Lancet Jeremy Hess IHME Health climate change Countdown
November 25, 2019 | Department News

Researchers Co-Lead US Policy Brief for 2019 Lancet Report on Health and Climate Change

Climate change is already causing widespread harm to the health of all people living in the United States, with extreme heat making workers less productive and toxic air contributing to 64,000 deaths in a single year. In a new brief on climate change and health in the U.S. published Nov. 13, University of Washington and Harvard University researchers say it is still possible to prevent some health effects and mitigate others, and that aggressive action on climate is also action to protect health.

BIRCH team
Biometric System HIV AIDS Iris
November 25, 2019 | Health News

Biometrics System for Identifying People Living with HIV Ready

A biometric system that will use a patient’s iris for identification has been tested and reported ready for deployment. The system tested among 8,794 HIV patients is reported to have been highly effective, acceptable and friendly to use.

This is a big boost to HIV programs, as the US had threatened to cut funding if Kenya did not adopt biometric identifiers. The testing has been carried out by the Ministry of Health, Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) and University of Washington, US.

Mucous HIV AIDS EurekAlert Michael Gale
November 25, 2019 | Department News

Wound Healing in Mucous Tissues Could Ward off AIDS (EurekAlert - Features Michael Gale Jr.)

Wound healing events in mucous tissues during early infection by Simian Immunodeficiency Virus, or SIV, guard some primate species against developing AIDS, a recent study has learned. The research looked at why certain species can carry the virus throughout their lives, and still avoid disease progression.

SIV is closely related to the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. It is used as a laboratory model for many studies seeking AIDS and HIV cures and preventions.

PATH Minor Global Health Minor David Frantz
November 19, 2019 | Department News

Global Health Minor Opens Major Student Opportunities

A core tenet of the Department of Global Health’s mission is understanding the causes of health inequities at multiple levels, including ways that health intersects with other pressing issues facing the global population. For David Frantz, a third-year undergraduate student in the University of Washington Global Health minor, that meant exploring ways that health can be weaved together with his other academic interests.

BIRCH team
climate change Rising Heat Reuters Kristie Ebi Lancet
November 19, 2019 | Health News

Baking Cities Advance "Slowly" in Race Against Rising Heat Threat (Reuters - Features Kristie Ebi)

With urban populations surging around the world, cities will struggle to keep residents safe from fast-growing heat risks turbo-charged by climate change, scientists and public health experts warned this week.

Heat is already the leading cause of deaths from extreme weather in countries including the United States. The problem is particularly severe in cities, where temperature extremes are rising much faster than the global average, they said.

ICRC Senior Fellow Jennifer Velloza Mental Health HIV Prevention
November 12, 2019 | Department News

ICRC Fellow Treating Mind and Body - Jennifer Velloza, UW Magnuson Scholar.

Jennifer Velloza spent a year crisscrossing the grass-covered plains and sloping hills of rural Swaziland, dividing her time among ten medical clinics in this small southern African country. Here, nearly one in four people have HIV — and that rate is even higher among women.

As a study manager for Doctors Without Borders, Velloza saw many pregnant and postpartum women struggle to get the HIV testing and treatment they needed, because they were also suffering from sexual trauma, depression or anxiety.

BIRCH team
Ebola
November 07, 2019 | Health News

This Congolese Doctor Discovered Ebola But Never Got Credit For It — Until Now (NPR)

Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe says his story starts in 1973. He had just gotten his Ph.D. at the Rega Institute in Belgium. He could have stayed in Europe, but he decided to return to Congo, or what was then known as Zaire, which had only recently attained independence from Belgium. He took a job as a field epidemiologist. In 1976, he was called to an outbreak of a mysterious disease in central Congo.

Pandemic Disease Foreign Policy Kristie Ebi
October 30, 2019 | Department News

US Foreign Policy Could Halt Today’s Major Killers, Prevent Tomorrow’s Outbreaks (Journal of International Affairs - Features Kristie Ebi)

United States action on global pandemics could save lives, address significant foreign policy interests and boost economic prosperity, according to a new analysis from leading researchers, including Kristie Ebi, an expert on global change and health at the University of Washington School of Public Health.

Pages