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  • Local Invention Expert Advocates for “Creative Capitalism”

    Maurizio Vecchione, the Vice President for Global Good at Intellectual Ventures, gave the Washington Global Health Alliance Discovery Series talk Dec. 5 in Kane Hall on “Unlocking the Power of Invention for Developing Countries,” which united UW business and global health students. Global Good was founded by Bill Gates as a bridge between philanthropy and “creative capitalism.” Global Good is part of Intellectual Ventures, a firm investing in invention, founded by Nathan Myhrvold, the former chief strategist and technology officer at Microsoft. Vecchione said, Global Good is “tackling the world’s toughest problems through the power of invention.” Specifically, Global Good is looking for inventive ideas in six big areas: vaccine logistics, disease modeling, agriculture products, malaria and TB diagnostics, maternal child health, and vector control. He said any technological ideas must meet three criteria – appropriate, affordable, and accessible. Intellectual Ventures has a network of 4,000 researchers around the world and ideas are presented to this network. Global Good also has its own lab and is continuing to build its capacity for research and development. One invention that has seen success in developing countries is a milk jug that keeps milk clean and helps prevent spoilage

  • Prof. Dean Jamison Profiled in The Lancet

    Dean Jamison, health economist, Prof. of Global Health, Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries (DCP3) Series Editor, and co-chair of the Lancet Commission on Investing in Health, was profiled by Richard Lane of the Lancet on December 7. View the profile here.

  • Adj. Prof. Julie McElrath Honored with Women of Influence Award

    Adjunct Professor Julie McElrath, MD, PhD was honored with the Puget Sound Business Journal 2013 Women of Influence Award for her work on HIV vaccine research on November 13, 2013.  Dr. McElrath is Senior Vice President and Director of the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and she has been working in the field of HIV/AIDS for more than 30 years. Read more.

  • Prof. Dean Jamison Co-Chairs "Global Health 2035: A World Converging within a Generation"

    On December 3, 2013, The Lancet published Global Health 2035: A World Converging within a Generation. This major new report was prepared by The Lancet Commission on Investing in Health (CIH), co-chaired by DCP3 series editor, and University of Washington Professor Dean Jamison, PhD, and chaired by Lawrence H. Summers, PhD, President Emeritus and Charles W. Eliot University Professor of Harvard University, and former U.S. Treasury Secretary.

    The Global Health 2035 report is being released on the 20th anniversary of the 1993 World Development Report, published by the World Bank, which became a landmark in establishing the economic development case for global health expenditure. Global Health 2035: A World Converging within a Generation revisits the case for investing in health and puts forth a bold new investment framework to achieve dramatic health gains by 2035.  

    The Commission found that:

    • The returns on investing in health are even greater than previously estimated.
    • Within a generation—by 2035—the world could achieve a "grand convergence," bringing preventable infectious, maternal and child deaths down to universally low levels.
    • Taxes and subsidies are a powerful and underused lever for curbing non-communicable diseases and injuries.
    • Progressive universalism, a pathway to universal health coverage (UHC) that targets the poor from the outset, is an efficient way to achieve health and financial protection.

    About the Commission  

    The World Bank's 1993 World Development Report (WDR 1993), Investing in Health, is credited for having helped to place health firmly on the global development agenda. The report's central argument was that well-chosen health expenditures are an investment in economic prosperity, and individual wellbeing, rather than a drain on the economy. Healthier populations have better education outcomes, and are more economically productive.

    Prompted by the report's 20th anniversary, an international multi-disciplinary group of 25 Commissioners has been meeting since December 2012 to revisit the case for investing in health, and examine it in light of current and future needs and opportunities.

  • Reflection And A Desire to Do More: World AIDS Day 2013

    A recent Humanosphere article suggests we are at a tipping point in the fight against HIV/AIDS, poised to stem the tide if sufficient funding is allocated. “We have an increasing number of tools but we need to be more effective … We can do a much better job with the tools we have,” Department Chair King Holmes, MD, PhD said recently in an interview at the Gairdner Annual Global Health Symposium. With over 34 million people are living with HIV (WHO), and infections continuing to affect high numbers of people, what are we doing to end HIV/AIDS?

    Researchers at the Department of Global Health have been developing solutions to the AIDS epidemic since the beginning, and continue to devote substantial attention to innovative approaches to HIV/AIDS, with at least six of the 26 programs, centers, or initiatives, and over 130 of our faculty involved in HIV/AIDS related projects.  UW is consistently rated in the top three for HIV/AIDS federal funding in research and in AIDS specialty care.

