Global WACh

Awards

May 20, 2024

New grant supports scaling up integrated PrEP delivery to Kenyan pregnant and postpartum women

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Pregnancy is a high risk time for acquiring HIV. PrEP is a safe and effective prevention strategy to reduce women’s risk of acquiring HIV in pregnancy and postpartum and consequently vertical HIV transmission, improved health outcomes for both mother and child. In Kenya, this daily oral medication is being delivered in some regions during these life stages integrated into maternal and child (MCH) clinics, but scale-up has been sub-optimal.

Researchers from Global WACh and Kenyatta National Hospital have co-led implementation science studies focused on delivering integrated PrEP in routine MCH care, testing strategies to optimize delivery in western Kenyan counties. These represented the first and largest projects to deliver PrEP integrated into MCH clinics. Integrated PrEP delivery is now ready for scale up more broadly, which will require new implementation strategies to facilitate scale up. (more…)

March 6, 2024

New study aims to promote perinatal mental health screening and reduce the burden of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders in Kenya

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Multiple Principal Investigators Drs. John Kinuthia, Amritha Bhat, and Keshet Ronen

Pregnancy and the birth of a child is an exciting and celebratory time for many families. However, for many women and their families, it can be a difficult time if the mother is experiencing symptoms of depression or anxiety. These feelings may get better or go away with time, but if they don’t, it is critical to access care to prevent worsening symptoms and recover. Without appropriate intervention, these feelings can have long term adverse implications for the mental, physical, and emotional health of women, children, and their families. (more…)

February 27, 2024

MIND collaborators convene in Nairobi to advance childhood development and mental health research in Kenya

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MIND Program collaborators at the Palacina Suites Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya. (Photo: Mugo Mureithi)

In January, nearly 40 collaborators affiliated with the Drug, microbiome, and immune determinants of birth and neurodevelopmental outcomes in children with exposure to HIV infection (MIND) grant attended a two-day convening in Nairobi, Kenya. Launched in early 2023, the project leverages three ongoing childhood development studies in Kenya and supports two core groups that provide access to technologies, services, training, and consultation to successfully execute the studies. The meeting provided a forum to share progress and discuss future directions of research collaborations from UW/Global WACh, Kenyatta National Hospital, University of Nairobi, Emory University, Fred Hutch, and Makerere University. (more…)

February 15, 2024

New project aims to expand access to sexual and reproductive health care in South King County

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Starting this February, Dr. Arianna Means (Assistant Professor, Global Health) and Chloe Morozoff (PhD Student, Global Health) will work in partnership with Public Health—Seattle & King County (PHSKC) to optimize sexual and reproductive health care (SRH) for patients, particularly English Language Learners and uninsured individuals who encounter barriers to accessing healthcare, in South King County, WA. (more…)

January 26, 2024

Announcing the 2023-2024 UW Rising Star Award Recipients

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The Global WACh and Enterics for Global Health (EFGH) Shigella surveillance study (housed within the center) are pleased to announce the four recipients of the 2023-2024 Rising Star Award cycle.  A goal of the award program was to identify highly talented junior investigators from institutions in low-middle income countries (LMIC) who are committed to a career in research in woman, adolescent, and child health broadly, and in pediatric enteric and diarrheal disease.  To learn more about the award program and previous recipients, visit our informational webpages on the Global WACh and EFGH study sites. Meet our Rising Stars!

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June 14, 2023

New study aims to identify barriers to implementing national sickle cell disease management guidelines in Kenya

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Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a multi-system, life-threatening condition characterized by chronic anemia, frequent episodes of painful vaso-occlusive crises, organ infarction and eventually widespread organ damage. Over 80% of the 240,000 children born with SCD in sub-Sahara Africa each year die before their fifth birthday. Despite the existence of evidence-informed guidelines around the use of disease modifying interventions necessary for the management of SCD, guideline implementation in the region is suboptimal leading to preventable morbidity and mortality. (more…)

June 5, 2023

Global WACh Certificate students receive DGH travel fellowships

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Three students from the Global WACh Graduate Certificate Program are recipients of the 2023 Department of Global Health’s Funding for Fieldwork Fellowships. These coveted fellowships help support fieldwork experience for graduate students in global health. Meet the selected students, who are earning their MPH degrees, and read about their projects below.

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May 23, 2023

New grant explores biological pathways associated with growth outcomes in HIV-exposed uninfected infants for future interventions

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(Top row) Drs. David Taylor Hendrixson and Christine McGrath.
(Bottom row) Drs. Grace John-Stewart and Benson Singa.

Dr. David Taylor Hendrixson, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics – Divisions of Neonatology and Pediatric Infectious Diseases, received a two-year Pilot and Feasibility (P&F) Research Awards supported by the UW Medicine Diabetes Institute, Diabetes Research Center, and Nutrition and Obesity Research Center. The project is in collaboration with Drs. Christine McGrath and Grace John-Stewart (UW Department of Global Health), Dr. Benson Singa (UW-KEMRI), and the UW Northwest Metabolomics Research Center. (more…)

May 19, 2023

Predoctoral researcher Tessa Concepcion receives award to support integration of long-acting PrEP methods into antenatal care in Kenya

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Tessa Concepcion, a second-year PhD student in the Global Health Implementation Science Program, recently received a National Institutes of Health grant to fund her predoctoral research with Global WACh at UW and Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) in Kenya.

The three-year grant titled, “Planning for delivery of novel PrEP formulations to pregnant and postpartum women in Kenya,” leverages the ongoing mWACh-PrEP randomized trial (MPIs: John Kinuthia, KNH and Jillian Pintye, UW)—a SMS-based support intervention to enhance PrEP adherence during pregnancy through the postpartum period—to identify pregnant and postpartum women’s preferences for novel PrEP agents and identify early process indicators for implementing these options in MCH systems. This proposal was guided by the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation and Sustainment (EPIS) framework to answer questions related to implementation of LA-PrEP for pregnant and postpartum women in Kenya. (more…)

May 12, 2023

Announcing the 2023 Seeds for Change Award Recipients

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After a pause in seed grant programming during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Global WACh is pleased to resume funding activities and announce the nine recipients of the 2023 Seeds for Change Resource Award to Strengthen Collaborative Sites.  (more…)


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