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Latest news and updates

Latest news and updates

UW Community Circle kicks off a year of healing discussions with a virtual event

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Several University of Washington programs kicked off a community circle on October 28, 2021, with a virtual event open to all UW faculty and staff. The purpose of the event was to invite attendees into an intentional space to participate in future conversations around processing and coping with the events of the past 20 months through the reading and discussion of My Grandmother’s Hands by Resmaa Menakem. Menakem’s book aims to engage readers in building a healing community through somatic…

New research and education hub to focus on coastal resiliency

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The Cascadia Coastlines and Peoples Hazards Research Hub, which is based at the University of Washington and Oregon State University, has launched with the goal of studying dangers prevalent in coastal communities, specifically in Northern California, Oregon, and Washington, in order to increase safety and resiliency in the communities. These coastal areas are prone to environmental consequences of many geological hazards, which drives this project’s intention of increasing resiliency of these areas through research and education. The hub aims to…

Spotlight: Sara Curran’s exemplification of interdisciplinary collaboration

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Sara Curran, professor of International Studies at the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies and Director of the Center for Studies in Demography & Ecology (CSDE), recognizes the merit and significance of interdisciplinary collaborations. Curran also holds a joint appointment as professor of Sociology, another joint appointment at the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Policy & Governance and is an adjunct professor in the Department of Global Health. Through her own interdisciplinary background and career, Curran illustrates the…

Analyzing the impact of the pandemic on low-income housing security in Washington State

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New research from of the University of Washington Evans School of Public Policy & Governance analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on housing security in Washington State. Through a collaboration with the Tenants Union of Washington State, the researchers examined low-income tenants’ housing security. They discovered that current conditions had increased rental debts, reduced residential mobility, and poorer housing quality for low-income people. The researchers also uncovered that the pandemic had worsened the negative impacts of housing insecurity on…

Assessing the mental health of UW students during spring 2020

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Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been growing concern over how social distancing and pandemic-related isolation have impacted mental health. Of significant interest is the pandemic’s impact on student mental health, recognizing the stressfulness of academia and navigating the uncertainty of 2020. Coincidentally, a University of Washington study on student mental health was in progress while these events unfolded. The research team had been studying student mental health over the past four years. The overlap between the onset of the…

Winter 2022 undergraduate course highlights UW population health research

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The Population Health Initiative is continuing its partnership with the University of Washington’s Undergraduate Research Program (URP) to offer a series of lectures during winter quarter 2022 that focus 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 number of disciplines discussing their population health-related research. Undergraduates may take this course for credit (i.e., one credit/quarter; three quarters max). Each…

Impact of wildfire smoke hit some groups harder than others

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Nearly a dozen researchers from the University of Washington Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) in the School of Public Health have been hard at work addressing questions and health risks associated with wildfires in the Northwest. Through a series of community-based research projects, DEOHS researchers and their collaborators are working to study the dangers of wildfires, identify those most vulnerable to uncontrolled fires and develop innovative solutions to alleviate or reduce the health issues associated with wildfires….

UW Community Circle launches, seeks to build a community of care

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Several University of Washington programs are launching a community circle with a conversation about Resmaa Menakem’s book, My Grandmother’s Hands, which focuses on how to build a community of care by addressing embodied trauma. The kickoff event is occurring virtually on October 28, 2021 at 4 p.m. Pacific and is open to all UW faculty and staff. Interested participants should register online by October 25th. The ebook is available via UW Libraries. The community circle will serve as a space…

Northwest Detention Center study examines pandemic’s effect on local immigrant population

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The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has impacted virtually every aspect of society, notably the United States immigration system. The United States has the largest immigrant detention infrastructure in the world. Immigrant rights advocates have raised concerns over the management of American detention centers, with concerns regarding human rights conditions experienced by immigrants who encounter such centers. While the pandemic led to a suspension of many immigration court proceedings and the closure of travel borders, immigrants and their families have been disproportionately…

Spotlight: Shawn Swanson pursues medical innovations through social entrepreneurship

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Shawn Swanson is a Mechanical Engineering Ph.D. candidate at the University of Washington College of Engineering and 2021 Population Health Social Entrepreneurship Fellow. He is also the CEO and co-founder of MedsForAll, a startup that aims to provide accessible and affordable rescue drug autoinjectors to historically underserved populations. The idea behind MedsForAll stemmed from Swanson’s background and expertise in materials science and engineering. “I always had been interested in materials since I was a kid,” Swanson said. “This interest led…