    Recent UW Department of Global Health research led to these important developments:

    • The landmark Partners PrEP Study led to the first FDA approval of an antiretroviral for HIV prevention.
    • The UW International Clinical Research Center and their partners in Africa discovered that hormonal contraception doubles the chances of HIV infection for women.

    And perhaps equally important in stemming the tide of HIV/AIDS, Global Health researchers are collaborating with and engaging communities affected by HIV/AIDS.  Whether through participation in the Seattle AIDS Walk, close collaborations with researchers at local institutions in Uganda and other African countries, or the Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) Community Action Board (CAB), the Department brings together researchers and community members to ensure that researchers and communities are working together.  This has resulted in reciprocal trainings, symposiums, and participatory research to facilitate community involvement, as well as real health outcomes such as widespread HIV testing and prevention. 

    Still, most advocates familiar with the complexity of HIV insist that there is much work left ahead.  When asked to reflect on the HIV epidemic and the role of research, CFAR CAB Co-Chair Marcos Martinez responded, “The HIV/AIDS epidemic exists within a system of oppression and marginalization. We cannot hope to bring about the end of AIDS without addressing the problems of homophobia, transphobia, racism, economic injustice, and the lack of access to basics like education and health care for all people.”  Marcos is the Executive Director of Entre Hermanos, a Latino LGBTQ organization based in Seattle.

    “On World AIDS Day, we as part of the research community should rededicate ourselves to studying how structural inequalities contribute to the continued spread of HIV and AIDS.” He continued, “And we should take appropriate action to dismantle the structures that promote unhealthy outcomes for people and the planet.” 

    Dr. King Holmes, who has been working on HIV/AIDS since the early 80s, summed it up even more concisely: “Expert diagnosis and treatment for those who show up at your clinics is essential, but this alone is a drop in the bucket.”

    For more information on current Department of Global Health HIV/AIDS projects, click here.

  • Advancing Social and Economic Development by Investing in Women’s and Children’s Health: A New Global Investment Framework (The Lancet)

    In an article published November 19 by The Lancet, UW Department of Global Health faculty Dean Jamison, MS, PhD, and Carol Levin, MSc, PhD and colleagues outline a new framework for policy decision-making related to funding women's and children's health services. Their findings are peaking interest among high-profile groups like the United Nations Foundation, World Health Organization,  Development Policy Centre, and others. They find that an increase in funding could eliminate the deaths of 147 million children, 32 million stillbirths, and 5 million women by 2035. From an economic perspective they conclude, "Increasing health expenditure by just $5 per person per year up to 2035 in 74 high-burden countries could yield up to nine times that value in economic and social benefits."

    147 million children, 32 million stillbirths, and 5 million women by 2035 - See more at: http://www.everywomaneverychild.org/news/all-news#sthash.wXmUOJZ0.dpuf
    147 million children, 32 million stillbirths, and 5 million women by 2035 - See more at: http://www.everywomaneverychild.org/news/all-news#sthash.wXmUOJZ0.dpuf
    By placing the additional investments in women's and children's health, the analysis shows that it would be possible to avoid the deaths of 147 million children, 32 million stillbirths, and 5 million women by 2035. - See more at: http://www.everywomaneverychild.org/news/all-news#sthash.wXmUOJZ0.dpuf
    By placing the additional investments in women's and children's health, the analysis shows that it would be possible to avoid the deaths of 147 million children, 32 million stillbirths, and 5 million women by 2035. - See more at: http://www.everywomaneverychild.org/news/all-news#sthash.wXmUOJZ0.dpuf

    The Investment Framework was developed by a group of partners, and coordinated by WHO, the Partnership for Maternal Newborn & Child Health and the University of Washington. Read more on the WHO website.

