News
February 13, 2017
Global WACh reaffirms research commitments; launches new Scientific Priority Areas
Categories: Research
Tags: Family Planning Decision Support, Gut Health and Child Survival, HIV Through the Lifecycle, Scientific Priority Areas
When Global WACh completed its fifth year in June, we took a look back at the vision and goals that catalyzed the creation of our Center in 2011. The Global Center for Woman, Adolescent, and Child health was established to pursue scientific discovery and leadership development by breaking down traditional silos that separate disciplines. In doing so, we foster collaborative approaches that emphasize the interdependent nature of woman, adolescent and child health. We shaped our Center’s approach to research using a lifecycle perspective- one that views women, children and adolescents as interconnected populations that move along a shared life course.
It is from this this perspective that we introduce three newly articulated scientific priority areas to guide Global WACh in our mission to make scientific discoveries, cultivate leaders, and bridge disciplines to advance the tightly connected health and well-being of women, adolescents and children.
Our Scientific Priorities:
- HIV Through the Lifecycle
- Gut Health and Child Survival
- Family Planning Decision Support
We’ve refined our Core identities into three Scientific Priority Areas to clearly convey how Global WACh contributes to research that accelerates health improvements and decreases unnecessary deaths of women, adolescent and children. We hope this deeper focus will enrich our collaborations and expand our capacity to contribute and implement research with meaningful effects on the health of women, adolescents, and children.
Throughout the coming weeks, we will share a post about these three Scientific Priority Areas: what their specific response to global health challenges will be, their missions and focus areas, and what their leadership is most excited about moving forward.
We look forward to sharing our continued commitment to WACh research with you!
February 10, 2017
Celebrating International Day of Women and Girls in Science
Categories: Education, students
Tags: Certificate Program, Women in Science
Over the past 15 years, the global community has made concerted efforts to inspire and engage women and girls in science. According to a study conducted in 14 countries, the probability of a female student graduating with a Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree and Doctor’s degree in a science-related field are 18%, 8% and 2% respectively, while the percentages of male students are 37%, 18% and 6%.
The UN General Assembly recognizes that full and equal access to and participation in science, technology, and innovation is imperative for empowering women and girls of all ages. As a response, one year ago the General Assembly declared February 11th as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.
This weekend we celebrate the Day in recognition of the critical role women and girls play in science and technology communities—including education, training, and research activities at all levels. To observe International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we are highlighting three members of our Graduate Certificate program. These three students are each making meaningful contributions to their respective scientific fields, and, they are also women.
Hannah Frizzell is a third year PhD student in the Department of Bioengineering. She received her Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering and is currently a graduate research fellow working on mucosal immunoengineering, vaccines, drug delivery, and how these relate to women’s and children’s health on a global scale. Hannah is the Vice President of Funding at UW’s Bioengineers without Borders, which develops medical devices for resource-limited areas. She mentors a team focused on a low-cost device for diagnosis of pre-eclampsia in pregnant women. Hannah is also a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and a Roche/Achievement Awards for College Scientists (ARCS) scholar. As she progresses in her field, she hopes to apply both her technical background and experience from the Global WACh program to create and integrate medical technologies into communities to improve their accessibility and thus ultimate effectiveness in improving health globally.
Ke Pan is an MPH student in the Department of Global Health, having received her BA in Public Health with a concentration in Maternal and Child Health from Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) and Masters Degree in Medicine from Third Military Medical University in China. Prior to coming to UW, she worked as a resident in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology for three years and conducted research about the quality of women’s life after surgery for Pelvic Organ Prolapse. She also conducted a research regarding the prevalence of hypertension and obesity in adolescents. Ke Pan is deeply interested in improving global health disparities of women, adolescents and children through education, awareness, and access to healthcare.
