News
August 11, 2020
Q&A with Emily Robson: Perspectives as a nurse during the COVID-19 pandemic
Categories: Certificate Program, COVID-19, students
University of Washington students are rising to the occasion to care for the most vulnerable populations during Seattle’s COVID-19 outbreak. One of these students is Emily Robson, an incoming 2nd year Doctorate of Nurse Practice student in the Population Health Nursing Track and Global WACh Graduate Certificate student. Emily is spending her summer as a full-time Registered Nurse at King County Public Health’s COVID-19 Isolation/Quarantine Centers. These sites provide supervised care to symptomatic or COVID-positive individuals who cannot quarantine or recover in their own home, or do not have a home. These spaces support the community by providing a place of care and slow the spread of the virus to others.
We asked Emily to share her experience as an Isolation/Quarantine nurse and the lessons learned as she courageously and compassionately works on the frontlines of a public health emergency.
August 5, 2020
Virtual on-boarding during the pandemic: Introducing new staff members
Categories: COVID-19
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Global Health and Global WACh transitioned to a remote workforce starting in March 2020 at the recommendation of public health officials. The pandemic has not shaken our Center’s commitment to improving the health and well-being of women, adolescents, and children, thus we continued with our hiring plans virtually and onboarded critical supportive roles to move our research forward. Get to know the new five new staff members below!
August 3, 2020
Newly launched COVID MITS study aims to improve understanding of COVID-19 immunopathogenesis in Malawi
Categories: COVID-19, Gut Health and Child Survival
Dr. Donna Denno, Professor of Pediatrics and Global Health and the Associate Director of Pediatrics for Global WACh, is a co-investigator of a new study funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launching in August 2020. The study titled “MITS for lung pathology and immune response in fatal COVID-19 in Malawi (MITS COVID)” is a one-year project conducted in collaboration with the University of Glasgow, University of Malawi College of Medicine, University of Amsterdam, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Blantyre Malaria Project, and University of Manchester.
Global WACh Research Coordinator, Sarah Lawrence, will also support this investigatory effort. Building upon the platform established in the Minimally Invasive Tissue Sampling (MITS) in Malawi study (Co-PI: Denno), the team will address knowledge gaps on immune responses against COVID-19 that drive severe diseases in vital organs, particularly in the lung. (more…)
July 30, 2020
Can schools reopen safely during a pandemic? Dr. Brandon Guthrie discusses other countries’ reopening strategies and lessons learned
Since May 2020, the COVID-19 Literature Situation Report, an initiative led by the UW MetaCenter for Pandemic Preparedness and Global Health Security and START Center focused on the needs of public health professionals in Washington State, has released daily newsletters that provide a succinct summary of the latest scientific literature related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Behind the scenes, Drs. Brandon Guthrie and Jennifer Ross of the Department of Global Health are leading a team of faculty and students from the Schools of Public Health and Medicine to release these reports every day. The report includes brief, concise summarizes of 10-15 articles that they judge to have the highest public health relevance, along with additional links to pertinent commentaries and other resources.
In July, the team compiled a list of countries and their school reopening strategies for the WA State Department of Health. As school districts across the U.S. struggle with how, or even if, to reopen schools in time for the new academic year, these reports offer lessons learned from other countries that may inform plans for school reopening. (more…)
July 29, 2020
Dr. Patty Pavlinac receives grant to explore enteric pathogens and antimicrobial resistance
Categories: Children, Gut Health and Child Survival, Research
Children hospitalized with severe illness in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are at high risk of morbidity and mortality following discharge from hospital, but mechanisms driving this vulnerability are poorly understood and there are no recommended interventions specifically targeting the post-discharge period.
Dr. Patty Pavlinac, Assistant Professor in the Department of Global Health and Co-Director of Global WACh’s Gut Health and Child Survival Priority Area, is the Principal Investigator of a newly awarded National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 grant to explore the mechanisms underlying this risk, including how azithromycin—an antibiotic commonly used to treat pediatric infections—affects children’s health and nutritional outcomes in SSA.
The findings will inform the development of interventions to reduce the risk of death, re-hospitalization, and growth faltering following hospitalizations among this vulnerable group of children.
July 16, 2020
Dr. Arianna Means awarded NIH grant to develop strategies to improve pediatric treatment guideline adherence at healthcare facilities
Categories: Awards, Gut Health and Child Survival, Research
Primary causes of death for children under five include pneumonia and diarrhea, and nearly half of deaths are attributable to undernutrition. It is estimated that over half of these deaths are preventable with simple, existing, appropriately applied evidence-based interventions, synthesized within pediatric clinical treatment guidelines.
Although health workers in low-and-middle-income countries are trained on pediatric treatment guidelines, adherence to guidelines is often low and there is a need to identify strategies to improve quality of care in settings with the highest burden of preventable child deaths.
July 11, 2020
Global WACh Researchers Share Findings Virtually at AIDS 2020
Categories: Conferences, HIV and Co-Infections, Research
The 23rd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2020) moved from San Francisco, CA to a virtual platform this year. The largest conference on HIV/AIDS research was held from July 6-10, 2020 and gathered researchers from around the world.
Global WACh faculty, staff, and students within the HIV and Co-Infections Scientific Priority Area shared 9 poster abstracts, 1 oral abstract, and moderated 1 oral poster discussion session on an innovative and interactive global platform to influence discussions on HIV science, research, and policy.
See the abstract titles below and click on the titles to learn more.
July 2, 2020
Meet the 2020 Graduate Summer Research Assistants
Categories: students
Every quarter, UW graduate student research assistants get involved on our projects to develop standard operating procedures, support the participant recruitment process, and conduct data collection and analysis activities that are crucial to the success of the study design, process, and outcomes. These opportunities allow student researchers to learn about the institutional research landscape, and to develop academic depth and skills in their chosen discipline.
Meet the 10 students working on Global WACh’s research portfolio this summer! (more…)
July 1, 2020
New trial paper evaluating intervention to prevent TB infection in HIV-exposed uninfected infants
Categories: HIV and Co-Infections, Publication, Research
Children born to mothers living with HIV are at an increased risk of tuberculosis (TB) infection, and young infants are particularly vulnerable to rapidly progressing to TB disease. Isoniazid preventative therapy (IPT) is used routinely to prevent TB after known TB exposure, but recent data suggest most transmission (70-90%) to young children occurs outside the household without identified exposure. Whether IPT can be used to prevent TB initial infection is unknown. (more…)
May 26, 2020
Global WACh thanks health heroes on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic
Categories: COVID-19
For months, healthcare workers around the world have been on the frontlines of battling the novel coronavirus disease. They put themselves in the path of this virus, often working long hours with limited resources, to treat patients suffering from COVID-19. Doctors, nurses, technicians, transporters, EMTs, pharmacists and everyone who supports patient care are rising to the occasion and caring for our most vulnerable populations.
Global WACh sincerely thanks healthcare workers and first responders for all they have done and will continue to do. Some of these responders in Seattle are among our own team. We are full of gratitude for their commitment, dedication, and courage. Read how our clinical colleagues are responding to the call for public health action.
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