The John E. Fogarty International Center and National Institutes of Health (NIH) have awarded a $900,000 grant to University of Washington global health professor Joseph Zunt. The grant will strengthen the Northern Pacific Global Health Research Training Consortium Program, which trains doctoral and post-doctoral fellows in the health profession.
Dr. Susan Graham, MD, MPH, PhD has been named Associate Chair for Department of Global Health Academic Programs, effective August 1, 2019.
Graham is an Associate Professor of Global Health and Medicine, as well as an Adjunct Associate Professor of Epidemiology. Dr. Graham is also boarded in internal medicine and infectious diseases.
Dr. Judd Walson, MD, MPH, has been named Vice Chair of the Department of Global Health, effective August 1, 2019.
Walson is a professor of Global Health, Medicine, and Pediatrics, as well as an Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology. In addition, Walson is also the Principal Investigator of the DeWorm3 Project, which focuses on finding ways to eliminate soil-transmitted helminths, known commonly as intestinal worms.
A new University of Washington School of Public Health study sustains a long-held argument that court-imposed fees and fines may keep the most vulnerable people ensnared in a vicious cycle of poverty and incarceration.
In a study of open-label Truvada as daily pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV among 427 young African women and adolescent girls, 95% initiated the HIV prevention strategy, and most used PrEP for the first three months. However, PrEP use fell among participants in this critical population during a year of follow-up clinic visits, although HIV incidence at 12 months was low. The preliminary results suggest that tailored, evidence-based adherence support strategies may be needed to durably engage young African women in consistent PrEP use.
In an open-label study of women in southern and eastern Africa, a vaginal ring that is inserted once a month and slowly releases an antiviral drug was estimated to reduce the risk of HIV by 39%, according to statistical modeling. In addition, the study found that participants appeared to use the ring more in the open-label study than in a previous clinical trial. These and other results of the HIV Open Label Extension (HOPE) study were presented today at the 10th IAS Conference on HIV Science (IAS 2019) in Mexico City.
In late-May of 2019, Kenya’s high court voted to uphold laws criminalizing homosexual sex. This news was pertinent to Susan Graham, an Associate Professor in the UW Departments of Global Health and Medicine whose research focus is on HIV prevention and care for vulnerable populations. Graham began working in Kenya in 2004, and started research on HIV prevention and care for gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) there in 2006.
A new grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will allow Paul Drain, a professor in the UW Department of Global Health, to conduct clinical evaluation studies of point-of-care tuberculosis (TB) diagnostic tests. These rapid tests deliver quick results to patients and clinicians in hospital and community clinics. By accelerating the initiation of TB treatment, patients may have better outcomes and will be less likely to transmit TB to others. TB has become the leading infectious cause of mortality in the world, due partly to poorly performing diagnostic test practices.
Judd Walson, a University of Washington professor of Global Health, Medicine, and Pediatrics, recently received $621,029 in funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for a research grant focused on the development of a molecular diagnostic platform for the detection of soil transmitted helminths (STH), commonly known as parasitic worms. Investigators will use these methods to support a large, multi-country, randomized trial evaluating the feasibility of interrupting STH transmission through expanded mass drug administration.
By Todd Faubion - Faculty Director for Undergraduate Programs, Global Health