This year’s Husky 100 awards have recognized two students within the Department of Global Health (DGH) for making the most of their time at the University of Washington. These students truly exemplify the Husky experience, applying what they learn to make a difference inside the classroom, in our communities and beyond.
Congratulations to our student global health leaders!
Power, Privilege, and Allyship: A ‘Double Agent's’ Perspective on the Effort to Deconstruct Colonialism in Global Health
Global health was born out of colonialism. Even today, it is neither diverse nor truly global. Every aspect of global health is dominated by those with power and privilege. If global health is be reimagined or decolonized, people and institutions who typically hold power and privilege must shift from saviorism to allyship.
Tina Mensa-Kwao is a doctoral student in the Global Health Implementation Science & Metrics program at the University of Washington School of Public Health, where she focuses on understanding how to enhance the implementation of evidence-based practices to improve the mental health of young people globally. In this Q&A, she shares why she’s passionate about global health, her research efforts and its potential impact, her future goals as a professional, and advice for new students.
On April 3, the International Training and Education Center for Health (I-TECH) launched the Informatics and Data Science for Health (IDASH) fellowship training program with an in-person workshop in Tbilisi, Georgia. The program launched in partnership with the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia (CDC/EECA) Regional Office, the World Health Organization (WHO) Europe, and country governments.
In a recent conversation with Anand Giridharadas, author of the Department of Global Health (DGH) 2022-23 Common Book Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World, the DGH community examined the increasingly powerful role billionaire philanthropists have assumed in setting the social change agenda, including in public health. His critiques speak to the challenges we face in our efforts to decolonize global health research and practice, center the priorities of the Global South, and promote equity in our work.
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Olena Bidovanets was pursuing her Master’s of Public Health (MPH) degree at the University of Washington School of Public Health (UW SPH). An infectious disease and psychotherapy medical doctor, Bidovanets wanted to study public mental health. After receiving a 2021-23 Fulbright award, she moved from her home in Ukraine to Seattle.
Community trust and health infrastructure are necessary to prepare for future public health crises.
Global health faculty members Keshet Ronen, Judy Wasserheit, and Peter Rabinowitz are quoted.
As we recover from the pandemic, researchers and practitioners say we need to take a community-based approach to mental health. In other words, to help all of us heal our mental health, we all need to collectively practice well-being.
Deepa Rao, professor of global health and of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, is quoted.
The Department of Global Health (DGH) seeks to improve health for all through research, education, training, and service. In honor of National Reading Month, DGH has created a roundup of books authored and edited by DGH faculty in 2022 that cover a wide range of topics, from personal memoirs to public health textbooks.
The Department of Global Health selected Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World by Anand Giridharadas as the department Common Book. This is meant to serve as a platform for our community of students, staff, and faculty to highlight important issues that we think impact global health as a discipline. And we felt Winners Take All really challenged us in many ways.