Molly Feder is an MPH student in the Department of Epidemiology with a concentration in Maternal and Child Health. She received her BA in International Affairs concentrating in Global Health from the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University. Prior to attending UW, Molly worked as a Government Relations Associate and Database Administrator at the Council for Responsible Nutrition in Washington, DC where she advocated for enhanced FDA oversight of the vitamin and supplement industry. As an MPH student, Molly is a Maternal and Child Health Trainee and is interested in research pertaining to family planning and reproductive health.
We’re proud of the interdisciplinary commitment these three students have made to advance health care globally within the fields of women, adolescent, and child health. Please click here to learn about each of our fantastic certificate students and the impact they are making in their fields.
On the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we also hear from Chief Information Technology Officer of the United Nations, Atefah “Atti” Riazi, who urges all girls to aspire to be ‘geeks.’ Click here to read.
January 12, 2017
Building evidence for HIV risk with contraceptive methods
Categories: Research
Tags: Contraception, Family Planning, HIV
Renee Heffron is the grant’s primary investigator.
Dr. Renee Heffron, co-director of our Global WACh Family Planning Working Group, has received new funding from the NIH to tie into the Evidence for Contraceptive Options and HIV Outcomes (ECHO) Study. ECHO enrolls participants in sub-Saharan Africa for a randomized trial of three equally safe and effective contraceptive methods: the copper T intrauterine device (IUD); injectable depo-medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA), also known as the Depo shot; and the Jadelle implant.
For sub-Saharan African women at risk for becoming infected with HIV, it is important to build knowledge around potential associations of specific contraceptives with HIV acquisition. A number of observational studies have examined whether or not use of hormonal methods affects the risk of HIV acquisition. Some of these studies suggest that injectable methods—particularly the Depo shot—might increase a woman’s risk of acquiring HIV infection, while other studies show no association. The World Health Organization continuously reviews the information about contraceptives and, thus far, has determined that all of the contraceptives that will be used in the ECHO Study are safe for women at risk of HIV risk infection, but that more research is needed.
Photo by echo-consortium.com
With this additional funding, ECHO will now begin to measure biological markers periodically over the three-year trial period associated with the Depo shot, the Jadelle implant, and the copper IUD. These markers include vaginal microbiome, markers of inflammation, HIV target cells, protein signatures, and transcriptome to identify differences between women using the different contraceptives.
Read the full story from ASPPH here.
January 6, 2017
Fred Hutch Science Spotlight: Reduced CMV Transmission
Categories: Research
A collaboration between scientists at the University of Washington and the Fred Hutch Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division looks at antiretroviral use and Cytomegalovirus transmission in mothers and children in Kenya. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is an opportunistic infection contracted by people with HIV. In Kenya, most HIV- exposed children acquire CMV within the first year of life, primarily through their mother’s breast milk. These infants with both HIV and CMV have an increased risk of disease progression, neurologic disease and death. Researchers within this collaboration evaluated the impact of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) on CMV transmission and breast milk levels related to maternal HIV.
Jennifer Slyker is the study’s primary investigator.
The Science Spotlight team at Fred Hutch selected this team’s recent study for the December issue of Science Spotlight, a monthly online publication highlighting scientific investigation. Dr. Jennifer Slyker, Global WACh Assistant Director, says in the Spotlight: “We were surprised to see an effect on CMV transmission but not on CMV DNA levels in breast milk, which we think is the major mode of CMV transmission in the first year of life. Other groups have also observed this in observational studies. Our next step is to explore maternal and infant immune mechanisms of protection.”
The research concludes new findings to suggest that starting HAART later in pregnancy may decrease infant CMV infections, by mechanisms independent of breast milk CMV levels. These data also suggest that policy changes in high-HIV burden countries for starting pregnant women on lifetime antiretrovirals could have profound implications for the epidemiology of mother-to-child CMV transmission at a population level.
Read more about the study here in the December edition of the Science Spotlight.
November 15, 2016
Gut Health and Child Survival at ASTMH
Categories: Research, Talks and Events
Tags: antibiotic resistance, bacterial diseases, gut health, Kenya, Pediatrics
This week, members of our enteric research team are in Atlanta, Georgia for the 65th annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH). They join approximately 4,400 other researchers, government and public health officials, practicing physicians, students, and all health care providers working in the fields of tropical medicine, hygiene, and global health.
