A belief in health and equity for all people – and understanding the challenges that underrepresented minorities can face – sparked Courtney Jackson’s path in global health. As an MPH student at the University of Washington, Jackson was able to thrive by finding strong women of color mentors along the way who helped create a space of belonging.

Today Jackson was named among the University of Washington’s Husky 100, the university’s top award honoring UW students who display exemplary work in their respective fields.

More than 30 years ago, University of Washington and Kenyan researchers first began partnering to strengthen global health research and action in Kenya. Since then, collaborations have blossomed, mutually strengthening both UW researchers and their Kenyan counterparts and resulting in long-term health impacts in Kenya and beyond. 

A UW training program with top Chinese universities is strengthening China’s role in global health. To share experiences about the program, participating Chinese students and faculty came together with their UW collaborators for a workshop at Wuhan University in China.

March 22 is World Water Day. UN Water's 2019 theme, "leaving no one behind," focuses on marginalized groups - women, children, refugees, indigenous peoples, disabled people and many others - who are often overlooked and face discrimination as they try to access and manage the safe water they need.

Years ago, global health expert King Holmes was called in to help connect the disparate divisions of a large, unnamed organization. On his first day, he went to talk with a division leader and saw the following on an office white board:

Eat them or be eaten.

He thought a moment. Then he picked up an eraser and cleaned the board. In place of the carnivorous phrase, he wrote: 

Help them and grow stronger together. 

Dr. Biraj Karmancharya, Department of Global Health alumnus, graduated from University of Washington with a PhD in Epidemiology in 2015 and an MPH in Global Health: Leadership, Policy, and Management in 2017. He was the founding co-director of the Nepal Studies Initiative at the South Asia Center, Jackson School of International Studies.

Globally, less than half of all people living with HIV (PLHIV) have achieved viral suppression. Delays with laboratory testing in resource-limited settings continue to present challenges for monitoring treatment with antiretroviral therapy (ART).
 

An analysis conducted by the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) observed an overall increase in the proportion of racial and ethnic minorities enrolled in Phase 1 and Phase 2A preventive HIV vaccine clinical trials in the United States between 2002 and 2016 compared to 1988 to 2002. The findings were published on December 5, 2018 in Public Health Reports.

By Pauline Kairu, Daily Nation 

An exciting global study on male contraception is happening in Kenya.

A phase-two clinical trial, participants in the trial will be required to apply a gel on their shoulders. This gel is intended to lower sperm count to a point at which the men cannot impregnate a woman.

Published January 17, 2019

Co-authored by Kristie Ebi, MPH, PhD, UW Professor in Global Health and Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences