How do we connect what we know about population health with what we do to improve it? The 2017 issue of Northwest Public Health examines the ties between social determinants and population health outcomes, and the successful policies, systems changes, interventions, innovations, and strategies being used to improve the health of whole populations.
In Nigeria, anti-gay laws can lead to punishments including 14 years in prison or even death by stoning. Gay men and women are banned from holding meetings or organizing in groups, and anyone who supports the union of a gay couple could spend a decade behind bars.
Seattle, WA – Alison Drake is one of 28 Grand Challenges Explorations grant winners, announced today by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The funding will allow Drake, an Assistant Professor of Global Health at the University of Washington, to launch an innovative family planning and technology research project.
On Wednesday, June 9, 2017, the Department of Global Health celebrated our tenth graduation since our founding in 2007. Over 150 students received degrees and certificates, including five graduates of the PhD programs, 43 graduates of the MPH program, 53 undergraduates with a Minor in Global Health, 32 graduates of the medical school on the Global Health Pathway, 11 Post-Bachelor Fellows, and 18 students that received a graduate certificate in Global Health.
What if we had a systematic approach to bringing research findings to on-the-ground settings around the world? What if we could ensure that research findings did more than just populate academic journals, and in fact, improved health for millions of people?
By Bobbi Nodell
A collaboration involving UW Medicine researchers reached a major milestone toward helping investigators create drug therapies and vaccines for some of the world’s major infectious diseases.
The group solved 1,000 protein structures from more than 70 infectious disease organisms.
Understanding protein structures -- the basis of drug therapy and vaccines -- is key to understanding how infectious diseases are different from us, said Dr. Wesley Van Voorhis, head of the Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the UW School of Medicine.
The Department of Global Health awarded 30 international travel fellowships this spring to support the projects and research of graduate and professional students and medical residents at UW for the next academic year. Students from varied disciplines across the University, including global health, social work, psychology, and pharmacy, will travel to 16 countries pursuing fieldwork experience. Projects range from implementing a harm-reduction program in Vietnam to developing evaluation tools for emergency medical and trauma response systems in sub-Saharan Africa.
By Leila Gray
Insect-transmitted viruses, like Powassan and West Nile, which can attack the brain in some cases, are becoming a growing public health concern. Medical scientists are trying to understand how brain cells try to fend off invading viruses.
Recently they have learned that, in a turnabout, a biochemical self-destruct trigger found in many other types of cells appears to guard the lives of brain cells during infection with West Nile virus.
By Allison Dubbs
People discuss Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and ISIS, but rarely the 20 million Syrian citizens affected by the nation’s ongoing conflicts. According to Dr. Zaher Sahloul, there is a huge lack of compassion for those affected by the Syrian Civil War, and people are avoiding moral responsibilities.