Our Healthy Growth and Development Core is dedicated to optimizing care in young children at high risk of diarrhea-associated mortality and the ASTMH annual meeting provides our team with a unique opportunity to discuss recent findings, build inspiration for our next big projects, and re-energize our commitment to reducing the worldwide burden of tropical infectious diseases to improve health around the world.
Yesterday ASTMH heard from Rebecca Brander on correlations of drug resistance in Kenyan children with acute bacterial diarrhea. Rebecca is a MPH student at the University of Washington and completed this research in collaboration with Global WACh directors Grace John-Stewart, Patty Pavlinac, and Judd Walson. Patty Pavlinac, our Health Growth and Development director, leads the Global WACh representation at the conference.
Rebecca’s study “Host and Environmental Correlates of Multi-Drug Resistance in Kenyan Children with Acute Bacterial Diarrhea” is a key area of research for addressing the prevalence in which bacterial diarrhea results in significant morbidity and mortality in children in sub-Saharan Africa. Antibiotic treatment can be a life-saving intervention, but the antibiotic resistance has rapidly emerged in this population of children, and now this intervention’s efficacy is limited. The study’s data pinpoints risk factors for antibiotic resistance in enteric pathogens, in order to inform diarrhea management recommendations and control resistance.
Click to read the entire study
October 15, 2016
2015 Global WACh-Coulter Seed Grant recipients create anesthesia device for developing countries
Tags: bioengineering, coulter seed grant
In 2015, a group of engineering students proposed the idea for a low-cost, portable anesthesia delivery device specifically for use in resource-poor regions. The device’s aim was to overcome the challenge individuals in low-resource settings face when crucial medical procedures are often not performed due to a lack of accessible anesthesia delivery.
A $30,000 seed grant from the Global WACh-Coulter Foundation in 2015 allowed the team to design a benchtop test circuit, including a prototype of a simplified anesthetic vaporizer. With investigative mentorship from UW faculty and anesthesiology specialists, these students are now working to create the device that will make more surgeries possible and reduce unnecessary deaths.
Read more about this ongoing project here.
October 7, 2016
Introducing the New Class of Global WACh Certificate Students
Categories: students
Tags: Certificate Program
As we welcome the start of another academic year here at the University of Washington, we also welcome a group of highly motivated graduate students to the Global WACh Certificate Program. These seven new students join the 12 current members of our certificate program, entering a robust interdisciplinary community dedicated to improving the health of women, adolescents, and children.
From refugee resettlement work in Philadelphia, to Peace Corps service in Burkina Faso, these students’ experiences span multiple countries and disciplines, making them among the University of Washington’s most qualified graduate students to impact health around the globe. Read about each of our new students below, and please join us in welcoming them to the Global WACh community!
Jade Fairbanks is an MPH student in the Department of Health Services, and received her BA in Public Health and Medical Anthropology from the University of Washington. Prior to starting the MPH program, Jade was a Peace Corps volunteer in Burkina Faso, working in the field of reproductive health education, and improving health services and delivery at the village maternity. She spent last summer working as a GO Health Fellow in Merrueshi, Kenya to develop an all-girls mentorship program titled “Yes S.H.E. Can: Sharing Her Empowerment” as well as a training manual for community health workers to educate on childhood malnutrition, and implement mandatory malnutrition screenings. Within the field of maternal and child health, she is particularly interested in expanding access to family planning services and reducing adolescent and unwanted pregnancies through educational outreach and program implementation.
