UW Bothell lecturer on journey to support ALS patients through game technology

Posted on July 26, 2023July 27, 2023

ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, with those diagnosed eventually losing the ability to speak and move. Augmented reality, virtual reality, artificial intelligence and video games may offer benefits, which is a research direction one University of Washington Bothell faculty member is pursuing. Dr. Wanda Gregory, a lecturer at UW Bothell’s School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, teaches courses in game and interactive media design as well…

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

Posted on July 18, 2023July 18, 2023

The Population Health Initiative awarded Tier 1 pilot grants in autumn quarter 2022 to nine different teams that are working to lay an interdisciplinary foundation for future projects to generate proof-of-concept. Each of the funded projects has now reached the mid-point of their work, and investigators have shared a range of positive progress that is described in the following sections.

New research investigates long-term health risks for firefighters

Posted on July 13, 2023

Firefighters face occupational risks in the profession on a daily basis. Potential exposures to toxic chemicals is the focus for three major research studies by investigators at the University of Washington’s School of Public Health. The first study is concerned with firefighters’ exposure to PFAs (per- and polyfluorinated substances) due to its prevalence in fire fighting foams. The project team will collect blood and urine samples from study volunteers for comparison with career firefighters to better understand the level of…

Initiative jointly funds two Innovation Gap Fund projects with CoMotion

Posted on July 11, 2023

The University of Washington Population Health Initiative continued its annual partnership with CoMotion to jointly fund two Innovation Gap Funds of $50,000 each. This $100,000 in funding will support projects that simultaneously support the UW’s vision for improving population health while also fulfilling the CoMotion Innovation Fund’s goal of enabling research that will achieve sustainable commercial or social impact. The first funded project is DEFIB AI: Defibrillator Algorithms for Patient-Specific Cardiac Arrest Treatment. The project is led by Jason Coult…

New test can identify Alzheimer-related protein in blood years before symptoms emerge

Posted on June 29, 2023

Most Alzheimer’s patients are currently diagnosed only after they present with symptoms of the disease. University of Washington researchers are working to create a reliable diagnostic test that can detect signs of Alzheimer’s prior to a patient exhibiting symptoms. The research team found that seeds of Alzheimer’s are planted in the brain years before diagnosis. These seeds are amyloid beta proteins, which cluster to form small aggregates called oligomers. Scientists believe these oligomers later develop into Alzheimer’s, so the UW…

Exploring the benefits of home-based food businesses in Washington State

Posted on June 27, 2023June 27, 2023

Inequitable access to economic resources and employment opportunities plays a significant role in health disparities. In the United States, for example, women, immigrants and people of color face many barriers to securing high-quality jobs and financial security. As a result, marginalized communities may see benefits from unconventional careers like self-employment as a means of mitigating barriers such as access to higher education and professional networks. To explore the potential benefits of self-employment, Will von Geldern, a Ph.D. student at the…

Five awardees of 2022 Tier 3 pilot research grants report on their progress

Posted on June 22, 2023

The Population Health Initiative awarded five Tier 3 pilot grants to University of Washington project teams representing seven different UW schools and colleges as well as several community-based partners in June 2022. These awards from the initiative’s Tier 3 pilot grant program were intended to support faculty and PI-eligible staff to create follow-on opportunities for impactful projects that have developed preliminary data or realized proof-of-concept and are seeking to scale their efforts and/or expand the scope of their work. The…

Fall interdisciplinary team science, community engaged research workshop scheduled

Posted on June 20, 2023

Join the University of Washington Health Sciences Schools, College of Engineering and the Population Health Initiative this fall for an appointment, promotion and tenure (APT) workshop. The workshop will take place on Monday, September 25, 2023 from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Hans Rosling Center for Population Health (Room 155). The aim of this workshop is to introduce the APT toolkit for early career faculty and pre- and post-docs who conduct interdisciplinary team science research or interdisciplinary community…

Winning papers announced for 2023 Population Health Library Research Awards

Posted on June 7, 2023

The Population Health Initiative announced today that four University of Washington undergraduate students have been honored with 2023 Population Health Library Research Awards. This award was created in 2017 in partnership with the UW Libraries and is open to undergraduates from all three University of Washington campuses. The projects submitted were completed for either UW course credit or for the Undergraduate Research Program. The key factors for choosing awardees included the quality of their writing, the innovativeness of their research…