News
June 14, 2023
New study aims to identify barriers to implementing national sickle cell disease management guidelines in Kenya
Categories: Awards, Gut Health and Child Survival, Implementation Science, Research, students
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 9, 2023
TeAMS Toolkit Pilot Study aims to improve nutrition guidelines adherence for pediatric care in Kenya
Categories: Gut Health and Child Survival, students
Research Team in Migori. Left to right: Geoffrey Okoth Olieng’o, Chris Oduol, Phlona Amam, Megan Coe, Catherine Otieno, Prisca Lihanda
Since its launch in Spring 2022, the Team Approach to Malnutrition Services (TeAMS) Toolkit pilot study, funded by a UW Population Health Initiative grant, is progressing towards its goals to support healthcare workers in Kenya improve adherence to guidelines to care for pediatric patients with common illness that contribute to childhood mortality, such as malnutrition, pneumonia, diarrhea, and HIV.
Although these guidelines have been available for decades, adherence to them remains suboptimal. Healthcare workers face common challenges including supply shortages, high workload burdens, and infrequent reinforcement.
Existing strategies to improve quality of hospital care for children often require large investments in training and resources, making them difficult to implement at the facility level. Feasible implementation strategies to support healthcare workers and improve adherence to guidelines in routine care settings are urgently needed. (more…)
June 6, 2023
Global WACh Student Poster Symposium celebrates student achievements
Categories: Certificate Program, Research, students
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
Categories: Awards, Certificate Program, students
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.
June 1, 2023
Global WACh PhD trainees defend dissertations
Categories: Research, students
This Spring Quarter, three doctoral students who have spent their PhD journeys with Global WACh, defended their dissertations leveraging research conducted in collaboration with partner institutions in Kenya. We are thankful for their contributions to advance our science and for the privilege to provide them with mentorship and training support. Congratulations to all! (more…)
May 26, 2023
Global WACh participates in the DGH LAPIS Symposium
Categories: Conferences, Family Planning, Gut Health and Child Survival, Implementation Science, PrEP, Research
On May 19th in the Hans Rosling Center, the Learning for Action in Policy Implementation and Health Systems (LAPIS) Initiative held its first event in the Global Health Systems and Policy Implementation Symposium Series.
Multiple centers, programs, and initiatives of the department, including Global WACh, participated in the symposium to showcase their efforts in health systems strengthening, policy implementation research, and education and training. The event included lightning talk sessions, poster abstract sessions, and opportunities for networking. (more…)
May 24, 2023
ATTACH investigators visit the Uganda Ministry of Health to strengthen adolescent HIV care model
The ATTACH and Uganda Ministry of Health Pediatric and Adolescent HIV Care and Treatment teams. Credit: Irene Njuguna
This month, investigators of the Adolescent Transition to Adult Care for Adolescents Living with HIV (ATTACH) study, including Global WACh researchers Drs. Kristin Beima-Sofie, Dalton Wamalwa, Cyrus Mugo, Caren Mburu and Irene Njuguna, met the Uganda Ministry of Health’s Pediatric and Adolescent HIV Care and Treatment Team, led by Dr. Eleanor Namusoke-Magongo. During the visit, the ATTACH team interacted with peer youth leaders and learned about the Uganda Youth and Adolescent Peer Support (YAPS) Program, a model where youth can receive health education and intensive adherence counselling and support from fellow peers. (more…)
May 23, 2023
New grant explores pathways associated with growth outcomes in HIV-exposed uninfected infants
Categories: Awards, HIV, Research
(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
Categories: Awards, HIV, Research, students
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
Categories: Awards
After a temporary pause in seed grant programming, Global WACh is pleased to resume funding activities and announce the nine recipients of Seeds for Change Resource Award to Strengthen Collaborative Sites. (more…)
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