Research
May 29, 2019
Dr. Irene Njuguna awarded 2019 CFAR Award to improve adolescent and young adult health in Kenya
Categories: Awards, HIV, HIV and Co-Infections, Research
Congratulations to Dr. Irene Njuguna (PhD Candidate in UW Epidemiology; Infectious Disease Researcher, Kenyatta National Hospital) who is the recipient of the 2019 UW/Fred Hutch Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) Mentored International Investigator Award!
Dr. Njuguna’s new two-year project entitled, “Causes and risk factors for death in HIV positive adolescents and youth in Kenya,” aims to fill critical gaps in understanding cause-specific and underlying contributing factors to adolescent and young adult (AYA) deaths. Despite improvements in recent years to link HIV positive AYA to treatment and management to keep viral loads low, they remain at high risk of dying for reasons not well documented at many low-resource health facilities. (more…)
May 14, 2019
DeWorm3 Project launches activities to improve nutrition and health
Categories: Gut Health and Child Survival, Nutrition, Research
Over 1.5 billion people, including 835 million children, in the world’s poorest communities are infected with soil-transmitted helminths (STH), commonly known as intestinal worms, and are in need of deworming medications.
A single deworming pill is a safe and effective solution to combat worm infections that interfere with the body’s nutritional intake and impair developmental growth, especially in children. Periodic mass deworming protects a community by removing or reducing the worm burden of infected community members, thereby decreasing the risk of new individuals becoming infected.
In 2016, Dr. Judd Walson (Department of Global Health), in collaboration with the Natural History Museum London and the University of Washington, launched the DeWorm3 Project to test the feasibility of interrupting transmission of STH using intensified mass drug administration strategies. (more…)
April 24, 2019
Can community pharmacies in Kenya improve early access to antenatal and HIV prevention care? Dr. Melissa Mugambi receives award to explore feasibility
Categories: Awards, Family Planning, HIV, Research
In setting with high HIV prevalence, early antenatal care (ANC) visits are vital to optimize HIV testing and prevention services to reduce maternal and pediatric mortality and morbidity. Late ANC attendance limits timely identification and delivery of HIV prevention services including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among pregnant women at high risk for HIV infection.
To fill this gap, researchers are looking for ways to encourage pregnant women to seek ANC early and improve maternal and child health outcomes. In Kenya, community pharmacies, also known as drug shops or chemists, are playing an increasingly important role as sources of over-the-counter sexual and reproductive health products, including urine pregnancy tests and HIV self-testing kits. These pharmacies offer important and under-utilized access points to ANC and HIV prevention care for women and have the potential to inform a new innovative PrEP delivery model.
Dr. Melissa Mugambi (Assistant Professor, Department of Global Health, Implementation Science Program) received a National Institutes for Health (NIH) Diversity Supplement Award to lead a study on the feasibility of engaging community pharmacy providers in the distribution of pregnancy tests and subsequent referral of pregnant women to ANC, in order to promote early access to ANC and PrEP. (more…)
March 22, 2019
World TB Day 2019: Global WACh contributes to global efforts to end TB
Categories: Education, HIV and Co-Infections, Research
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…)
March 11, 2019
Global WACh Researchers Share Latest Science at CROI 2019
Categories: Conferences, HIV, Research
Last week, Global WACh researchers participated in the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) held in Seattle from March 5-7, 2019.
Our researchers shared their latest findings on testing for HIV, human papillomavirus (HPV), tuberculosis (TB), and on PrEP delivery practices. Continue reading for highlights and a list of accepted posters by Global WACh researchers. (more…)
March 7, 2019
ATTACH Team Shares Findings at the Inter-CFAR Sub-Saharan Africa Symposium 2019
Categories: Conferences, HIV, Research, Youth
Global WACh’s ATTACH team shared scientific findings at the annual Inter-CFAR Sub-Saharan Africa Symposium from January 31st to February 2nd, 2019 in Nairobi, Kenya. The annual symposium incorporates career development activities targeted to the needs of early career investigators, hold keynote talks addressing scientific topics of interest for African HIV research, and identify novel future research directions.
The team’s research posters generated a lot of interest in how adolescents transition from pediatric to adult HIV care, and opportunities to discuss overcoming challenges. (more…)
January 28, 2019
Global WACh Student Researchers Feature Posters at the 2019 Global Healthies
Categories: Awards, Research, students
On January 23rd, the University of Washington Department of Global Health held its annual Global Healthies Opportunities Fair and Poster Competition, which seeks to strengthen connections and start new collaborations for better global health impacts. It was an exciting evening with a large presence of Global WACh faculty, staff, students and colleagues engaging around our Center’s research and training opportunities.
This year, 12 Global WACh research assistants and Certificate students competed in the poster competition across four distinct categories (Discovery and Development, Education and Training, Implementation and Application, and Public Health Service and Direct Care). (more…)
December 3, 2018
Global WACh Shares Novel Research Findings at International Conferences
Categories: Conferences, Gut Health and Child Survival, HIV, Research
Over Fall quarter, Global WACh researchers shared novel research findings from our three scientific priority areas at several international conferences: The HIV Prevention for HIV Conference (HIVR4P), Union World Conference on Lung Health, and American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (ASTMH). Continue reading for conference highlights and photos! (more…)
August 10, 2018
Global WACh Attends 2018 AIDS
Categories: Conferences, HIV, Research
The International Aids Society hosted the 22nd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2018) in Amsterdam from July 23-27, 2018.
This year, the conference objectives focused on advancing knowledge of HIV through research findings, promoting evidence-based HIV responses tailored to key populations, activating and galvanizing political commitment and accountability, addressing gaps in and highlighting the critical role of HIV prevention, as well as spotlighting the epidemic and HIV response in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Global WACh faculty, staff, student research assistants, and international collaborators had a strong presence at the conference to share and discuss a number of selected abstracts. In total, 12 members attended, with four selected abstracts for oral presentations and seven poster abstracts at AIDS 2018. Some members participated in the pre-conference event, the 10th Workshop on HIV Pediatrics from July 20-21, where eight selected poster abstracts were featured.
July 10, 2018
Dr. Jillian Pintye receives award to measure HIV exposures in mothers and infants using hair samples
Categories: Awards, HIV, Research
Dr. Jillian Pintye, PhD, RN, MPH, Senior Fellow and Trainee with Global WACh and the Department of Global Health, is a recipient of a NIH R21 Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Award!
Dr. Pintye’s project entitled “Assessing Mother and Infant Antiretroviral Exposure Using Hair Measures” is a two-year grant that will begin in the coming weeks and end during summer 2020. She is serving as one of two Primary Investigators with Dr. Monica Gandhi from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), who is a leader in the field of HIV and women, and biomarkers for antiretroviral therapy exposure. (more…)
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