a new University of Washington study has found.
August 2, 2022
Popular map for exploring environmental health disparities, vulnerabilities in Washington gets an update
Since it first launched in 2019, Washington state’s Environmental Health Disparities Map has been used to help decisionmakers and government agencies engage with overburdened communities to clean up contamination, improve buildings and electric grids, plant trees and many other projects. Using a complex matrix of data, this open-access, interactive map ranks Washington’s nearly 1,500 U.S….
July 20, 2022
UW atmospheric sciences achieves No. 1 global ranking; nearly three dozen UW subjects in top 50
Eight University of Washington subjects ranked in the top 10 and Atmospheric Sciences moved to its position as No. 1 in the world on the Global Ranking of Academic Subjects list for 2022. The ranking, released Tuesday, was conducted by researchers at the ShanghaiRanking Consultancy, a fully independent organization dedicating to research on higher education intelligence and consultation.
July 19, 2022
Suicide prevention training for health care providers a first step in longer-term efficacy
After Washington became the first state to require suicide prevention training for health care providers, the University of Washington worked with experts and organizations to develop the All Patients Safe program. A new study shows how All Patients Safe helped providers of all specialties learn how to identify and respond to patients at risk of suicide.
July 12, 2022
UW study strengthens evidence of link between air pollution and child brain development
Air pollution is not just a problem for lungs. Increasingly, research suggests air pollution can influence childhood behavioral problems and even IQ. A new study led by the University of Washington has added evidence showing that both prenatal and postnatal exposure to air pollution can harm kids. The study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, found…
July 8, 2022
Sweetened beverage taxes produce net economic benefits for lower-income communities
New research led by University of Washington professors James Krieger and Melissa Knox found that sweetened beverage taxes redistributed dollars from higher- to lower-income households.
May 27, 2022
Critical race theory at center of UW study of unequal access to treatment for opioid addiction
Opioid use disorder is an addiction crisis in the United States that has become increasingly lethal during the COVID-19 pandemic. To preserve access to life-saving treatment during the pandemic, federal drug agencies loosened requirements on physicians for treating these patients, including moving patient evaluations away from in-person exams to telemedicine. This federal policy change focused…
May 7, 2022
Consensus approach proposed to protect human health from intentional and wild forest fires
All forest fire smoke is bad for people, but not all fires in forests are bad. This is the conundrum faced by experts in forest management and public health: Climate change and decades of fire suppression that have increased fuels are contributing to larger and more intense wildfires and, in order to improve forest health…
May 3, 2022
Many pathologists agree overdiagnosis of skin cancer happens, but don’t change diagnosis behavior
As the most serious type of skin cancer, a melanoma diagnosis carries emotional, financial and medical consequences. That’s why recent studies finding that there is an overdiagnosis of melanoma are a significant cause for concern. “Overdiagnosis is the diagnosis of disease that will not harm a person in their lifetime. If melanoma is being overdiagnosed,…
March 28, 2022
UW graduate and professional disciplines again place high in US News’ best graduate school rankings
The University of Washington’s graduate and professional degree programs were widely recognized as among the best in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2023 Best Graduate School rankings released Tuesday.
February 28, 2022
UW authors in IPCC report emphasize threats to human health and well-being
Two University of Washington experts in climate change and health are lead authors of the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The new report titled Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptations and Vulnerability, published Monday morning, details in over three thousand pages a “dire warning” about the consequences of inaction on reducing…
February 9, 2022
New Center for Environmental Forensic Science aims to disrupt and dismantle international illegal wildlife trade
Across the globe, endangered species are at risk for illegal poaching. African elephants are sought out for their ivory, rhinoceros for their singular horns, and armadillo-like pangolins for their protective, brittle scales. Add to that list valuable and environmentally sensitive trees illegally harvested throughout the world where entire ecosystems are being deforested and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing that is devastating oceans. These illicit markets, estimated at $1 trillion annually, cause enormous environmental impacts and have the potential to unleash new, deadly pathogens.
January 26, 2022
Air pollution from planes, roads infiltrates schools and can be dramatically reduced with portable air filters
What started as a University of Washington-led project to measure air pollution near Sea-Tac International Airport has led to schools in the area installing portable air filters to improve indoor air quality. First, UW researchers found they were able to parse aircraft pollution from roadway pollution in the communities under Sea-Tac International Airport flight paths…
December 17, 2021
Deforestation-fueled heat already affecting millions of outdoor workers in the tropics
New research from an interdisciplinary team at the University of Washington, Duke University and The Nature Conservancy shows how local temperature increases in the tropics – compounded by accelerating deforestation – may already be jeopardizing the well-being and productivity of outdoor workers.
