Global WACh

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October 15, 2021

Dr. Patricia Pavlinac receives top award at Global Health industry award ceremony

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Dr. Patricia Pavlinac, Assistant Professor of Global Health and Co-Director of Global WACh’s Gut Health and Child Survival scientific priority area, won the Rising Star Award at the Washington Global Health Alliance’s Global Impact Award ceremony held virtually on Thursday, October 14th.  The award recognizes an individual 40 or under who is making an exceptional impact in a global health organization or initiative.

Read more about Dr. Pavlinac and the other UW winners on the Department of Global Health’s website.


October 13, 2021

New publication on cost-effective pooled COVID-19 testing and quarantine strategies in World Health Organization Bulletin

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The October 2021 World Health Organization (WHO) Bulletin issue features a new publication titled, “Pooled testing for SARS-CoV-2, options for efficiency at scale,” by Dr. Bhavna Chohan of UW Global Health and Kenya Medical Research Institute and and Dr. Marie Reilly of Karolinska Institutet.

A pooling strategy adapted to social networks offers a cost-effective strategy to enable the many uninfected individuals to continue their functions in society, while lockdown restrictions are imposed only on the few who are potentially infected. This integration of testing and quarantine strategies may enhance public trust and cooperation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read the latest issue here.


August 16, 2021

Peripartum youth report pilot social media support group is acceptable and useful in supporting mental wellness

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The IMAGINE study team recruited research participants through popular social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram.

After two years, the “Social media support for peripartum adolescents” study, known as the IMAGINE Study, completed its pilot social media-based counseling intervention program for U.S. pregnant and postpartum youth, and offered promising results in supporting participants’ emotional well-being.  The intervention aimed to overcome barriers associated with attending in-person care (i.e. costs, time, stigma) and offered participants evidence-based cognitive behavioral therapy virtually to prevent perinatal depression, which can cause negative health consequences for both mother and infant.

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August 3, 2021

Researchers study text messaging to improve retention and viral suppression in prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission programs in Kenya

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Credit: Ivan Samkov/Pexels

Over the years, Global WACh utilized the Mobile WACh mobile health (mHealth) system that allows for both automated sending of tailored health-related short message service (SMS) text messages and two-way SMS interaction between participants and a health care provider in low- to middle-income countries for an array of maternal-child health (MCH) research studies.  The system sends messages through mobile phones, which have the potential to enhance access and reach of crucial health service interventions and to improve health outcomes.

Researchers of the Mobile Strategies for Women’s and Children’s Health: Optimizing Adherence and Efficacy of PMTCT/ART (Mobile WACh X) randomized clinical trial, funded by the National Institute of Health and led by Principal Investigator Grace John-Stewart, adapted Mobile WACh to reach pregnant and postpartum women living with HIV at six MCH clinics in Kenya.  Previous research has shown that interactive SMS can improve early antiretroviral therapy (ART) retention in perinatal women, but it was unknown whether long-term interactive SMS systems can durably improve retention and viral suppression in preventing mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT).
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Global WACh Certificate student Michelle Bulterys leverages global estimates for international forums focused on the health and wellbeing of HIV-exposed-uninfected children

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Before Michelle Bulterys enrolled in the Epidemiology PhD program and the Global WACh Graduate Certificate, she interned with the Strategic Information and Evaluation Department of the Joint United Nations AIDS Programme (UNAIDS) in Geneva, Switzerland, where she learned about the complexities of gathering and validating country-level HIV estimates and synthesizing data into global reports to be used by clinicians, policy makers, and researchers around the world.  She gained strong mentorship from Dr. Mary Mahy, who leads the Epidemiology Team at UNAIDS.  Michelle and Dr. Mahy have continued to collaborate on various projects, including Michelle’s Certificate capstone—a 90-hour project designed for students to gain hands-on experience in the field of global health.
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August 2, 2021

Dr. Erica Lokken receives ‘First Prize Oral Presentation – Young Investigator’ Award at HIV & STI 2021 World Congress

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Dr. Erica Lokken, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Global Health, received the ‘First Prize Oral Presentation – Young Investigator’ Award at the STI & HIV 2021 World Congress for her talk titled, “Vaginal washing behavior and fecundability in Kenyan women planning pregnancies.”

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July 30, 2021

Researchers share latest science at 2021 International AIDS Society Conference

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The International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference is the world’s most influential conference on HIV Science. This biennial conference presents the critical advances in basic, clinical and operational research that moves science into policy and practice.  See a round-up of seven excellent abstracts by Global WACh researchers that were featured at this year’s conference!

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Researchers share resources to support measuring costs and benefits to multi-sectoral nutrition interventions at 2021 ANH Academy

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Researchers of the Strengthening Economic Evaluation for Multi-sectoral Strategies for Nutrition (SEEMS-Nutrition) project participated in virtual workshops and oral presentations at the 2021 Agriculture, Nutrition, and Health (ANH) Academy Week held in late July and early July.  The ANH Academy Week is a series of annual events that bring together the community of researchers, practitioners and policymakers working at the intersection of agriculture, food systems, nutrition and health.

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July 14, 2021

Research Assistant Anna Larsen virtually presents analysis of depressive screening tools among postpartum Kenyan women

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Global WACh Research Assistant Anna Larsen (2nd row, left) presented research findings at the Society for Epidemiologic Research in June 2021.

 

Anna Larsen, Global WACh Research Assistant and PhD Candidate in the Department of Epidemiology, participated in a panel entitled, “Mental Health: Recent trends, advances in measurement, and racial/ethnic patterns” at the 2021 Society for Epidemiologic Research on June 23, 2021.

Her presentation entitled, “Epidemiologic evaluation of three depression screening tools among postpartum Kenyan women,” highlighted results from a comparative analysis of three depressive symptom screening tools used in the PrEP Implementation for Mothers in Antenatal Care (PrIMA) study.  The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale [CESD-10], Patient Health Questionnaire-2 [PHQ-2], and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale [EPDS] were utilized by the study team to screen for depressive symptoms among postpartum Kenyan women. (more…)


June 16, 2021

Global WACh welcomes new Implementation Science faculty hires

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We are thrilled to officially announce our new faculty in Implementation Science!  These outstanding candidates from our faculty search in Fall 2020 bring valuable skills, research and training experience, and talents to positively contribute to advance our Center’s mission to make scientific discoveries, cultivate leaders, and bridge disciplines to advance the tightly connected health and well-being of women, adolescents, and children.  They will lead and grow the footprint of implementation science within our Center and we are eager to collaborate with them on current and future research and training endeavors.

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