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Latest news and updates

Latest news and updates

Six proof-of-concept grants awarded to interdisciplinary UW project teams

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The Population Health Initiative announced today the award of six Tier 2 pilot grants to teams representing researchers from seven different University of Washington schools and colleges plus a number of community-based partners. A total of $500,000 was awarded in this grant cycle, which included $294,000 in funding from the initiative as well as additional matching funds from different schools, colleges, departments and the Office of Global Affairs. “We were delighted with the range of innovative project ideas that we…

Awardees of AI-focused population health pilot projects report progress in their work

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The University of Washington Population Health Initiative awarded five, $100,000 artificial intelligence-focused pilot grants in June 2024 to interdisciplinary teams of researchers who sought to develop preliminary data or the proof-of-concept needed to pursue follow-on funding to scale one’s research efforts. The goal of this special funding call was to accelerate the application of large language models and generative AI to seemingly intractable grand challenges in population health, with awardees focusing on topics such as more effective diagnosis of tuberculosis…

Spring 2024 pilot awardees are reporting progress in their projects

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The University of Washington Population Health Initiative awarded 13 $25,000 Tier 1 pilot grants in spring quarter 2024 to interdisciplinary research teams to investigate pressing population health challenges. The purpose of Tier 1 pilot grants are to support researchers in laying an interdisciplinary foundation for a future project to generate proof-of-concept. Each of these teams has made progress in their respective projects, with the tabs below describing research activities completed to date.

Winter 2024 pilot awardees report mid-project progress in their research

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The University of Washington Population Health Initiative awarded six Tier 2 pilot grants in winter 2024 to interdisciplinary teams of researchers who sought to develop preliminary data or the proof-of-concept needed to pursue follow-on funding to scale one’s research efforts. These projects include researchers from seven different UW schools and colleges, as well as several community-based partners, and address topics ranging from improving the well-being of service providers and children to better managing chronic conditions. Each of the projects have…

Empowering social workers to support secure firearm storage

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Firearms are the leading cause of death among children and adolescents aged 1-19 years in the U.S. and this crisis disproportionately impacts Black, Indigenous, and other Communities of Color, as well as those facing economic and social inequities. Understanding these disparities and their impact on local communities, Dr. Kelsey Conrick discovered a critical gap in firearm safety education among social workers—professionals who frequently work with individuals at high risk of firearm-related harm. Conrick grew up in Montgomery, Alabama, where firearms…

Summer 2025 Social Entrepreneurship Fellowship applications due March 27

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The Population Health Initiative is again partnering with the University of Washington’s Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship and CoMotion to offer its summer Social Entrepreneurship Fellows Program. Applications are due by the end of day on Thursday, March 27, 2025. The program offers each graduate or professional student a total of $10,000 each over the course of 10 weeks to explore social enterprise models with the potential to support innovations developed by UW researchers. The four fellows will be selected from…

Spotlight: Martine De Cock’s privacy-preserving artificial intelligence research

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The potential for artificial intelligence to solve some of the world’s biggest problems has always motivated Dr. Martine De Cock to work on developing and improving its utilization across multiple disciplines. De Cock, a professor in the School of Engineering & Technology at University of Washington Tacoma, particularly believes in the power of privacy preserving AI in healthcare, which involves securely obtaining and utilizing patient data in order to improve current machine learning models aimed at diagnosing and treating a…

Applications for 2025 summer applied research fellowships due on March 20

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The University of Washington’s Population Health Initiative is partnering with the university’s Center for Studies in Demography & Ecology for the seventh consecutive summer to offer the Population Health Applied Research Fellowship program. Applications for this summer’s cohort will be accepted until March 20, 2025 from undergraduate and graduate students across all 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…

Autumn 2022 pilot grant awardees report out the final outcomes of their projects

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The University of Washington Population Health Initiative awarded five pilot grants to interdisciplinary teams of UW researchers in autumn quarter 2022. Those projects have now each reached their respective conclusions, with the researchers reporting outcomes in areas such as mental health and well-being, healthcare access and point-of-care diagnostics. The Population Health Initiative’s Tier 2 pilot grant program support researchers in developing preliminary data or the proof-of-concept needed to pursue follow-on funding to scale one’s efforts. The total value of these…

Initiative-funded pilot develops training for pharmacists to treat people with epilepsy

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Epilepsy, a complex spectrum of seizure disorders, which affects about 3.4 million people nationwide, making it the fourth most common neurological disease in the United States. While anti seizure medicines (ASMs) are the first line of treatment, 50% of people living with epilepsy (PWE) experience adverse drug effects that lessen medication adherence and quality of life (QoL). For nearly five years, a team of interdisciplinary researchers at the University of Washington, which included H. Steve White (Pharmacy), Andy Stergachis (Pharmacy…