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Latest news and updates

Latest news and updates

UW’s youth reading program sees record numbers during COVID-19 pandemic

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Real Dawgs Read is a University of Washington program that typically asks kids to read 30 minutes a day over 30 separate days during the summer. The program ran a special session between March 25 and June 5 and experienced its highest level of participation — with 3,240 readers taking part — in its five-year existence. Since 2015, Real Dawgs Read has helped K-8 students across the state experience the joy of reading. Students fill out a reading journal and…

Initiative announces award of 14 COVID-19 population health equity research grants

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The University of Washington Population Health Initiative announced the award of approximately $265,000 in COVID-19 population health equity research grants to 14 different teams of UW faculty researchers and community leaders. Funding was partially matched by additional school, college, departmental, and external funds, bringing the total value of these awards to roughly $378,000. These population health equity research grants are intended to support UW researchers in partnering with communities of color – which are being disproportionately impacted by the pandemic…

Early childhood intervention programs have long-term benefits

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A decades-long study by the University of Colorado and the University of Washington has found that youth programs designed to prevent drug use and delinquency and support healthy development can reap lasting benefits not only for participants, but also for their future kids. The research focuses on a program called Raising Healthy Children, which the UW’s Social Development Research Group monitored in several Seattle elementary schools in the 1980s. The program was among the first to test the idea that…

Launch of new Center for Research and Education on Accessible Technology and Experiences

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The University of Washington announced the establishment of the Center for Research and Education on Accessible Technology and Experiences (CREATE), which is fueled by a $2.5 million inaugural investment from Microsoft. UW CREATE seeks to make technology accessible and to make the world accessible through technology. People with disabilities are dependent on technology and if accessibility is not embedded into the start of the development process then it can leave people behind. Achieving accessibility involves expertise and innovation across a…

United World Antiviral Research Network launched

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A newly formed United World Antiviral Research Network (UWARN) will be bring together researchers from institutions in several countries to spot and confront emerging pandemic viruses. The network will include investigators from the University of Washington, including its School of Medicine, the UW Medicine Institute of Protein Design, and the School of Public Health; Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, and collaborators at Rockefeller University in New York City, FIOCRUZ in Brazil, IRESSEF in Senegal, KRISP in South Africa,…

Engineering researchers partner with county on an innovative wastewater treatment system

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Wastewater is treated at West Point Treatment Plant, located next to Seattle’s Discovery Park, before being released into Puget Sound. In coming years, more strict environmental regulations may require nitrogen to be removed from wastewater prior to discharge to improve the water quality and marine habitat. To meet the projected regulatory requirements, King County would be looking at expensive and major upgrades to its three large regional treatment facilities to create the additional square footage needed to accommodate nitrogen removal…

Fall undergraduate course to delve into the impacts of violence

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The Population Health Initiative is offering a new General Studies course, “Violence: Approaches to Response and Prevention,” during fall quarter 2020. This is a one-credit, credit/no-credit seminar-style course for undergraduate students, and has been developed in collaboration with the UW’s Harborview Injury Prevention & Research Center. Violence has been a constant throughout human history, resulting in enormous suffering and broader negative societal consequences. Ongoing cases of police violence and mass shootings in the U.S. have focused attention on the fact…

Initiative announces latest cohort for humanitarian graduate certificate

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The Population Health Initiative today announced the admission of six new students into the Graduate Certificate in International Humanitarian Response. The certificate, which is offered through the University of Washington Graduate School, is intended to train an interdisciplinary group of UW graduate and professional students to become that next generation of leaders in international humanitarian response. The new cohort of students admitted into the certificate program are: Name Degree Program Khadidja Harrell Master of Public Health (Global Health Track) David…

Initiative co-funds two Innovation Gap Fund grants with CoMotion

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The Population Health Initiative and CoMotion have announced Population Health Innovation Gap Fund grants of $50,000 each to teams led by Elin Björling, a senior research scientist and lecturer in the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering, and Kit Galvin, a research scientist in the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences. These joint awards are intended to fund projects that simultaneously support the University of Washington’s vision for improving population health while also fulfilling the CoMotion Innovation Gap…

Initiative launches COVID-19 population health equity research grant program

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The Population Health Initiative today announced the launch of a new COVID-19 population health equity research grant program. Awards of up to $20,000 each are available to support University of Washington researchers in partnering with communities of color – which are being disproportionately impacted by the pandemic – to develop COVID-19 research projects that address community-identified needs. The period of performance for these awards is five months (i.e., September 1, 2020 – January 31, 2021). Applications are due by 11:59…