News
May 21, 2021
Researchers receive award to develop community-based SMS text intervention to improve neonatal health
Categories: Awards, mHealth, Research
Principal Investigator Dr. Keshet Ronen (UW DGH) with Site Principal Investigators, Dr. John Kinuthia (Kenyatta National Hospital) and Dr. Isaac Holeman (Co-Founder of Medic Mobile)
In Kenya, like many other resource-limited settings, neonatal mortality remains unacceptably high. Community health volunteers (CHVs) are a large cadre of lay health workers whose work has the potential to address a critical gap in efforts to improve neonatal health in resource-limited settings. Incorporating mobile health (mHealth) tools and remote contact with clients into CHV workflow may be an effective strategy to pave the way for enhanced care in the high-risk neonatal period.
Dr. Keshet Ronen, Acting Assistant Professor of Global Health, is leading a new five-year study titled, “CHV-NEO: Community-based digital communication to support neonatal health,” funded by the National Institutes of Health. Collaborators include Drs. John Kinuthia (Kenyatta National Hospital), Isaac Holeman and Beatrice Wasunna (Medic Mobile), and Jennifer Unger (Women and Infants’ Hospital, Brown University). (more…)
New Community of Practice supports Neglected Tropical Diseases Program Managers in Africa
Categories: Gut Health and Child Survival, Research
Kikundi, meaning “group” in Kiswahili, is a new online platform for NTD African Program Managers to work towards eliminating neglected tropical diseases. The logo is a West African Adinkra symbol signifying togetherness.
The Global WACh Gut Health and Child Survival team, in partnership with the University of Global Health Equity in Rwanda recently launched Kikundi, a Community of Practice (CoP) for Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) Program Managers in Africa. Kikundi is the Kiswahili word for “group,” which fittingly describes this CoP that aims to foster connection among Program Managers, and ultimately help them in achieving national and global NTD elimination benchmarks.
(more…)
A sneak peek of Global WACh research at summer conferences 2021
Categories: Conferences, HIV and Co-Infections, Nutrition, Research, Talks and Events
Faculty, staff, students, and collaborators representing Global WACh’s research are invited to present their findings at large annual conferences this summer. We’ve rounded up some abstracts of interest, with more information to come!
If you are attending any of these scientific gatherings, be sure to add these presentations to your calendars! Refer to the title or reference numbers to find the presentation date and time in the program guides.
May 20, 2021
Global WACh Graduate Certificate Capstone Presentations on May 27
Categories: Certificate Program
Over the year, three students enrolled in the Global WACh Graduate Certificate have been hard at work on their 90-hour capstone projects that focus on the health and well-being of women, adolescents, and children.
They will be developing a research-style poster and virtually presenting their projects to a small group of Global WACh researchers on Thursday, May 27th. We celebrate the achievements and service of our students! Meet our students and see a summary of their projects below.
May 18, 2021
Analysis of implementation costs of a nutrition intervention in Malawi childcare centers published in Food and Nutrition Bulletin
Categories: Children, Nutrition, Publication
Women, infants, and children need the right quantity and diversity of nutritious foods to support healthy growth and development and to prevent an intergenerational cycle of malnutrition. Meeting this complex need requires coordinated efforts across sectors; however, there is a wide information gap on costs and cost-effectiveness of implementing nutrition intervention strategies that combine agriculture, health, and nutrition components.
As part of the Strengthening Economic Evaluations for Multisectoral Strategies for Nutrition (SEEMS-Nutrition) initiative aimed to fill this gap, Dr. Carol Levin (Clinical Associate Professor, Global Health) and researchers at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) examined the costs and benefits of an integrated nutrition and agriculture intervention designed to improve the nutritional quality of meals provided through Malawi’s community-based childcare centers (CBCCs)—finding its estimated benefits (assessed as part of a related impact analysis) outweighed the intervention costs. (more…)
May 14, 2021
Dr. Sylvia LaCourse appointed to CDC-NIH-HIVMA/IDSA Pregnancy Review Group
Categories: HIV and Co-Infections
Dr. Sylvia LaCourse, Assistant Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Global Health, Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has been appointed to the Pregnancy Review Group of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, and HIV Medicine Association of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (CDC-NIH-HIVMA/IDSA) Guidelines for Prevention and Treatment of Opportunistic Infections in Adults and Adolescents with HIV.
The Pregnancy Review Group reviews available data and provides recommendations for the prevention and treatment of opportunistic infections for pregnant and lactating persons.
May 10, 2021
Research Trainee Dickins Onyango receives UW TB Research and Training Award
Categories: Awards, HIV and Co-Infections, Research
Global WACh’s trainee, Dr. Dickins Onyango of the Kisumu County Department of Health in Kenya, received a UW-Kenya Tuberculosis Research and Training Program (KTRTP) Trainee Award that recognizes the efforts of early-career scientists who have made significant contributions to the entire spectrum of TB research. This award provides support for educational expenses including conference registration, publication expenses, or educational materials.
With the award, Dickens presented a lecture at the 5th Annual UW Tuberculosis Symposium entitled, “Sub-optimal biomarker-confirmed adherence and correlates of nonadherence to isoniazid preventive therapy in children living with HIV in western Kenya,” held on March 23 and 24, 2021. Congratulations, Dickins!
May 3, 2021
Research Assistant Jill Neary receives a National Institute of Health predoctoral fellowship to support pediatric HIV research training
Categories: Awards, HIV, Research, students
Congratulations to Jill Neary, Global WACh trainee and PhD student in the Department of Epidemiology, for receiving a National Institute of Health’s (NIH) F31 predoctoral training fellowship to support her dissertation research on pediatric HIV. The three-year award will provide funding support to learn new analysis methods and content-area expertise in molecular epidemiology, neuropsychological assessments, and longitudinal data analysis. (more…)
April 29, 2021
Research Assistant Michelle Bulterys selected for UW CFAR STD/AIDS Research Training Fellowship in Epidemiology
Categories: Awards, HIV, students
Michelle Bulterys spent the summer of 2019 conducting fieldwork at the antenatal care research site in Kampala, Uganda.
Michelle Bulterys, first year PhD student in the Department of Epidemiology, Global WACh research assistant, and the 2020 Recipient of the UW School of Public Health’s Gilbert S. Omenn Award for Academic Achievement, was recently selected for a prestigious predoctoral fellowship which will support the remaining three years of her doctoral training. The UW Center for AIDS and STD (CFAR)’s STD/AIDS Research Training Fellowship Program is an NIH-supported T32 training grant, directed by Drs. Anna Wald and Sheila Lukehart. The Program aims to train the next generation of leaders in STD and AIDS research. (more…)
April 9, 2021
New grant award supports a tuberculosis and HIV co-infections training program in Kenya
Categories: Awards, HIV and Co-Infections, Research
A collaborative team leading a new TB and HIV training program in Kenya includes Thomas Hawn, Elizabeth Obimbo, Videlis Nduba, David Horne, Sylvia LaCourse, and Ksenia Koon
Tuberculosis (TB) and HIV are two deadly infectious diseases causing complex, intertwined epidemics. TB is especially life-threatening to people living with HIV who have weakened immune systems. Treating TB and HIV simultaneously is possible with services that have traditionally treated one illness over the other. The integration of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment programs can reduce the impact of the HIV epidemic on TB incidence and the burden of TB in HIV-infected individuals.
Despite progress in collaborative TB/HIV activities, there is still an urgent need for the research and development of new tools and strategies to accelerate progress towards TB and HIV elimination. (more…)
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