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Spotlight: Holly Schindler strives to support equity in early childhood policies and practices

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Dr. Holly Schindler strives for equitable programs and systems of education for children and families in all areas of her career. Her passion for early childhood emerged early on and led to her sustained focus on early childhood policies and practices through community-based research. Schindler is both the chair and an associate professor of learning sciences & human development in the University of Washington College of Education. In this role, she teaches numerous courses at the graduate and undergraduate levels….

New research finds crowdfunding for medical bills is inequitable, not much of a safety net

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A recent study conducted by Nora Kenwothy, an associate professor of nursing and health studies at University of Washington Bothell, and a team of UW researchers determined that despite popular belief, people in states with higher medical debt and lower insurance coverage rates are less likely to be successful through methods of medical crowdfunding. The team assessed more than 437,000 GoFundMe campaigns, specific to medical issues, over a five-year period, analyzing the number of campaigns started and amount of money…

Planting trees in pastureland increases climate resilience for communities in the tropics

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Researchers from the University of Washington collaborated with The Nature Conservancy and universities across the country on a study that discovered the benefits of adding trees to pastureland to create natural cooling effects that help combat rising temperatures in tropical regions. As these regions struggle to adapt to climate effects of rising temperatures, this cooling practice, known as silvopasture, was found to benefit the people and wildlife of these regions by helping increase their resilience to climate change. Using satellite…

Pilot project seeks to understand health effects of cryptocurrency trading among young adults

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Cryptocurrency has become the new buzzword in financial spaces over the last decade, and especially in the last few years. Cryptocurrency is a form of decentralized virtual currency, popularized due to its lack of ties to government or central authorities in addition to its anonymous trading that occurs 24 hours a day. Blockchain technology utilized by cryptocurrencies has also contributed to its growing appeal as it provides an added layer of security by preventing forged transaction histories. Cryptocurrency trading may…

Awardees of 2021 pilot research grants report on project progress

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The Population Health Initiative awarded eight pilot grants in March 2021 to faculty-led teams from seven different University of Washington schools and colleges as well as external partners. The initiative’s pilot grant research program seeks to create innovative interdisciplinary collaborations among investigators to tackle important population health challenges. The teams have made significant initial progress toward their yearlong project goals since receiving their awards. Highlights of their work to this point can be found in the following sections.

Spotlight: Shan Liu leverages modeling to improve healthcare systems and policies

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Dr. Shan Liu’s career captures her sustained dedication to the use of mathematical modeling and analysis for improving healthcare systems and policies on the local and global scales. She continually highlights the importance of utilizing interdisciplinary approaches in her discipline and strives to impart this idea to her students and peers. “I strongly believe in evidence-based guidance to health policymaking and using some of these more advanced analytical tools that come from engineering,” said Liu. “Industrial engineering in particular is…

Initiative announces award of eight winter quarter 2022 Tier 2 pilot research grants

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The University of Washington Population Health Initiative announced the award of eight Tier 2 pilot grants to teams representing researchers from seven different UW schools and colleges and several community-based partners. The total value of these awards was roughly $677,000, which included $463,000 in funding from the initiative plus additional matching funds from different schools, colleges and departments. “We are excited to support these eight innovative, interdisciplinary and largely community-based projects to test hypotheses, methods and interventions as they take…

Spotlight: Michelle Montgomery works to redefine what justice demands

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What does justice demand? This question is at the center of Dr. Michelle Montgomery’s professional, educational and personal journeys, as she seeks to decolonize the narrative around climate justice and uplift marginalized voices while fostering grace and humility in her work and conversations. Montgomery is an associate professor and chair of the Division of Social and Historical studies at the University of Washington Tacoma campus. She teaches several courses in the Ethnic, Gender and Labor studies vein, primarily dedicated to…

Initiative announces new partnership, launch of a chronic disease pilot grant program

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The Population Health Initiative, in partnership with Novo Nordisk and the University of Washington’s Engineering Innovation in Health program, is launching a new pilot grant program intended to catalyze innovative projects seeking to prevent, mitigate or reverse the impact of chronic disease on domestic and international populations. Three awards across two areas of focus are available to support UW researchers in testing scalable ideas that seek to better understanding at the intersections of biology, data, digital tools, behavior and financial…

Pollution disparities persist for communities of color across the United States

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Despite the overall decline in air pollutant concentrations across the United States over the past 30 years, a team of researchers led by University of Washington professor Julian Marshall recently conducted a study that found communities of color are continually disproportionately affected by the negative effects of air pollution, such as heart disease, cancer and cognitive decline. In pursuit of this conclusion, the team developed a model that tracks exposure to major air pollutants across census data points to examine…