Does Antimalarial Drug Prevent COVID-19? New DGH Study Seeks Answers (Ruanne Barnabas, ICRC)

The benefits of hydroxychloroquine being investigated in multi-site clinical trial launching in April

Researchers are investigating whether hydroxychloroquine – a commonly used anti-malarial and autoimmune drug – can prevent COVID-19.

A multi-site clinical trial, led by the University of Washington Department of Global Health/International Clinical Research Center (ICRC)  in collaboration with NYU Grossman School of Medicine, aims to definitively determine whether hydroxychloroquine can prevent transmission in people exposed to the virus.

Match Day Goes Virtual (UW Medicine - Quotes August Longino)

The COVID-19 crisis has brought a whirlwind of changes that have impacted everyone in our community — including this year’s graduating class of medical students at UW School of Medicine. 

In the last few weeks, the students were pulled from their clinical rotations early.

Then, the difficult and unprecedented decision was made to hold the School’s Match Day ceremony online.

New Research Aimed at Promoting Better Patient Adherence to HIV Medications

Paul Drain—an Associate Professor in the Department of Global Health, Medicine and Epidemiology at the University of Washington—and his research team have received a new grant from the CoMotion Innovation Gap Fund, a program intended to help bridge the gap between academic research grants and the level of development needed to obtain investment. Drain’s project is titled “Rapid test for measuring adherence to antiretroviral therapy and pre-exposure prophylaxis”.  

US Hospitals Could Be Overwhelmed in the Second Week of April (IHME)

In a forecast based on new data analyses, researchers find demand for ventilators and beds in US hospital intensive care units (ICUs) will far exceed capacity for COVID-19 patients as early as the second week of April. Deaths related to the current wave of COVID-19 in the US are likely to persist into July, even assuming people protect themselves and their communities by strongly adhering to social distancing measures and by taking other precautions advised by public health officials. 

DGH Researchers Receive CFAR International Infrastructure Awards

The University of Washington/Fred Hutch Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) recently announced the recipients of their International Infrastructure Awards. Geoffrey Gottlieb (Adjunct Professor of Global Health), John Kinuthia (Affiliate Associate Professor), Rose Bosire (Clinical Research Scientist/Global Health Fellow), and Sylvia LaCourse (Assistant Professor) each received awards.

Seattle Team Gets Funding to Start Human Trials of Potentially Groundbreaking Coronavirus Treatment (Seattle Times - Quotes Corey Casper)

Seattle’s Infectious Disease Research Institute has received seven-figure funding to begin human trials on a potentially groundbreaking novel coronavirus treatment.

The study could launch within weeks, take about 11 months to complete, and enroll about 100 patients diagnosed with a COVID-19 infection that’s causing moderate to severe pneumonia. It would deploy cancer-fighting NK-cells as an immunotherapy treatment for the coronavirus rather than the current approach of antiviral medication.

Coronavirus Q&A with MPH Alumna Patricia García (Publimetro)

Patricia García, Peru's former Minister of Health and an Affiliate Professor of Global Health at the University of Washington, spoke to Publimetro in her home country of Peru about the country's response to the coronavirus pandemic. García received a Masters of Public Health at UW and is also a professor at the School of Public Health at Cayetano Heredia University in Lima, Peru. Her areas of expertise include epidemiology, infectious diseases, and implementation science.

The following interview has been translated from Spanish. 

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