Pollution disparities persist for communities of color across the United States

Posted on March 16, 2022

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…

Improving physical health through changes in oral health behaviors

Posted on March 9, 2022

Approximately 50 University of Washington students, staff and faculty gathered in the Hans Rosling Center for Population Health on March 7, 2022 for Rashmi Rao’s presentation, “Health Continuum Gap: Impacting Health Outcomes Through Behavioral Change.” The seminar was part of the UW Engineering Innovation in Health program’s Leaders in Health Innovation Speaker Series, which is a quarterly series that features leading experts discussing key topics in health innovation. The Population Health Initiative was a co-sponsor of this seminar. Rao (pictured)…

Application period open for 2022 summer applied research fellowships

Posted on March 8, 2022March 8, 2022

The Population Health Initiative is partnering with the University of Washington’s Center for Studies in Demography & Ecology for the fourth consecutive summer to offer the Population Health Applied Research Fellowship program. Applications for this summer’s cohort will be accepted until April 8, 2022 from undergraduate and graduate students across all UW schools and colleges on all three UW campuses. This paid fellowship program will offer a multidisciplinary team of undergraduate and graduate students training in data analysis techniques as…

Initiative announces awardees of winter quarter 2022 Tier 1 pilot research grants

Posted on February 25, 2022March 26, 2022

The University of Washington Population Health Initiative announced the award of 11 Tier 1 pilot grants to teams representing researchers from nine different UW schools and colleges as well as UW Tacoma and numerous community-based partners. The collective value of these 11 awards was nearly $480,000, which included approximately $270,000 in funding from the initiative plus additional school, college and departmental matching funds. “We were extremely pleased with the range of innovative, interdisciplinary, and hopefully quite impactful project ideas that…

Researchers develop chatbot that asks emergency room visitors about social needs

Posted on February 23, 2022February 24, 2022

Doctors across the United States have identified the need to access data on the social background of incoming emergency room patients in order to ensure more specialized care for patients. This prompted a research team led by the University of Washington to innovate a solution by developing a chatbot named HarborBot, which they presented at the Conference for Conversational User Interfaces this past July. HarborBot is displayed on a tablet given to the patients when they arrive at the emergency…

New UW Bothell program seeks to bolster behavioral and mental health workforce

Posted on February 17, 2022

The University of Washington Bothell’s School of Nursing & Health Studies (NHS) developed a behavioral and mental health proficiency program last year with the goal of addressing the knowledge gap in mental and behavioral health issues among entry level healthcare employees. The program seeks to democratize behavioral health knowledge by appealing to healthcare workers across many disciplines in order to benefit the overall experience of patients. The NHS faculty team assessed healthcare workers across multiple disciplines on their confidence and…

Spotlight: Jennifer Atkinson supports the processing of anxiety from climate change

Posted on February 9, 2022March 31, 2022

Channeling environmental anxiety into action to address pressing climate and environmental crises influences Dr. Jennifer Atkinson’s numerous pursuits and achievements. Her career centers on the intersections between mental health and climate science, as she seeks to help others process their anxiety surrounding the constantly evolving environmental crisis the world faces. Atkinson is an associate teaching professor of environmental humanities at the University of Washington Bothell, where she has taught for the past 12 years. She employs a variety of interdisciplinary…

Workers in tropical regions facing increasing dangers due to deforestation

Posted on February 4, 2022

Findings from a new University of Washington study suggest that rising temperatures due to climate change are responsible for increased fatalities and heat-related illnesses in outdoor workers in lower-latitude tropical forests. The study focuses on Berau Regency, Indonesia, as this region has experienced significant deforestation and subsequent warmer temperatures over the past several years. They found that the increased heat exposure combined with the intensity of outdoor labor led to a significant number of workers experiencing heat exhaustion, kidney and…

Minorities hit harder by COVID-caused mammography delays

Posted on February 1, 2022

New research from the University of Washington School of Medicine found that women of color were disproportionately affected by the mass postponement of mammograms in the U.S. due to COVID-19. When the pandemic emerged, routine screenings were pushed back to allow health care facilities and workers to prioritize COVID-19 patients. After a few weeks, guidelines for resuming mammograms were released based on the local impact of COVID-19, availability of specific equipment, and breast surgeon and oncologist availability. Overall, these guidelines…