News
December 6, 2019
Research Assistant, Anna Larsen, awarded grants to guide journey towards an independent maternal-child HIV research career
Categories: Awards, HIV and Co-Infections, PrEP, students
Anna Larsen (second right) with PrIMA Kenya-based study staff members (left to right): Joseph Sila (Data manager), Daniel Odinga (Laboratory Manager), Salphine Watoyi (Data Manager), Marwa Motongori (Data Manager), and Harison Lagat (Study Coordinator)
Anna Larsen, second year PhD student in the Department of Epidemiology and Global WACh research assistant, is the recipient of two notable funding awards that will shape her academic journey towards an independent research career in maternal-child HIV. She is one of 11 student awardees of the Department of Global Health’s 2019 Thomas Francis Jr. Fellowship and one of an even more limited group of awardees of the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) prestigious F31 predoctoral training fellowship to support her dissertation research. The awards provide funding support for fieldwork activities and dedicated supervised research training. (more…)
December 5, 2019
Researchers present findings at the 2019 American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Conference
Categories: Conferences, Gut Health and Child Survival, Research
Last week, researchers from Global WACh’s Gut Health and Child Survival scientific priority area attended the 68th annual American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) Conference in National Harbor, MD. ASTMH founded in 1903, is the largest international scientific organization of experts dedicated to reducing the worldwide burden of tropical infectious diseases and improving global health. Experts envision a world free of tropical infectious diseases by generating and sharing scientific evidence, informing health policies and practices, fostering career development, recognizing excellence, and advocating for investment in tropical medicine/global health research.
Left to right: Hannah Atlas (MPH Student and Research Assistant), Dr. Rebecca Brander (Program Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Former Research Assistant), Dr. Christine McGrath (Assistant Professor, Global Health), Stephanie Tornberg-Belanger (PhD Epidemiology Student and Research Assistant)
Our researchers gave six oral presentations and presented six selected poster abstracts. Topics ranged from childhood diarrhea and enteric diseases to implementation science approaches for mass drug administration to factors of hospitalized-based child mortality. Scroll below to read each abstract and see photos from the conference. (more…)
November 25, 2019
New NIH study will test strategies to improve PrEP delivery to women receiving MCH services in Western Kenya
Categories: Awards, HIV and Co-Infections, PrEP, Research
Left to right: Dr. Grace John-Stewart, Dr. Pamela Kohler, Dr. Anjuli Wagner, Dr. John Kinuthia
In February 2020, Global WACh researchers of ongoing PrEP implementation studies are launching a new five-year study titled, “PrEP in pregnancy, accelerating reach and efficiency (PrEPARE).” PrEPARE is funded through a National Institute of Health supplement to the AGYW study, led by Global WACh Director, Dr. Grace John-Stewart and Dr. Pamela Kohler (Global Health, Psychosocial and Community Health) to evaluate PrEP adherence among adolescent girls and young women, and a K01 grant awarded to Dr. Anjuli Wagner (Acting Assistant Professor, Global Health).
Principal investigators, Drs. John-Stewart, Kohler, Wagner, and Dr. John Kinuthia (Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya) will lead the PrEPARE study team that includes Global WACh researchers, Dr. Jillian Pintye (School of Nursing), Dr. Kristin Beima-Sofie (Global Health), Julia Dettinger (Global Health) and Laurén Gomez (Global Health).
November 21, 2019
Global WACh Research Assistant and DGH Thomas Francis Jr. Fellowship recipient, Hannah Atlas, conducts field research for children’s health in Nepal
Categories: Children, Nutrition, Schools, students
Hannah Atlas (far right) with Department of Community Programs Health Workers from Dhulikhel Hospital in Nepal.
Second-year MPH in Global Health and Global WACh Certificate student, Hannah Atlas, is a very familiar face around Global WACh. Prior to enrolling at UW in the fall of 2018, Hannah worked as a study coordinator for the Toto Bora Trial and ABCD Study led by Drs. Judd Walson and Patty Pavlinac, co-directors of Global WACh’s Gut Health and Child Survival (GHCS) scientific priority area, for 2 years. She also coordinated a small pilot study aimed at assessing the composition of the gut microbiome among HIV-exposed children and worked with Dr. Donna Denno, a technical advisor for GHCS, supporting the coordinating body of the Environmental Enteric Dysfunction Biopsy Consortium. As a graduate student, Hannah has continued working with our investigators on two clinical trials of azithromycin, an oral antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections, to reduce mortality and morbidity of discharged hospitalized children under age five.
