DGH Professors Receive Grant to Research Text Messaging and Maternal Mental Health

A recently-awarded grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will allow Keshet Ronen, clinical assistant professor of Global Health, to develop natural language processing tools to use SMS text messaging to monitor and support maternal mental health in Kenya.

The grant, titled “Leveraging interactive SMS messaging to monitor and support maternal mental health in Kenya”, will fund Ronen’s research through May 2022 with a total award of $128,116. Ronen explained the purpose of this grant, as well as the public health impacts it can create.

CFAR Receives $1.2 Million for HIV Research Projects in the US

As part of the Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE): A Plan for America initiative, the University of Washington/Fred Hutch Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) received $1.2 million to fund five research projects. This initiative allocates funding to HIV research with the goal of reducing new infections in the United States by 90 percent by 2030.

NIH Renews Funding for Fogarty Training Consortium, Led by UW

The National Institutes of Health has renewed its support for University of Washington (UW) as a leader in developing the next generation of physicians, veterinarians, dentists, and scientists trained in global health with a $4.5 million grant to extend the Northern Pacific Fogarty Global Health Fellows (NPGH) training program for the next five years (2017–2022). Support is provided through the Fogarty International Center, which will distribute awards totaling more than $25.9 million to six consortia that include 24 U.S.

Geekwire: University of Washington Initiative Awarded $9.3M to Fight Deadly Malaria Strains in India

By Clare McGrane

Viruses and parasites are constantly changing. That’s the reason last year’s flu shot isn’t as effective against this year’s flu — the virus has evolved to resist it.

The same is true for malaria, but unlike the flu, malaria is one of the most deadly parasites in the world, and it’s becoming resistant to the lifesaving drugs that can cure it.

KUOW: How Much Money Could Trump Take from Science in WA?

By Kara McDermott

A quick glance around Lake Union and you can tell there’s a lot of science happening in our state. With the Trump administration threatening cuts to research funding, we examined how much money this could mean for Washington state.

First of all, it’s difficult to lasso all the federal dollars going to science. So we zeroed in on two big agencies to get an overview: the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), looking at their reports for the 2016 fiscal year.