     

  • Mokdad and Rabinowitz Get Gates Grand Challenge Grants for 'One Health' Concept (Human and Animal Health)

    Two Department of Global Health faculty -- Ali Mokdad, PhD, and Peter Rabinowitz, MD, PhD -- were among 80 researchers around the world to receive Gates Grand Challenges grants Nov. 20 to "pursue bold ideas in global health and development:"

    The "One Health" Concept: Bringing Together Human and Animal Health for New Solutions

    Ali Mokdad and a team at the University of Washington in the U.S. will integrate data on animal health and its determinants to better understand and monitor human health and opportunity in the developing world. Animal health, which itself is influenced by environmental factors, has a direct impact on human health. Although data on all these areas exist, there has been no attempt to amalgamate them to measure the overall impact on human health. They will assess data from Zambia on environmental factors such as temperature and rainfall, and the condition and sales of animals and crops, to identify indicators of animal health. These will be integrated with data on human disease burden and mortality to generate an enhanced human health metric that incorporates the effects of animal health. They will also make recommendations for improved data collection.

    The "One Health" Concept: Bringing Together Human and Animal Health for New Solutions

    Peter Rabinowitz of the University of Washington in the U.S., along with colleagues at Washington State University and CDC Kenya, will test whether unhealthy gut microbes in livestock that co-reside with humans in smallholder households can negatively influence the gut microbes in the humans, and whether this can be exploited to improve human health. The microbial community (microbiota) living in the gut is important for childhood health, growth and development. They will analyze the gut microbiotas of healthy and unhealthy children and co-residing companion and domestic animals in selected households in western Kenya to determine whether they are related. If they are, they will reset the animal microbiota using established fecal transplant methods and determine whether there is a corresponding positive effect on the microbiotas of the rest of the household.
  • Andy Stergachis, Dir. of UW Global Medicine Program, Honored with Washington State Pharmacist of the Year

    The Washington State Pharmacy Association (WSPA) announced its 2013 awards winners, who underscore WSPA’s commitment to the quality of care. The winners were acknowledged at the Awards of Distinction luncheon, November 9, 2013 at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound, Washington. 

    Andy Stergachis, PhD, RPh, Professor of Epidemiology and Global Health, Adjunct Professor of Pharmacy and Health Services, and Director of the UW Global Medicines Program, was honored with Washington State Pharmacist of the Year Award.  This award honors a pharmacist who possesses qualities of excellence in routine practice and association activities, is an exemplary role model, and who has contributed in service and skill to the WSPA during the past year.

    A registered pharmacist, Stergachis has spent much of his career connecting pharmacists with the public health community. He is presently pharmacy adviser to the Public Health – Seattle & King County Preparedness Section and a member of the Public Health Reserve Corps. He has been instrumental in connecting local and state public health officials with the WSPA and pharmacy leaders to strengthen the role of pharmacies and pharmacists in emergency preparedness planning. He is also an affiliate faculty member with the Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research & Policy Program and former chair of the Department of Pharmacy. He currently serves as the editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association.

    Congratulations, Dr. Stergachis!

  • UW START Students Present Initial Findings on Differences in Disease Burden Estimates to Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

    Disease burden estimates vary, sometimes greatly, depending on who is providing the estimate. On November 15th, two UW Department of Global Health START students and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation staff presented their recent work to unpack the drivers of the differences in the global disease burden estimates for pneumonia and diarrhea. Over the past year, the foundation's Pneumonia/Enhanced Diarrheal Disease Measurement Learning and Evaluation team and colleagues, together with UW START, have investigated these differences resulting in important findings and recommendations. This presentation gave an overview of the “drivers of the differences,” facilitated engagement amongst foundation staff on strategies to better understand estimates. On October 10th, the foundation hosted a successful convening of experts to explore IHME and WHO/CHERG approaches to estimation and modeling mortality of childhood deaths using the team’s work as a starting point. By further understanding differences in disease burden estimates, experts and local health agencies can better allocate resources to address specific types of pneumonia and diarrhea.

    University of Washington, Department of Global Health Strategic Analysis Research & Training (START) Program

    The START Program serves to train and increase the capacity of University of Washington students to engage in relevant and applied research in real world settings. The goal is to provide practical experience-based learning opportunities for students who engage in research in response to specific requests from the Gates Foundation’s program teams. The START Program also provides high quality analysis and research support to specific research requests from program teams in the foundation.

    Students conduct research and receive mentorship from faculty and staff with expertise in global health, epidemiology, business, sociology, and other relevant disciplines. The foundation funds faculty/staff time and the equivalent of a research assistant position for graduate students to conduct research projects.

    START is a program within the foundation’s Global Analysis and Research Program (GARP). Current GARP partnerships are with UW’s Foster School of Business, Department of Global Health, Evans School of Public Affairs, and College of Education.

