UW Department of Global Health Professor and epidemiologist, Kristie Ebi, states that research regarding this intense heatwave may be underestimating the deaths because it relies on mortality data from a cooler past.

In the Department of Global Health faculty are dedicated to improving health for all through their research, teaching, and service to the university and our partners around the world. In recognition of their exemplary work at the University of Washington and beyond, two Department of Global Health faculty members, Drs. Kenneth Mugwanya, associate professor, and Julianne Meisner, assistant professor, have been awarded endowed appointments which will support them in advancing innovative teaching, research, and community engagement in DGH and beyond.

University of Washington Department of Global Health Professor and epidemiologist, Kristie Ebi, claims that “If it doesn’t cool down at night, then your core body temperature can’t really get back to what is normal for you. You’re starting the next morning with a higher baseline.” That’s why death rates start to increase after about 24 hours during heat waves. “It’s not the instantaneous exposure; it’s the buildup over the course of a day, not getting relief at night. That starts affecting the cells and organs,” Ebi says.

Adjunct Professor of Global Health, Helen Chu, went through a multiyear process to finally gain a seat on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccines experts panel, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. She and the rest of her colleagues on the ACIP were summarily terminated.