Global WACh

Certificate Program

June 11, 2025

Lisa Orii receives Global Innovation Fund Award to integrate AI in app-based person-centered contraception services in Kenya

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Congratulations to Lisa Orii, PhD candidate in the School of Computer Science & Engineering and Global WACh Graduate Certificate Program, for receiving a 2025 UW Global Innovation Fund Award.  The fund supports transformative cross-college, cross-continent research collaborations and global Husky learning experiences at UW.

Lisa will work with researchers at UW and Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) on a project titled, “Co-Design of Chatbots for App-Supported Person-Centered Contraceptive Decision Support among Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Kenya in the Pharmacy Setting.” The research team includes Drs. Elizabeth Harrington (UW Global Health and Obstetrics & Gynecology), Elizabeth Bukusi (KEMRI), Serah Gitome (KEMRI), and Richard Anderson (UW Computer Science & Engineering). (more…)

June 6, 2025

Global WACh hosts annual Student Poster Symposium highlighting graduate student research

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On Wednesday, June 4th, Global WACh hosted its annual Student Poster Symposium to highlight graduate student research affiliated with our center.  Dozens of UW faculty, staff, students attended to learn about 17 students’ projects that fulfilled academic capstone and dissertation requirements, while providing opportunities to gain knowledge and build marketable skillsets in the field of maternal-child health.

The majority of presenters are enrolled in the Global WACh Graduate Certificate Program and are graduating in the 2025 academic year. The certificate program offers opportunities for additional learning about woman, adolescent, and child health topics through 12 credits of coursework and a 90-hour capstone. We wish these students the very best in their future endeavors as public health professionals.

Additional posters featured master and doctoral degree capstones and dissertations that led to major advancements in the scientific field and were featured at the recent Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) held in San Francisco in March. CROI is considered the world’s leading HIV research meeting that attracts thousands of researchers and clinicians from around the globe – and is a fantastic stage to showcase our emerging early-stage researchers.

See the full list of participating students and their poster titles below. Click here to view the photo gallery courtesy of the Department of Global Health Communications team. (more…)

November 20, 2024

Global WACh Certificate Student Emmalie Griswold supports new study to help describe decision-making processes of people living in US states with poor abortion access

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Since the US Supreme Court Dobbs decision in June 2022 to take away the constitutional right to abortion, more than 20 US states ban or severely restrict abortion care. Consequently, about 1 in 5 seeking abortion travel across state lines, impeding access to timely and affordable care. Understanding the decision-making, journeys and care received by out-of-state patients seeking in-person care in legal states is urgently needed to improve equitable access to abortion.

The UW Access, Delivered research team, based in the Department of Family Medicine Women’s Health Research and Scholarship Lab, recently launched a new study aimed at understanding the decision-making processes of individuals living in states with severe abortion restrictions, who either choose to order medication abortion pills through an online provider or pursue in-person care in another state. The team is partnering with three clinics providing first-trimester abortion care (two in-person and one virtual), and engaging a diverse six-person Community Advisory Board. The evidence generated can inform patient-facing decision-making tools for people living in areas with poor abortion access.

During Summer 2024, Emmalie Griswold, a 2nd year MPH in Health Systems and Population Health (HSPOP) and Global WACh Graduate Certificate student, provided critical research coordination support to set up the research infrastructure of the new study, essentially laying the groundwork for smooth study execution.  (more…)

November 19, 2024

Global WACh Certificate Student Amaya Gatling supports neonatal health researchers identify pathways to implement a smartphone-based birth asphyxia screening tool for newborns

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Birth asphyxia affects nearly 30 per 1,000 live births in low-income countries worldwide. Birth asphyxia accounts for almost a quarter of neonatal deaths and remains a significant contributor to long-term disability worldwide. Early identification of infants at highest risk is necessary to improve short- and long-term outcomes. Standardized measurements to objectively assess a newborn’s risk are often unavailable in low resource settings due to lack of human resources and high cost.

With support from the UW Population Health Social Entrepreneur Fellowship Program, a project team in UW Pediatrics Division of Neonatology is working to solve this issue by developing a portable, affordable device for blood pH measurement and screening in low-income countries. The device, named pHastCam, will utilize a pH sensitive dye and ubiquitous smartphone camera technology to determine blood pH within seconds.

In Summer 2024, the program assigned Amaya Gatling, 2nd year MPH in Global Health and Global WACh Graduate Certificate student, to support the pHastCam team, led by Drs. Krystle Perez and Gregory Valentine, by conducting a deep dive into customer discovery, market strategy and explore how to build a pathway to sustainability in low-income countries.  (more…)

June 5, 2024

2nd annual Global WACh Student Poster Symposium celebrates and highlights student achievements over the academic year

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On May 28th in the Hans Rosling Center for Population Health, Global WACh hosted its second annual Student Poster Symposium featuring graduate student research aimed at improving the health and well-being of women, adolescents, and children. It was a celebratory end-of-year event to acknowledge students’ training, service, and achievement and give well wishes to those graduating UW.

This year’s symposium featured 14 posters by master’s and doctoral students and a postdoctoral fellow representing several departments and schools – Applied Bioengineering, Epidemiology, Global Health (General and Implementation Science tracks), Nursing, and Social Work. These included 90-hour capstone projects completed by students enrolled in the Global WACh Graduate Certificate Program, and master’s thesis and PhD dissertation-related posters by student supporting Global WACh’s research portfolio. Three posters were featured at scientific conferences over the academic year and shared with the UW global health community. (more…)

May 17, 2024

Two Global WACh Certificate students receive Department of Global Health travel fellowships

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First-year MPH in Global Health and Global WACh Graduate Certificate Program students, Edith Dale and Rara Deathicta Santoso Sudiro Dethan, are recipients of the 2024 Department of Global Health’s Funding for Fieldwork Fellowships. These coveted fellowships help support fieldwork experience for graduate students interested in gaining hands-on global health research experience abroad. Meet the students and read about their projects below.
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May 3, 2024

Class of 2024 Global WACh Graduate Certificate Program student capstone round-up

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We are thrilled to celebrate the graduations of eight students enrolled in the Global WACh Graduate Certificate Program. They are graduating with master degrees from various academic departments, along with the 15-credit certificate that offers additional coursework and a 90-hour capstone opportunity in woman, adolescent, and child health training and education.

Students will present their capstones at Global WACh’s Student Poster Symposium on Tuesday, May 28th from 3-4 PM in the Hans Rosling Center for Population Health Room 101.  The event draws in members of our community to celebrate students’ achievements, service, and training during their academic journeys at UW.  Attend the event to learn about their work.  Meet our incredible students and read brief summaries of their projects below.

 

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June 6, 2023

Global WACh Student Poster Symposium celebrates and highlights student achievements over the academic year

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Members of the UW global health community gathered at the poster symposium in the Hans Rosling Center.

On June 1st, Global WACh hosted its first Student Poster Symposium to showcase scientific results by affiliated graduate student researchers and celebrate their achievements over the academic year. This hour-long event provided an opportunity for current students to share project summaries related to academic requirements (e.g. dissertation, capstone) or as Research Assistants supporting ongoing projects. Some posters were created for the event, while others were previously featured at other scientific conferences and could be accessible to the UW global health community. Faculty, staff, and students attended to view the posters and chat with the students to learn more about their contributions that help advance Global WACh’s science in collaboration with partner organizations. (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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February 9, 2023

Attend a Global WACh Graduate Certificate Virtual Information Session in Winter and Spring Quarters

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Join us to learn more about the Global WACh Graduate Certificate requirements and application process. UW graduate students with interests in gaining a comprehensive overview of current issues in global health as they pertain to the intertwined health and well-being of women, adolescents, and children are encouraged to attend!

  • Friday, March 3rd, 1:00-1:50 PM
  • Friday, April 7th, 12-12:50 PM (Revised Date)
  • Friday, May 19th, 12-12:50 PM

https://washington.zoom.us/j/97368496918
Zoom Meeting ID: 97368496918

Visit https://www.globalwach.org/graduate-certificate-program  for more information and to download an application. Contact gwach@uw.edu with questions.


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