The latest news from the UW

An optical telecommunications breakthrough developed by a
University of Washington chemistry professor has spawned a
new company to develop and market the technology, and could
lead to establishment of a center at the UW for the growing
science of photonics.

A $4 million dollar grant to create a co-operative research center on hepatitis C has been awarded to the University of Washington by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, with the support of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Most parents and children dread the time when they sit down and have “the talk.

With surveys showing a rise in political apathy among the young, educators are studying new techniques to engage youngsters in the spirit of democracy before they reach voting age.

The arrival of a couple’s first baby is a time of great joy that is frequently followed by a sharp decline in the wife’s marital satisfaction. Social scientists have known this for some time, and that this dissatisfaction can propel couples toward divorce. University of Washington marital researchers studying first-time parents have uncovered a “prescription” for maintaining and even improving marital satisfaction.

Two University of Washington professors – one developing new methods to combine disparate digital information and another studying ways to heal damaged hearts – were named by President Clinton today as winners of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.

Scientists have known for years that birds’ ears do something human ears cannot: when hair cells in the avian ear are destroyed, the bird goes deaf only temporarily. Now, research at the University of Washington is showing why.

Researchers at the University of Washington and The Insitu Group this week announced plans to attempt the first unmanned flight across the Pacific Ocean

A run of salmon facing new environmental conditions diverged into two populations in as few as 13 generations – a time span of only about 60 years – according to research conducted at the University of Washington with sockeye salmon in Lake Washington and the Cedar River near Seattle.

Paul Boardman, who has represented Washington state and the nation’s forest-products industry in Japan since the early 1990s, has been named director of the Center for International Trade in Forest Products at the University of Washington’s College of Forest Resources.

Members of the news media are invited to preview the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture’s new exhibit, “Entwined with Life: Native American Basketry,” next Monday and Tuesday afternoons, Oct. 23 and 24, at the University of Washington.

Dr. William A. Catterall, professor and chair of the University of Washington (UW) medical school’s Department of Pharmacology and Dr. Paul G. Ramsey, vice president for medical affairs and dean of the UW School of Medicine, are among the 60 new members elected to the Institute of Medicine.

Engineers at the University of Washington and The Insitu Group, who collaborated in 1998 to make the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by an unmanned aircraft.

Couple the re-release of “The Exorcist” and the up-coming Halloween broadcast of “Possessed,” a TV documentary about a purported exorcism in a mental hospital, and you’ve got a prescription for a sudden jump in the number reported demonic possessions.

A $10 million grant will allow researchers at the University of Washington and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to conduct an unprecedented study of genetic variation and how it may affect the function of human genes — and, ultimately, our susceptibility or resistance to disease.

Seattle Campus Information regarding University of Washington enrollment for Autumn 2000.

Four decades after President Kennedy tapped student idealism by proposing a Peace Corps, the University of Washington is announcing a new master’s degree program that combines volunteer service overseas with management training on campus.

About 800 people from the University of Washington and the community are expected to attend the Sixth Annual “Bridging the Gap” Diversity Breakfast, whose theme is “Forging Ahead: Diversity in the 21st Century.” The event will be held from 8 to 11 a.m. Oct. 21 in the HUB Ballroom.

Psychologists trying to understand the factors that put athletes and performers at risk for injuries have found that professional ballet dancers get hurt just as often and suffer just as serious injuries as athletes in contact sports.

A University of Washington survey has found that studies about human sexual activity leave out an important factor: the sexual activity of prostitutes.

Dr. Maynard Olson, director of the University of Washington Genome Center, professor of genetics and medicine and adjunct professor of computer science, is one of three scientists who will receive the annual City of Medicine Award on Oct. 5.

The University of Washington has received the first national award for excellence in campus-wide programs in information technologies that support teaching and learning.

Investigators at the University of Washington UW School of Medicine, will receive $5.3 million over five years to investigate the molecular biology of the stem cells that produce blood.

Amid public concern over a recent local crime wave, Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske will appear Monday at the University of Washington Law School to discuss proposals for reducing gun violence

WHO: Between 150 and 200 6-to-12-year-olds from around Puget Sound.

Will the Internet dissolve the nation-state? Three major research universities located in hubs of high-tech innovation are uniting to explore this question and others concerning the impact of the Internet on economic and political systems.

For older people with mild depression, antidepressant medication improves symptoms better and faster than counseling or placebos, concluded the authors of an article published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The University of Washington has received a grant, expected to total more than $12 million over the next five years, to provide low-income students in the Seattle schools with the skills, motivation and preparation to pursue higher education.

Robert H. Muilenburg, a nationally recognized leader in health-care administration who had been at the helm of University of Washington Medical Center since 1978, died Wednesday (Sept. 20) at his Seattle home. He had been diagnosed with brain cancer several months ago.

A thorough study suggests there is little or no connection between periodontal disease and risk of coronary heart disease, according to researchers at the University of Washington School of Dentistry.

Sudden cardiac arrest remains the No. 1 killer of adults in the United States. Coronary artery disease will kill 250,000 or more people this year. One way to reduce the numbers of these deaths dramatically is to make automatic external defibrillators, or AEDs, widely available for home use, said Dr. Mickey Eisenberg.

When it comes to love and sex, one size definitely doesn’t fit all.

Can the extract of the leaves of the Ginkgo biloba tree prevent or delay memory loss and personality changes associated with aging? Scientists at the University of Washington will analyze data being collected nationwide in a $15 million National Institutes of Health study of ginkgo.

A small earthquake off the coast of Washington that caused hydrothermal vent systems miles away to pump out substantially warmer water at 10 times the rate and in an unexpected pulsing pattern has seafloor geologists questioning long-held assumptions about how fluid circulates within oceanic crust.

If David Allstot and his University of Washington colleagues have their way, a few years from now you may find yourself talking to the Internet through your wristwatch.

A Magic Book looks like a traditional book – it has text and colorful pictures. But look at it through a lightweight viewer and moving, three-dimensional images jump off the page.

“Rats” the subliminal political commercial will never rival “Cats” for longevity, but it may prove to be one long bad memory for the national Republican Party, according to a University of Washington researcher who was among the first to show that subliminal visual messages can influence human thought processes and decision-making.

Dr. Douglas S. Paauw, associate professor of medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine at the University of Washington, has been appointed as the first holder of the Rathmann Family Foundation Endowed Chair in Patient-Centered Clinical Education.

Gifts to the University of Washington in 1999-2000 surged by more than 30% to a record total of $134,038,997. The previous year’s total was $102,925,052.