Research
March 8, 2018
International Women’s Day 2018: Celebrating Women in Science
Categories: HIV and Co-Infections, Research
On International Women’s Day, we celebrate women in science who dedicate their knowledge and expertise to improve the health of women throughout all stages of life. Women and girls can build a healthier future for generations to come and it is important nourish, educate, and empower them. Today, we are pleased to feature a story of one researcher’s journey to self-empowerment through her research explorations.
In March and September of 2017, Global WACh highlighted Dr. Linnet Masese (then a Postdoctoral Fellow at the UW Department of Medicine and Clinic Section Head at the UW/University of Nairobi Research) and three published manuscripts from her study supported by Global WACh seed grant funding in 2011. (more…)
November 20, 2017
Global WACh’s Gut Health & Child Survival researchers at the 2017 ASTMH Conference
Categories: Conferences, Gut Health and Child Survival, Research
From November 5th-9th, researchers from the Global WACh Gut Health and Child Survival team attended the 66th American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) Conference in Baltimore, Maryland. ASTMH is the largest international scientific organization of experts dedicated to reducing the worldwide burden of tropical infectious diseases and improving global health. At the conference, our researcher gave oral presentations and shared research findings, which support the global goal towards eliminating tropical diseases and saving lives. Meet our researchers and learn about their work below!
October 4, 2017
Study to make HIV testing informational videos and use saliva-based HIV testing in children launched in Kenya
Categories: Children, Health, HIV, Research
Tags: HIV
Most people assume HIV testing involves blood. While blood is the most commonly used, saliva is an alternative specimen to test and diagnose HIV in adults and adolescents. Benefits of saliva-based testing include the ease of collecting samples and increased acceptability of HIV testing. One example of a saliva-based test is OraQuick, a device used to collect and rapidly test saliva. (more…)
September 28, 2017
Successful staff training for PrIYA and PrIMA, HIV-prevention projects
Categories: Research
We love receiving updates from our research partners in Kenya! Last week, two HIV-focused projects, led by the Kenyatta National Hospital, Global WACh, and International Clinical Research Center (ICRC), held successful staff trainings in Kisumu, Kenya.
Both projects emphasize the use of oral pre-exposure antiretroviral prophylaxis, or PrEP, among adolescent girls and women who are at the greatest risk of HIV infection. PrEP is a daily anti-HIV medication that a person who does not have HIV takes to prevent infection. If taken daily as prescribed, PrEP is highly effective in stopping the HIV virus from taking hold and spreading throughout the body. (more…)
September 26, 2017
Global WACh Seed Grant Recipient Publishes in New Journals
Categories: Awards, Children, HIV, Research
Earlier this year, we featured Dr. Linnet Masese, then a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Washington’s Department of Medicine, as well as a 2011 Global WACh Integrated Health Seed Grant recipient.
Dr. Masese has conducted meaningful research collaborations around the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among adolescents and young women in Kenya and the barriers they face to STIs prevention, care, and support. The first of three papers (“Barriers and Facilitators of Screening for Sexually Transmitted Infections in Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Mombasa, Kenya”) from her study supported by seed funding was published in PLOS One in January 2017. We are thrilled to announce the remaining two papers were recently published in scientific journals. (more…)
March 16, 2017
Study achieving optimal neurodevelopmental outcomes in HIV-Infected infants
Categories: Research
Tags: ART, growth, HIV, neurodevelopment, Pediatrics
HIV infection can result in neurodevelopmental impairment in children. We do not yet understand the extent to which effective antiretroviral therapy (ART) prevents these delays, but Global WACh researcher Dr. Sarah Benki-Nugent’s recent study, conducted in collaboration with researchers at the University of Nairobi, has provided insight to help answer this question.
The study focused on HIV-infected infants in Nairobi Kenya who received ART from the time of infancy and compared their developmental milestone attainment to HIV-unexposed infants. (more…)
March 9, 2017
Certificate capstone brings together experts in adolescent health to understand early gender socialization
Categories: Research, students
Tags: adolescent health, Certificate Program
In fulfillment of her Global WACh Certificate Capstone, Marina Plesons worked with a team of adolescent, sexual, and reproductive health professionals from the WHO, USAID, Gates Foundation, and the David & Lucille Packard Foundation to write a commentary for the Journal of Adolescent Health. The paper considers the implications for action and research of the Global Early Adolescent Study’s formative qualitative research on gender socialization.
The Global Early Adolescent Study (GEAS) aims to understand the factors in early adolescence that predispose young people to subsequent sexual health risks, and conversely promote sexual and reproductive health and well-being. In her capstone presentation last week, Marina commented on the fact that ages 10-14 are among the most critical for human development, but are a comparatively poorly understood life stage. This work thus serves to investigate the social processes that shape young people’s health and development, especially as this relates to gender norms informing adolescent sexuality. (more…)
March 3, 2017
Global WACh Seed Grant recipient publishes at PLOS One
Tags: adolescent health, Seed grants, STIs
As part of our commitment to meaningful research collaborations, Global WACh offers Integrated Health Seed Grants: one-year of seed funding for pioneering research to improve the health of women, adolescents, and children. The proposals we award recognize a global focus on community advocacy and innovative exploration.
In 2011 we awarded the seed grant to Dr. Linnet Masese, who at the time was a doctoral student at the UW Department of Epidemiology, and Clinic Section Head at the UW/University of Nairobi Research Site in Mombasa. Her original proposal was to explore the feasibility of Chlamydia trachomatis screening among adolescents and young women in Kenya. However, with nucleic acid amplification testing locally available at the UW Research Laboratory in Mombasa, she expanded the study to include screening for Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Trichomonas vaginalis. We are thrilled to report that the first of three papers from this study titled “Barriers and Facilitators of Screening for Sexually Transmitted Infections in Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Mombasa, Kenya” was recently published in PLOS One. (more…)
February 23, 2017
WACh Priority Areas in Focus: Family Planning Decision Support
Categories: Research
Tags: Family Planning Decision Support, Scientific Priority Areas
Our third and final Scientific Priority Area hones in on the life-saving ability of family planning services. Women face significant barriers to finding a contraception method that fits their unique needs, or gaining access to support to make informed reproductive decisions.
By providing new support and data collection tools, we can bring the health care system closer to women and their families, bring their health concerns to the attention of decision makers, and reduce the unmet need for family planning.
We can provide Family Planning Decision Support.
February 17, 2017
WACh Priority Areas in Focus: Gut Health and Child Survival
Categories: Research
Tags: Gut Health and Child Survival, Scientific Priority Areas
Global WACh Scientific Priorities develop a deeper focus on our research efforts to decrease morbidity and mortality among women, adolescents, and children. Gut Health and Child Survival is vital to understanding and improving this inter-generational health and well-being.
When we asked this scientific priority’s co-lead, Dr. Patricia Pavlinac, what the greatest challenge is to developing interventions for enteric and diarrheal disease, she says, “Even among children who survive diarrhea, multiple episodes of the disease and the underlying enteric infections can lead to chronic malnutrition, increased risk of lower respiratory tract infections, cognitive disabilities, and poor school performance. These consequences hold extreme economic and societal implications.”
Gut Health and Child Survival is our response to the unmet need for programs to treat and prevent the adverse effects of enteric and diarrheal disease. We strive to ensure children survive and reach their developmental potential.
Previous page Next page