The latest issue of UW Medicine magazine ran an in-depth article exploring the big picture behind the Population Health Initiative. The article illustrates the breadth and reach of the initiative, drawing perspectives from medicine, social work, built environments, the environment, and more, each of which plays an important role in helping everyone, everywhere, to lead a healthy life. Learn More >
University of Washington mechanical engineering students have developed a generator that converts heat energy from fires into electricity to charge phones. Though the device seems ideal for campers who might appreciate the convenience of charging their phone batteries on camping trips, the team is more concerned with having their generator reach communities where it can help make a real difference in people’s lives—places affected by disasters and low-resource communities across the globe. Learn More >
The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in UW Medicine will expand its work over the next decade thanks to a $279 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. IHME provides independent health evidence to policymakers, practitioners and communities in order to find solutions to population health challenges. Learn More >
While clinical studies indicate that more frequent kidney dialysis improves patient health, the approach most patients currently take is to visit dialysis centers several times a week, with each visit taking several hours. Enter the wearable artificial kidney, a 10-pound, battery-powered device worn on a belt that provides around-the-clock, continuous dialysis. UW Medicine researchers and their collaborators are among the first in the nation to test this device, and the initial results have shown promise. Learn More >
Dr. Hedwig (Hedy) Lee, a member of the Population Health Initiative’s executive council and associate professor of sociology, has been elected as a board member for the Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science (IAPHS). Dr. Lee will serve a three-year term beginning February 1, 2017. IAPHS fosters scientific innovation and discovery to improve the health of populations and reduce health disparities by connecting population health scientists across disciplines and sectors, advancing the development of population health science, and promoting its…
The Population Health Initiative, in partnership with the UW’s Simpson Center for the Humanities, has awarded a Collaboration Studio Grant to a research team examining how global health partnerships have been developed, enacted and changed over time. The project, “The Past, Present, and Future of U.S. Global Health Partnerships in Africa,” will draw from the fields of medical anthropology, African studies, and public health to track partnerships from the late colonial period to present to explore ongoing complexities. Through this…
The brain has evolved over thousands of years to allow humans to communicate through language. Reading is a relatively new skill for the brain, however, which leads assistant professor Jason Yeatman to wonder if dyslexia is a byproduct of visual systems being wired slightly differently in some humans. With the aid of non-invasive brain imaging technology, Yeatman and his team are studying developing brains to identify the changes that occur as reading skills are required. Through this research, they hope…
The Population Health Initiative, in partnership with the UW’s Office of Global Affairs, has awarded a $15,000 Global Innovation Fund pilot to a team attempting to deploy augmented reality/virtual reality-based rehabilitation therapy via cell phones. The project, which is led by Dr. Pierre D. Mourad of UW Bothell, seeks to find ways to “gamify” home-based physical therapy to increase patient compliance with therapy regimens, thereby improving patient outcomes. The project team’s focus will be development of an effective, low cost…
Researchers have long understood that lengthy exposure to air pollution is directly linked to an increased risk of heart disease. Thanks to the result of a 10-year study led by professor Joel Kaufman, we now have not only a greater understanding of the biological responses to pollution that lead to heart disease, but we also know that air pollution at levels even below regulatory standards can accelerate the hardening of human arteries. The study’s results are being used to push…
The seawalls and bulkheads around the Salish Sea protect the land from erosion and landslides. However, the unintended consequences from this armoring include smaller beaches and reduced habitats for spawning fish and invertebrates, which then indirectly impacts larger species such as orca whales. A recent University of Washington study analyzed 65 pairs of sites broadly within Puget Sound to assess the impacts of shoreline armoring to the ecosystem of the Salish Sea. The study also offered recommendations for how to…