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Certificate Student Fall Spotlight: Junyi Zhang
Categories: Certificate Program, Health
Last summer, Junyi Zhang, second-year MPH in Health Services and Global WACh Certificate student, studied abroad in Kampala, Uganda and started her Certificate capstone project. The UW Uganda Study Abroad Program, co-directed by Drs. Amy Hagopian and Bert Stover of the Department of Health Services, brought Junyi and eight students to Uganda to study the relationship between water and health-based at a partner institution, Makerere University. The four-week program included field trips to public water treatment facilities, bottling plants, farms, clinics and hospitals, family homes, and other places where people interact with water. (more…)
November 13, 2019
Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr. Erica Lokken, joins Global WACh to study role of vaginal bacteria in HIV acquisition among Kenyan women
Categories: HIV and Co-Infections, Research
Global WACh is pleased to welcome new Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr. Erica Lokken, to our team at UW! Dr. Lokken successfully defended her PhD in Epidemiology dissertation in August and received a National Institute of Health F32 postdoctoral fellowship in October. This fellowship will support her long-term career goal to become an independent investigator conducting research that informs interventions to improve women’s sexual and reproductive health, including outcomes such as STI/HIV acquisition, fertility, and miscarriage. The three-year fellowship will allow Dr. Lokken to study how alterations in the vaginal microbiota may partly explain the increased risk of HIV acquisition among pregnant and postpartum women compared to non-pregnant women. Understanding the relationship between high-risk bacterial species and vaginal inflammation across the pregnancy and postpartum periods may inform the development of prevention strategies to reduce risks of reproductive health complications.
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October 18, 2019
Dr. Jillian Pintye awarded grant to evaluate safety of infant PrEP exposure for long-term health outcomes
Dr. Jillian Pintye (Assistant Professor, School of Nursing) received a National Institutes for Health R01 award to lead a new study titled, “Evaluating Infant PrEP Exposure During Pregnancy and Breastfeeding.”
As the title suggests, Dr. Pintye and collaborators from Global WACh, International Clinical Research Center, Kenyatta National Hospital, and the University of California, San Francisco, will measure levels of pre- and postnatal pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) exposure and its impact on infant health outcomes. There has not yet been a large-scale safety evaluation of prenatal PrEP use and long-term outcomes beyond 12 months—a feat this new study hopes to achieve.
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October 11, 2019
Researchers share latest findings at the International Workshop on HIV & Adolescence in Nairobi, Kenya
Categories: Conferences, HIV, Youth
Last week, Global WACh researchers attended the 3rd International Workshop on HIV & Adolescence from October 2-4 in Nairobi, Kenya. This workshop is an inclusive summit for multidisciplinary experts working with adolescents affected by HIV to share experiences, knowledge, and best practices with the aim of defining a pathway forward for optimizing care. Adolescents are developmentally at a difficult crossroad, which makes it challenging to attract and sustain adolescents’ focus on maintaining their health. Global WACh is leading multiple projects that put adolescents at the center of strategies and interventions to improve adherence to treatment for long-term health benefits.
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August 19, 2019
Dr. Anjuli Wagner receives NIH K01 research and training grant to improve PrEP delivery for pregnant and postpartum women in Kenya
Categories: Awards, HIV, Research
Congratulations, Dr. Anjuli Wagner (Senior Fellow, Global Health) for receiving a National Institutes of Health (NIH) K01 grant, which supports early career researchers in gaining advanced research training and experience. Dr. Wagner’s new study, “Testing implementation strategies to improve delivery of PrEP for pregnant and postpartum women in Kenya,” aims to optimize the scaled-up delivery of PrEP—the daily oral pill to prevent HIV—in Kenya, where PrEP is systemically delivered in some regions during pregnancy. The grant allows Dr. Wagner an opportunity to complete her career development training in implementation science and health economics with strong mentorship and collaborations, and apply it within meaningful research to prevent maternal HIV acquisition in Kenya.
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August 6, 2019
Certificate Student Summer Spotlight: Edgar Calderon
Categories: Certificate Program
Incoming second-year MPH and Global WACh Certificate student, Edgar Calderon, is spending his summer in Vaupés, Colombia completing his Certificate capstone project. His project focuses on evaluating the Colombia Ministry of Health’s (MOH) gender-based violence (GBV) messaging to rural indigenous communities in Vaupés and understanding how community leaders perceive and respond to the messages. GBV is a human rights violation and global health problem deeply rooted in gender inequalities. Effective messages around the prevention and elimination of GBV should be meaningful, culturally relevant, and well understood by their intended audience. There is growing recognition in research that health-related messages and materials can be more effective when they are culturally tailored and appropriate for diverse populations. (more…)
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