  • Call for Abstracts for WRIHC: Due Dec 15

    Submit an Abstract for the Western Regional International Health Conference (April 4-6, 2014, Seattle, WA)

    Call for Abstracts: Posters and Presentations

    Submission Deadline: December 15, 2013 (we will notify submitters of their status by February 1, 2014).

    Criteria for Submission: Students, faculty, and professionals of all disciplines are invited to submit abstracts for posters and/or oral presentations on the conference theme of “Uncensored: Gender, Sexuality, & Social Movements in Global Health.”

    The intent of this conference is to extend and amplify the dialogue surrounding gender, sexuality, and social movements in global health.  By questioning and conversing, analyzing and disseminating ideas, and searching for what can be accepted within the inconsistencies, we can break down stigmas and stereotypes, and gain greater insight and understanding of these themes.  And though there are significant challenges and problems to be addressed, there is also much to be celebrated: pleasure, creativity, empowerment, and rich cultural diversities.

    We will be accepting approximately 30 posters through a competitive process and a very limited number of oral presentations.  We are looking for presentations that speak to the following conference foci:

    • Voices & Visibility: Power, Media, & The Arts in Global Health
    • Perceptions Unspoken: Language, Culture, Rhetoric, & Religion
    • Seeking Justice for Vulnerable Populations
    • Celebrating Gender & Sexuality
    • The People United: Advocacy, Activism, & Social Movements in Global Health
    • The Modernization of Sexual Health: The Impact of Technological and Clinical Advancements on the Developing World

    Criteria for selection: The abstract committee will review all submissions by the following criteria: originality; organization; quality and clarity; methods and materials used; and relevance of the project to the conference foci.

    Deadline: Late submissions will not be accepted.  If you have any questions regarding an abstract submission, please contact Mariel Boyarsky at the Global Health Resource Center (GHRC) at boyarsky@uw.edu

    Guidelines: All abstracts must be submitted in English.  Total word count, excluding author names, affiliations and titles, must be under 250 words.  Submissions with word counts far exceeding 250 will not be considered by the review committee.  Handwritten abstracts will not be reviewed.

    For more information on the conference, visit www.wrihc.org.

    CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR ABSTRACT NOW!

  • Register Now: 11th Annual Western Regional International Health Conference (WRIHC): April 4-6, 2014

    The WRIHC Student Committee, the University of Washington (UW) Chapter of GlobeMed, and the UW Department of Global Health present the 11th Annual Western Regional International Health Conference (WRIHC):

    Uncensored: Gender, Sexuality, and Social Movements in Global Health

    Events will take place at the University of Washington (UW) Husky Union Building (HUB) in Seattle, WA, April 4-6 2014.

    Registration begins November 1, 2013.  Stay tuned for more information including the call for abstracts, registration information, keynote speakers and volunteer opportunities.  Visit www.wrihc.org for more information.

  • Fogarty awards $7M in global health innovation grants

    October 29, 2013

    To spur global health innovation and develop interdisciplinary research training, Fogarty has awarded $7.3 million to five institutions to fund projects in six low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), including a project co-led by Professor Joseph Zunt. Five-year awards from the Framework Programs for Global Health Innovation will support efforts to bring together students from engineering, design, ecology, veterinary sciences, nutrition, business and management, medicine, environmental science, social sciences, agriculture, public health and other areas with biomedical scientists to develop research training initiatives that encourage innovation in health-related products, processes and policies. The grants will fund new efforts in India, Malawi, Mongolia, Nigeria, Peru and South Africa.

    "Breakthroughs in biomedical technology and inventive new methods of clinical research and health delivery benefit both patients and physicians, while strengthening the global economy," said Fogarty Director Dr. Roger I. Glass. "These awards will help institutions establish sustainable programs that focus on hands-on, collaborative solutions to challenges in low-resource settings, with an emphasis on affordability, accessibility, ease of use and scalability." 

    In collaboration with Dr. Zunt and Dr. Patricia Garcia, Peru's Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia(UPCH) will use its grant to establish a global health innovation center that will employ an interdisciplinary approach emphasizing leadership, program design, business models, policy analysis and implementation science.

    For more information:

    Kuskaya: An Interdisciplinary Training Program for Innovation in Global Health

    (Peru)  UPCH - Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru

    Principal Investigators: Dr. Patricia Garcia and Dr. Joseph Zunt 

     

    Learn more about the Fogarty Framework Programs for Global Health Innovation.

