Population Health

June 11, 2019

Initiative announces summer 2019 Applied Research Fellows

Image of students working on a white boardThe Population Health Initiative today announced the award of six Population Health Applied Research Fellowships to four graduate and two undergraduate students. In partnership with the University of Washington’s Center for Studies in Demography & Ecology, the Applied Research Fellowship program was launched this year to equip students with data analysis, critical thinking and team science skills that will enable them to effectively tackle complex population health challenges and become future leaders in the field

The cohort of students selected for the inaugural year of this fellowship program are:

  • Matt Driver, a Master of Public Health student in the Department of Epidemiology;
  • Jane Kim, a Doctorate of Nursing Practice student in the Family Nurse Practitioner track in the School of Nursing;
  • Michelle Shin, a PhD student in the School of Nursing;
  • Hilary Wething, a PhD student in Public Policy and Management in the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance;
  • Claire Branley, an undergraduate Public Health major; and,
  • Kiana Rahni, an undergraduate Economics and Political Science major.

The Population Health Applied Research Fellowships will support these students to work as a team with the Community Health Services Division (CHSD) of Public Health – Seattle & King County for 10 weeks over the summer to analyze disparities in birth outcomes by race, over time, in King County. This analysis will account for socio-economic and population trends and investigating possible causes.

CHSD is the largest provider of wraparound maternity and infant services for low-income pregnant women in King County, and despite successes in improving care for this population, the County has not been able to comprehensively achieve race equitable birth outcomes. The student’s work will help inform CHSD’s plans for redesigning and refining its delivery of prevention-based services for pregnant and parenting families to help improve birth outcomes.

By working on a real-world, client-driven project as part of a multidisciplinary team, students will understand how to integrate their disciplinary expertise into a team-oriented, problem-solving approach that develops multi-pronged solutions to population health challenges.

“There was an incredible level of interest from highly qualified and motivated students to work in a multidisciplinary, team-based environment on a project that could have a real impact on population health in their own backyard,” said Ali Mokdad, the university’s chief strategy officer for population health and professor of Health Metrics Sciences. “It reflects the demand among students for meaningful, experiential learning opportunities that can make a real difference in people’s lives.”

Learn more about this fellowship program by visiting its web page.