University of Washington Department of Global Health professor Steve Gloyd has been named by the World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region as one of 12 commissioners on its Commission on Social Determinants of Health. Gloyd has expanded the UW involvement by inviting DGH students and faculty to help conduct research for the Commission.

In 2003, Celine Gounder and a student colleague, Carolyn Hettrich, initiated and created global health student programs for first year and fourth year medical students. Celine also worked with medical student Laura Certain to help create the Western Regional International Health Conference and the Global Health Pathway. All of these programs were integrated into the Department of Global Health in 2007 and still exist today.

The just-released Department of Global Health 2019 Annual Report highlights DGH’s impacts, in collaboration with our partners around the globe, on transforming lives and improving health for all.

The report highlights innovative discoveries in science, efforts to improve global health systems and practices, and examples of how we are preparing the next generation of global health leaders through our world-class learning programs.

A viral illness spreads across Washington state, causing respiratory illness. Most cases are mild, but some are severe and even fatal. At the same time it causes many fewer illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths than the seasonal flu. So why are we obsessed with this COVID-19? Why is it that pharmacies have run out of surgical masks and hand sanitizer, and people no longer feel shy about wearing a mask in public? Why are conferences and classes getting canceled and governors declaring states of emergency when we don’t do that with seasonal flu?