    View a full list of Fogarty Framework Programs for Global Health Innovation awards by institution.

  • CFAR Announces 2013 'New Investigator Awards'

    The UW/FHCRC Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) Developmental Core is delighted to announce this year’s New Investigator Awards. 

    The purpose of the CFAR New Investigator award program is to encourage junior investigators (at a senior stage of training or recently independent) to conduct independent research, acquire preliminary date to use for exogenous grant submissions, receive mentorship, and write one or more grants to obtain funding to continue their HIV/AIDS research careers. Awards are for 1 or 2 years, and can be up to $45,000/year (direct costs) for non-interdisciplinary applications or up toe $55,000/year for interdisciplinary projects.

    The proposals were recently reviewed by the CFAR Executive Committee, along with both internal and outside reviewers.  Competition for this year's awards was extremely tough as we received the largest number of applications in the history of the program. 

    We are excited to announce that we have chosen the following awardees and look forward to seeing the results of their projects:

    Marta Bull, PhD, Research Assistant Professor, Pediatrics Infectious Diseases, Seattle Children’s Hospital
    Immune responses to HSV-2 recurrence replenish HIV tissue reservoirs during ART

    Brandon Guthrie, PhD, Acting Instructor, Global Health, University of Washington
    Improving Linkage to HIV Care Following Provider Initiated Testing and Counseling

    Erick Matsen, PhD, Assistant Member, Computational Biology Program, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
    Machine learning to expand our knowledge of APOBEC3 specificity and improve classification of HIV mutations

    Jennifer Slyker, MSc, PhD, Assistant Professor, Global Health, University of Washington
    Immunologic correlates of EBV containment in HIV infected infants

    Rachel Winer, PhD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Epidemiology, University of Washington
    Methylation Markers for Anal Cancer Screening in HIV-Positive Men

    Patrick Younan, PhD, Research Associate, Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Detection, Isolation, and Expansion of SHIV-Specific CD4+ T-cells

    For more information on the University of Washington/Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), visit the CFAR website.

  • Department to Offer Classes to WA High School Students

    The Department of Global Health is working with the UW in the High School (UWHS) program to offer Global Health 101: Introduction to Global Health, to high school students as early as the 2014-15 school year. Global Health will be the first Department in the University of Washington (UW) Health Sciences Schools to offer one of their courses to Washington high school students under this program. UWHS courses are taught by high school teachers, and students receive recognition for their work at most public institutions and many private ones.

  • Benjamin Anderson, MD, receives National Consortium of Breast Centers' Inspiration Award

    Dr. Benjamin Anderson received the National Consortium of Breast Centers' Inspiration Award during the 2013 National Interdisciplinary Breast Conference in March.  This award is given annually to the individual who embodies the spirit of selfless leadership and provides the inspiration for all other providers of breast health care.  The recipient has gone above and beyond the typical expectation for their profession.  They become a symbol and example of "how to do it right." Through their actions these individuals have demonstrated their commitment to those with breast health issues. Congratulations, Dr. Anderson!

    From the release:
    A Professor of Surgery and Global Health Medicine at the University of Washington, Dr. Ben Anderson is devoted to caring for patients with breast health issues and cancer.   Dr. Anderson's clinical interest in high risk breast health evaluation, international breast health care, locally advanced breast cancer, minimally invasive breast diagnosis and oncoplastic breast surgery, which improves major oncologic procedures by utilizing reconstructive and cosmetic procedures simultaneously.  

    Dr. Anderson, creator and chair of the Breast Health Global Initiative (BHGI), developed and studies implementation of resource-sensitive, culturally appropriate guidelines for breast cancer early detection, diagnosis and treatment in low and middle income countries.  

    Dr. Anderson joined the surgical faculty at the University of Washington in 1994; he served as the clinical medical director of the breast program from 1998-2003.  He now serves as the director of the Breast Health Center.  His peers elected him for inclusion in "Best Doctors in America" and he has been re-elected every year since that time.  To honor his commitment to women's health throughout the world and his dedicated efforts to improve their quality of care, Dr. Anderson was awarded the 2011 Partners in Progress Award by the American Society of Clinical Oncology.  The oldest international professional organization focused on addressing cancer at a global level, Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) elected Dr. Anderson to their Board of Directors.

    We are proud to honor Dr. Anderson with the 2013 NCBC Inspiration Award.