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Latest news and updates

Latest news and updates

Initiative-funded COVID-19 rapid response grantees report final results

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The University of Washington Population Health Initiative funded 21 COVID-19 rapid response grants to faculty-led teams in April 2020. Since April, the interdisciplinary project teams have made significant progress towards understanding and mitigating the impacts of COVID-19 on multiple facets of life. The projects are now closing out, and highlights of each one are shared in the accordions below. “The results from these 21 projects exceeded even our highest expectations for the level of impact that could be quickly realized…

Utilizing community pharmacists to provide a coordinated response to epilepsy care

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Epilepsy is among the most common neurological diseases, affecting an estimated 50 million people worldwide. Within Washington state, approximately 75,000 live with epilepsy. Though treatments exist, epilepsy care is often fragmented and uncoordinated. This directly impacts individual and population health outcomes, leading to significant health and socioeconomic disparities. In recognition of this critical population health challenge, a team of University of Washington researchers has collaborated to design an intervention model that will engage community pharmacists in implementing population health-based approaches…

Spring course seeks improvements to population health via social entrepreneurship

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The Population Health Initiative is partnering with the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance and the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship to offer a five-credit undergraduate course, “Improving Population Health through Social Entrepreneurship,” in spring quarter 2021. The course will support students in developing a fundamental understanding of social innovation and the role that social enterprises can play in addressing population health challenges. Through a combination of lectures, guest speakers, case studies and a team project, students will learn how…

New research finds COVID-19 increases mortality rate among pregnant women

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Findings from a University of Washington-led study demonstrate that COVID-19 increases the mortality rate among pregnant women, marking pregnant women as a high-risk and vulnerable group. Researchers from the UW School of Medicine found the mortality rate for pregnant mothers infected with COVID-10 was 13 times higher than those who were not pregnant. The study also revealed that pregnant women with COVID-19 faced a 3.5 higher hospitalization than similarly aged people with COVID-19 who were not pregnant. This research was…

More rigorous fisheries management measures lead to healthier fish populations

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A new study led by Michael Melnychuk of the UW School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences confirms that greater investment in fisheries management systems leads to better outcomes for fish populations. Melnychuk and a team of international researchers analyzed the management practices of nearly 300 fish populations. Utilizing an international database on the status of individual fish populations, the researchers examined a variety of fishing populations, many of which that suffered from overfishing. The study offers sophisticated and modern supporting…

Research reveals how a neighborhood impacts risk of getting COVID-19

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New research from the University of Washington Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences examines how geography, income and race influence the likelihood that people in King County test positive for COVID-19. The study reveals that 89% of neighborhoods with the highest COVID-19 rates had a greater proportion of people of color than the overall county. These findings highlight the ways in which disparities in the Seattle region have impacted population health amid the pandemic. The research was one of…

UW researchers work to bridge the digital divide in Tacoma

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Throughout the ongoing pandemic, internet access has proved a valuable educational tool. However, there exists a substantial gap between those with and without internet access. In light of this digital divide, Jason Young and his research team at the UW Information School – as well as collaborators at the UW Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering and the Urban Studies program at UW Tacoma – are collaborating with the Tacoma Cooperative Network and Tacoma Public Libraries to…

Pilot grant awardees from 2019 report final project outcomes

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The Population Health Initiative awarded six pilot research grants to faculty-led teams from seven different schools and colleges, plus representatives of both UW Bothell and Tacoma, in March 2019. Since then, the interdisciplinary project teams made significant progress towards addressing major challenges impacting population health locally and globally. Projects are now closing out, and highlights of each can be found in the following accordions.

Tire chemical responsible for killing coho salmon in urban streams

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A team led by researchers at the University of Washington Tacoma, UW and Washington State University Puyallup have discovered why more than half of the coho salmon that return to Puget Sound’s urban streams die before they can spawn. When it rains, stormwater flushes bits of aging vehicle tires on roads into neighboring streams. The killer is in the mix of chemicals that leach from tire wear particles: a molecule related to a preservative that keeps tires from breaking down…

Project seeks to better tailor responses to student mental health at the UW

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In March 2020, the Population Health Initiative awarded six pilot research grants to faculty-led, interdisciplinary research teams committed to addressing critical population health challenges. One such project, “Analysis to Translation: Accelerating and Tailoring Responses to Student Mental Health,” examines the mental health of the undergraduate student population and aims to put their findings in conversation with mental health resources available at the UW. To accomplish this, the research team combines expertise in engineering, computer science, and mental and behavioral health….