November 11, 2021
Deforestation, climate change linked to more worker deaths and unsafe conditions
Outdoor workers in the world’s lower-latitude tropical forests may face a greater risk of heat-related deaths and unsafe working conditions because of deforestation and climate warming, according to a study led by The Nature Conservancy, the University of Washington and Indonesia’s Mulawarman University. In the study, researchers found that increased temperatures of 0.95 C (1.7…
October 28, 2021
Countermarketing based on anti-smoking campaigns reduces buying of sugary ‘fruit’ drinks for children
Public health messages such as in the image below — designed to reduce parents’ purchases of sugar-sweetened beverages marketed as fruit drinks for children — convinced a significant percentage of parents to avoid those drinks, according to a study by researchers at the University of Washington and the University of Pennsylvania. The UW-led study set…
October 1, 2021
UW study provides rare window into work life of app-based drivers during pandemic
When you get into the car of the app-based driver you just tapped up on your phone, you expect and hope the driver and the car are safe and capable of getting you where you need to go. Apps rate drivers, which you can see. But what if the driver is sick? What if the…
Politics, health data held almost equal sway in states’ COVID-19 restrictions
New research by the University of Washington shows that states eased pandemic restrictions, such as gathering limits and business closures, based on politics as much as COVID-19 death rates or case counts.
September 28, 2021
Alzheimer’s data center at UW awarded $35 million to continue mission of free, global access
For researchers around the world working to understand and treat Alzheimer’s and eventually find a cure, data from clinical exams of patients suffering from this complex neurodegenerative disease needs to be standardized and accessible. Since 1999, that’s what the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center (NACC), housed in the UW School of Public Health’s Department of Epidemiology,…
September 27, 2021
New Student Convocation on Tuesday afternoon opens UW’s 2021-22 academic year
University of Washington Associate Professor Wendy Barrington will be the featured speaker at the university’s 38th annual New Student Convocation. Barrington has joint appointments in the Department of Child, Family, and Population Health Nursing in the School of Nursing and the departments of Epidemiology and of Health Systems and Population Health in the School of Public Health.
September 7, 2021
Research, education hub on ‘coastal resiliency’ will focus on earthquakes, coastal erosion and climate change
The new Cascadia Coastlines and Peoples Hazards Research Hub, led by Oregon State University and the University of Washington, will study coastal hazards and community resilience. The National Science Foundation awarded $18.9 million for the hub over five years.
August 20, 2021
With extreme heat increasingly common, UW expert calls for urgent planning to protect health in new Lancet series
In a new series on increasingly common extreme heat waves and their impact on human health published Thursday in the British medical journal The Lancet, a University of Washington climate change and health expert joined more than a dozen international experts to warn that we better prepare. “The preventable heat stress and deaths during this summer’s…
August 6, 2021
UW expert discusses protecting workers from wildfire smoke
With wildfire smoke forecast for next week in Seattle and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in Oregon posting rules for keeping workers safe during increasingly smoky conditions and heat in that state, we caught up with a University of Washington expert on worker safety for advice. Check out Professor Baker’s advice on worker safety…
August 4, 2021
Fine particulate air pollution associated with higher risk of dementia
Using data from two large, long-running study projects in the Puget Sound region — one that began in the late 1970s measuring air pollution and another on risk factors for dementia that began in 1994 — University of Washington researchers identified a link between air pollution and dementia. In the UW-led study, a small increase…
July 30, 2021
Food insecurity remains high and need for assistance dramatically up in Washington
Washington residents continue to experience a dramatically higher level of food insecurity — from 10% before the COVID-19 pandemic to 27%, according to the latest University of Washington and Washington State University research on food insecurity and food assistance in the state. The study team also found that need for food assistance has continued to…
July 23, 2021
Older workers needed for UW study on worker safety during COVID-19 pandemic
Public health researchers have learned a lot about how the pandemic affected workers and exacerbated existing health disparities that exist in many communities. However, there’s still a lot we don’t know about the experience of workers deemed essential in the food industry and who were at higher risk of contracting COVID-19, such those working in…
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