Winter quarter seminar series focuses on data science methodologies in population health

Posted on January 23, 2023

The University of Washington Population Health Initiative and the eScience Institute are offering a two-part seminar series, “Pop Health Data Science,” during winter quarter 2023. This series will explore the application of data science methodologies to address pressing challenges to population health. The two seminars for this quarter are: Thursday, January 26, 2023: Ali H. Mokdad, UW Chief Strategy Officer for Population Health and Professor of Health Metrics Sciences, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation Register to Attend Thursday, February…

Spotlight: Akhtar Badshah’s passion for social impact

Posted on January 18, 2023September 4, 2025

A chance encounter nearly 20 years ago sparked what has become Akhtar Badshah’s passion for the topics of social impact, social innovation and social entrepreneurship. Now a lecturer at the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Policy & Governance, Badshah’s first passion was architecture. He spent his formative professional years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), first to earn his Master of Science in Architecture Studies and Ph.D. in Environmental Studies, and then as an instructor of architecture….

Awardees of winter quarter 2022 Tier 1 pilot research grants report their progress

Posted on January 12, 2023January 12, 2023

Eleven Tier 1 Population Health Initiative pilot grants were awarded to teams representing researchers from nine different UW schools and colleges, as well as UW Tacoma and numerous community-based partners, in February 2022. These awards from the initiative’s Tier 1 pilot grant program were intended to support researchers in laying an interdisciplinary foundation for a future project to generate proof-of-concept. Each of the projects have reached its respective mid-point, and investigators are reporting a range of progress in their work….

Initiative co-hosts second annual Sacia Digital Health Innovation Workshop

Posted on January 10, 2023

Students from a variety of disciplines came together on November 19, 2022, in the University of Washington’s Hans Rosling Center for Population Health to make the second annual Sacia Digital Health Innovation Workshop an exciting and engaging day of activities. The event, which sought to offer students an immersive and hands-on opportunity to workshop new solutions in the growing and dynamic field of digital health, was led by the Foster School’s Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship in partnership with the Population…

New foundation funding to help UW faculty members narrow gaps in health equity

Posted on January 5, 2023April 8, 2025

Two University of Washington faculty members, Weichao Yuwen and Maggie Ramirez, have received a $50,000 grant from the Rita and Alex Hillman Foundation’s Emergent Innovation program to narrow gaps in health equity. Yuwen and Ramirez’s project, “AI-Enhanced Nursing Intervention Platform for Latino Family Caregivers,” seeks to tailor an existing artificial intelligence platform – Caring for Caregivers Online, or COCO – to offer culturally-congruent support to caregivers of children with chronic conditions. “Despite overwhelming and disparate needs, the use of supportive…

UW study bolsters evidence of link between air pollution and health outcomes

Posted on December 13, 2022

New research from University of Washington investigators has added to the evidence that prenatal and postnatal exposure to air pollution can harm kids. Specifically, the study found that mothers in the first and second trimesters who were exposed to nitrogen dioxide (N02) were more likely to experience behavioral problems. Children aged 2-4 exposed to small particle air pollution were also reported to have poorer behavioral functioning and cognitive performance. This study highlights the vulnerability of pregnant women, children and the…

Lower-income communities realize economic benefits from sweetened beverage taxes

Posted on December 1, 2022

Intake of sugar-sweetened beverages is a known contributor to a number of health issues, with several local jurisdictions in the U.S. having implemented sweetened beverage taxes as a means of successfully reducing purchasing. Most studies of the economic impact of these taxes have focused on retail-level data, with a new study from University of Washington researchers being among the first to investigate the impact at the household level. The study – which examined economic equity impacts of sweetened beverage taxes…

Winter quarter population health course to explore careers across disciplines

Posted on November 29, 2022

The Population Health Initiative is partnering with the School of Public Health to offer a series of career-focused lectures during winter quarter 2023. This seminar course is designed for University of Washington undergraduate students from any degree program who are interested in exploring different career pathways in population health. This is a one-credit seminar graded as Credit/No-Credit course. Classes will occur on Wednesdays from 2:30 – 3:20 p.m. in Thomson Hall 125. Students are expected to attend in person. Students…

Winter 2023 undergraduate course highlights UW population health research

Posted on November 22, 2022May 22, 2025

The Population Health Initiative is continuing its partnership with the University of Washington’s Undergraduate Research Program (URP) to offer a series of faculty-led lectures during winter quarter 2023 focused on the three pillars of population health: human health, environmental resilience and social and economic equity. The Research Exposed! (General Studies 391 D) course will feature faculty from a range of disciplines discussing their population health-related research. Undergraduates may take this course for credit (i.e., one credit/quarter; three quarters max). Each…