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Report offers recommendations to improve issues of equity in marine plastics pollution

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A new report from the University of Washington seeks to highlight the impact of plastic pollution in the ocean on human populations, and particularly the unequal burden it places on different communities. In particular, the authors seek to refocus the problem as being one of plastic production rather than an issue of waste management. Key topics covered in the report include recommending changes in nomenclature (e.g., using plastic pollution instead of plastic litter), discussing the rise in plastic waste as…

Pilot project explores equitable access to state’s paid family leave policy for AIAN families

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The 2023 Washington State Maternal Mortality Review Panel report found that American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) people experienced higher maternal mortality rates than any other race or ethnic group in Washington State, with the rate of pregnancy-associated death among non-Hispanic AIAN people was 8.5 times greater than non-Hispanic white people. To better target these disparities, Tess Abrahamson-Richards, a Ph.D. student at the UW School of Social Work and a parent and tribal citizen of the Spokane tribe, is researching…

Initiative awards nine spring quarter 2023 Tier 1 pilot grants to UW research teams

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The Population Health Initiative announced the award of nine Tier 1 pilot grants to interdisciplinary research teams representing 10 of the University of Washington’s schools and colleges. The total award value of these grants is nearly $210,000, which includes school, department and unit matching funds. “We were extremely pleased with the range of challenges these awards will work to address,” said Ali H. Mokdad, the UW’s chief strategy officer for population health and professor of health metrics sciences. “It was…

Initiative announces the award of 12 climate change planning grants

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The Population Health Initiative announced today the award of a dozen planning grants to University of Washington researchers to support the launch of new climate-focused collaborations. Each of the $10,000 awards will support the funded teams to complete their planning projects during summer quarter 2023, which will be followed by a special autumn 2023 funding call for climate change-related Population Health Initiative pilot grants. “The level of interest in these awards from disciplines across our three campuses was inspiring,” shared…

Honorees announced for 2023 undergraduate research recognition awards

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The Population Health Initiative announced it has granted Population Health Recognition Awards to 26 students – representing 20 different projects – who are participating in the Undergraduate Research Symposium. These awards recognize each of the students for their innovative and well-presented research work. This award was created in partnership with the Undergraduate Research Program as an opportunity for students across all three campuses presenting at the annual Undergraduate Research Symposium on Friday, May 19, 2023 to be honored for their…

Autumn 2023 undergraduate course to highlight UW population health research

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Registration is now open for autumn quarter 2023’s Research Exposed course, which will feature a series of faculty-led lectures focused on the three pillars of population health: human health, environmental resilience and social and economic equity. This class is offered via a partnership between the Population Health Initiative and the University of Washington’s Undergraduate Research Program (URP). The Research Exposed (General Studies 198 A) course will feature faculty from a range of disciplines discussing their population health-related research. Undergraduates may…

Initiative announces summer 2023 cohort of Applied Research Fellows

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The Population Health Initiative announced the selection of three graduate students and two undergraduate students as the 2023 cohort of the Applied Research Fellowship program. Launched in 2019, the Applied Research Fellowship was created – and continues to be run – in partnership with the University of Washington’s Center for Studies in Demography & Ecology. The program’s goal is to offer students data analysis, critical thinking and team science skills that will help them solve complex population health challenges on…

Disparities in air pollution exposure could be eliminated with a community-based approach

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Significant improvements in air quality in the United States have been realized in recent years, partly due to the Clean Air Act, yet people of color still face higher than normal rates of air pollution. A project led by University of Washington researchers compared three approaches to tackling air pollution, two of which mirrored the Clean Air Act and the third a community-based approach that is not commonly used. For each strategy, the researchers analyzed national emissions data and then…

Improving accessibility of newborn screening with low-cost earbuds

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Screening newborns for hearing loss is a vital step in assessing their health. Despite the importance of this test, it is often not available to children in low-income countries due to its high cost. To address this accessibility issue, University of Washington researchers have created a new hearing screening system that instead uses a smartphone and low-cost earbuds. They tested this device on 114 patients, including babies, as well as on pediatric patients with known hearing loss. The results of…

Initiative, EarthLab event fosters climate change connections across UW disciplines

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The Population Health Initiative and EarthLab co-hosted an Open Space-style event in the University of Washington wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ – Intellectual House on April 11, 2023, to help facilitate the development of new interdisciplinary collaborations that will take on pressing climate-related challenges. The event, which drew 35 UW faculty, staff and students, was intended as a follow-on opportunity for UW researchers who participated in the December 2022 Sparking Climate Connections Lightning Talks hosted by the EarthLab Advisory Board of Deans. Attendees at…