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Population health cooperative agreement signed with Aga Khan University

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The University of Washington has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Aga Khan University to codify population health partnership activities already underway and to leverage complementary strengths to further expand research, service and education in low- and middle-income countries. The agreement was signed by UW President Ana Mari Cauce and Aga Khan University President Firoz Rasul (both pictured). Representing the Aga Khan Development Network were Prince Rahim Aga Khan and Princess Salwa Aga Khan, nee Kendra Spears, UW Class…

Initiative piloting a summer social entrepreneurship fellows program

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The Population Health Initiative, in partnership with the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship, CoMotion and the Evans School, will pilot test a Social Entrepreneurship Fellows Program during summer quarter 2019. The paid fellowships will be offered to three graduate students from different disciplines who will explore various social enterprise models for innovations developed by University of Washington researchers. The projects for the summer 2019 program are all based on the use of mobile and digital technologies to improve population health. All…

Spring undergraduate course to highlight disaster research

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A home in Puerto Rico with a temporary roof after Hurricane Maria. The Population Health Initiative is offering a one-credit, credit/no-credit seminar-style course for undergraduate students during spring quarter called, “Disasters: Approaches to Preparation, Response and Recovery.” Natural and human-made disasters result in enormous human and economic costs, including immediate loss of lives, destruction of infrastructure, food shortages, disease outbreaks and displacement. The appropriate response to these disasters is complex, requiring multi-level, cross-sector coordination and input from a range of…

Memorandum of understanding signed with the Karolinska Institutet

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The University of Washington announced today the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Karolinska Institutet that is intended to deepen collaboration in areas of teaching and research impacting population health. The five-year agreement details a range of possible collaborative projects and activities to explore, including faculty and student exchanges, joint research activities and individual faculty partnerships. This agreement comes on the heels of a visit by a Karolinska Institutet delegation to the UW in November 2018. The delegation,…

Inaugural pilot research grant awardees close out their yearlong projects

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The Population Health Initiative pilot research grant encourages new interdisciplinary collaborations among investigators for projects that address critical components of different grand challenges the University of Washington seeks to address in population health. The initiative funded an inaugural round of five pilot research grants to faculty-led teams from 10 different UW schools and colleges in October 2017. Those five teams have now finished their yearlong projects, with highlights of their work including:

Massive wildfires have strikingly unequal effects on minority communities

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Researchers at the University of Washington and The Nature Conservancy used census data to develop a “vulnerability index” to assess wildfire risk in communities across the U.S. Their results, which were published in the journal PLOS ONE, show that racial and ethnic minorities face greater vulnerability to wildfires compared with primarily white communities. In particular, Native Americans are six times more likely than other groups to live in areas most prone to wildfires. This study is one of the first…

UW researcher explores how communities can build back better after a disaster

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Nicole Errett head shot

New research led by Dr. Nicole Errett (pictured), lecturer in the University of Washington Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, explores how a natural disaster can serve as a catalyst for a community to build back better, healthier and more resilient. She recently assessed 28 state disaster recovery plans in a research study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and is currently working with local health departments along the Gulf Coast to identify and address challenges faced in…

New app creates educational bathroom humor

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A group of University of Washington Civil & Environmental Engineering students, led by assistant professor Jessica Kaminsky, have created a mobile application called LoosePoops to help educate the public about sanitation issues around the world. Loosely modeled after the popular game Fruit Ninja, where players slice fruit using a touch screen controlled blade, LoosePoops players slice poop emoji in order to advance through different levels. Each level features educational subject matter on topics such as wastewater treatment, fecal-oral contamination routes,…

New suite of resources supports tribes in preparing for climate change

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The University of Washington Climate Impacts Group and regional tribal partners have developed a collection of resources that may be useful to tribes at any stage in the process of evaluating their vulnerability to climate change. The project is a partnership among tribes, tribal associations, universities and the federal government. This new suite of resources is intended to support tribes in all phases of assessing the possible impacts of climate change — in other words, how a warming world might…

Pilot research grant awardees report progress on projects

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The Population Health Initiative awarded eight pilot research grants to faculty-led teams from 11 different UW schools and colleges in March 2018. The pilot research grants encourage new interdisciplinary collaborations among investigators for projects that address grand challenges the UW seeks to impact in population health. Since receiving their awards, the eight teams have made significant initial progress towards achieving their goals for their yearlong projects. Highlights of their work includes: