Global WACh

Education

March 22, 2019

World TB Day 2019: Global WACh’s emerging research contributes to global efforts to end TB

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World TB Day, held each year on March 24, aims to raise public awareness about the devastating health, social, and economic consequences of tuberculosis (TB) and to step up efforts to end the global TB epidemic.  The theme of World TB Day 2019 – “It’s Time” – urges global health organizations and government leaders to accelerate the TB response and ensure access to care.

Global WACh researchers are working hard to discover more effective diagnostic, treatment, and prevention measures for a TB-free world.  They are collaborating with investigators on a number of studies, including HIV/TB immunopathogenesis and protection in infants and pregnant women, improved TB screening and novel non-sputum based diagnostics in HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected children and adults, and implementation of TB prevention in adolescents.  Continue reading for a summary of studies and a collection of publications. (more…)

December 20, 2018

Researchers complete intensive grant writing workshop for dissemination and implementation science

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Global WACh researchers, Drs. Kristin Beima-Sofie (Acting Assistant Professor, Global Health) and Anjuli Wagner (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Global Health), and UW School of Nursing’s Dr. Erin Blakeney (Research Assistant Professor) recently returned from Bethesda, MD, where they completed their training with the National Institute of Health’s Training Institute for Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health (TIDIRH) program.  The three investigators were among a cohort of 50 investigators with varying levels of research experience and interests in studying dissemination and implementation (D&I) across health care, public health, and community settings.  They shared their training experience at Global WACh’s latest Working in Implementation Science (WISE) Working Group meeting. (more…)

February 10, 2017

Celebrating International Day of Women and Girls in Science

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Over the past 15 years, the global community has made concerted efforts to inspire and engage women and girls in science. According to a study conducted in 14 countries, the probability of a female student graduating with a Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree and Doctor’s degree in a science-related field are 18%, 8% and 2% respectively, while the percentages of male students are 37%, 18% and 6%.

The UN General Assembly recognizes that full and equal access to and participation in science, technology, and innovation is imperative for empowering women and girls of all ages. As a response, one year ago the General Assembly declared February 11th as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.

This weekend we celebrate the Day in recognition of the critical role women and girls play in science and technology communities—including education, training, and research activities at all levels. To observe International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we are highlighting three members of our Graduate Certificate program. These three students are each making meaningful contributions to their respective scientific fields, and, they are also women.

HFrizzellHannah Frizzell is a third year PhD student in the Department of Bioengineering. She received her Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering and is currently a graduate research fellow working on mucosal immunoengineering, vaccines, drug delivery, and how these relate to women’s and children’s health on a global scale. Hannah is the Vice President of Funding at UW’s Bioengineers without Borders, which develops medical devices for resource-limited areas. She mentors a team focused on a low-cost device for diagnosis of pre-eclampsia in pregnant women. Hannah is also a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and a Roche/Achievement Awards for College Scientists (ARCS) scholar. As she progresses in her field, she hopes to apply both her technical background and experience from the Global WACh program to create and integrate medical technologies into communities to improve their accessibility and thus ultimate effectiveness in improving health globally.

Ke-Pan-200x300Ke Pan is an MPH student in the Department of Global Health, having received her BA in Public Health with a concentration in Maternal and Child Health from Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) and Masters Degree in Medicine from Third Military Medical University in China. Prior to coming to UW, she worked as a resident in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology for three years and conducted research about the quality of women’s life after surgery for Pelvic Organ Prolapse. She also conducted a research regarding the prevalence of hypertension and obesity in adolescents. Ke Pan is deeply interested in improving global health disparities of women, adolescents and children through education, awareness, and access to healthcare.

MollyFeder_PhotoMolly Feder is an MPH student in the Department of Epidemiology with a concentration in Maternal and Child Health. She received her BA in International Affairs concentrating in Global Health from the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University. Prior to attending UW, Molly worked as a Government Relations Associate and Database Administrator at the Council for Responsible Nutrition in Washington, DC where she advocated for enhanced FDA oversight of the vitamin and supplement industry. As an MPH student, Molly is a Maternal and Child Health Trainee and is interested in research pertaining to family planning and reproductive health.

We’re proud of the interdisciplinary commitment these three students have made to advance health care globally within the fields of women, adolescent, and child health. Please click here to learn about each of our fantastic certificate students and the impact they are making in their fields.

On the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we also hear from Chief Information Technology Officer of the United Nations, Atefah “Atti” Riazi, who urges all girls to aspire to be ‘geeks.’ Click here to read.

November 20, 2014

Certificate Student Focus – Lisa Shawcroft

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LisaShawcroftLisa Shawcroft,  a 2014 Global WACh Certificate Program Alum, was selected as one of 128 fellows with Global Health Corps.  She is currently a Communications Specialist for Marie Stopes International (MSI)- US in Washington DC, and is blazing a trail for future Global Health Corps fellows to be able to work with the organization in sexual and reproductive health.

During her studies at the Evans School of Public Affairs, Lisa was drawn to the conversations about health systems and hospital cases. She had taken the Global WACh Law & Policy Solutions course; which according to her, compliment her Masters in Public Administration coursework very well.  She had previously been involved with a few non-profits here in Seattle and wanted to broaden her horizons. After graduating from the UW with an MPA and certificates in Non-profit Management as well as the Global WACh Certificate, Lisa identified MSI-US as an opportunity to put her recently acquired skills into practice.

“It’s hard to put a border on health,” she says, emphasizing that everything is interconnected and that borders are fluid. Global health is truly global.  “I’m an American born, somewhat privileged woman who speaks English. If I have problems accessing the care I need–how hard must it be for someone who doesn’t have those same privileges and is coming from a total different cultural background and trying to adjust—to access care?”

Lisa’s Global WACh Certificate Capstone focused on community-based asset building with Latino children and adolescents in Federal Way.  She focused on strengths of this community as reported by these populations in an effort to better connect these populations to needed health services.

Lisa hopes to use her fellowship year with Global Health Corps and MSI-US as a stepping stone to working with refugees and immigrants to Washington state, specifically in the field of reproductive health. While researching potential Global WAch capstone projects, she struggled to identify a particular organization that tackles refugee family planning, so she says that’s what pushes her to fill that gap. For Lisa, global is local, and the Global WACh certificate helped her learn the skills necessary to work with resource scare settings—both internationally and domestically.

We here at Global WACh wish Lisa all the best and know that she’s doing some fantastic work to change people’s lives for the better.