Hannah Frizzell is a third year Ph. D. student in the department of Bioengineering. She received her Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Texas, Austin and completed a minor in Spanish. She is currently a graduate research fellow working with Dr. Kim A. Woodrow, focusing on mucosal immunoengineering, vaccines, drug delivery, and how these relate to women’s and children’s health on a global scale. Her current work is centered around improving oral vaccination through the combination of biotechnology and immunology. Hannah is the Vice President of Funding of University of Washington Bioengineers without Borders, which develops medical devices for resource-limited areas. She mentors a teams focused on a low-cost device for diagnosis of pre-eclampsia in pregnant women. Hannah is also a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and a Roche/Achievement Awards for College Scientists (ARCS) scholar. As she progresses in her field, she hopes to apply both her technical background and experience from the Global WACh program to create and integrate medical technologies into communities to improve their accessibility and thus ultimate effectiveness in improving health globally.
Isatou Jallow is pursuing a Masters of Law in Sustainable International Development. A lawyer and refugee from Gambia, Isatou is interested in many different human rights and development-related legal issues. She received her BA in Law and Political Science from the University Mohamed V in Rabat, Morocco. More recently at the University of Washington, she completed a year of service at the University of Washington School of Law’s Development Innovation Lab, where she researched conditions of women mining in the DRC and contributed to the formation of an NGO to assist these communities. One focus in particular is on the eradication of Female Genital Mutilation among immigrant communities in the U.S. She has spoken at the invitation of a number of organizations in the Seattle area, including UW Medicine/Harborview, the Northwest Immigrants’ Rights Project, and Somali Maternity Services, providing a perspective for health care workers and others working with immigrants and survivors of Female Genital Mutilation from Sub-Saharan Africa.
Shadae Paul is pursuing a joint Master’s degree in Public Health and Public Administration and is interested in learning methods to increase women’s access to resources and services in their communities. After earning her BA at University of Maryland, College Park, Shadae served as a Peace Corps Community Health Promotion Facilitator in Fiji- an experience which serves as the foundation for her interest in global maternal and child health. She has spent many years working with women, children, and families both locally and internationally, including organizations such as the International Rescue Committee (IRC), March of Dimes, Mary’s Center, and Hagerstown Birth. Shadae looks forward to strengthening interdisciplinary skills needed to address complex global health issues through the Global WACh certificate program.
Lauren Rotkis is a candidate in the Pediatric Doctorate of Nursing Practice program. She completed a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Washington, a Master of Science in Complementary and Alternative Medicine from Georgetown University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Neuroscience from Washington University in St. Louis. Within the global health field, she is particularly drawn to working with adolescent populations who are at a unique stage of self-discovery and self-determination. Having grown up in Seattle, Lauren has observed societal and political shifts that have led to an increasingly vulnerable marginalized population of teens. She currently volunteers at the Country Doctor Free Teen clinic, which is an evening health clinic for homeless teens. It is this experience that has had a defining role in shaping Lauren’s career goals. She plans to continue working with vulnerable teens as a Nurse Practitioner, either in a school-based health clinic, Juvenile Detention or a primary care clinic with a specific focus on nutrition and stress-related health effects.
Gladys Salgado is a MPA candidate in the Evans School of Public Policy. As a native of Colombia, South America, Gladys grew up in a large family who taught her valuable lessons on what it means to be rich without having money, the importance of family above all, and the difference between poverty and despair. After a long career in Information Technology, Gladys is embarking on a new career in public service. Following her move to Seattle, she became restless by the abundance of social ills surrounding her such as homelessness, obesity, and untreated mental health disorders, and has decided to put her skills and experience toward helping make systemic changes from within on a full-time basis.
Manahil Siddiqi is an MPH student in the Community-Oriented Public Health Practice program. Her primary interest is in global health, particularly health politics and health systems strengthening with a focus on women and children. Manahil graduated with distinction in her self-designed major in Global Health from Bryn Mawr College in 2015, where she was the recipient of several honors commending her public health achievements in Philadelphia, England, and Nicaragua. Prior to joining the University of Washington, Manahil conducted research on refugee mothering, resettlement and mental health among conflict-affected populations, including refugee families resettling in Philadelphia. The principles of social justice, human rights and collective action fuel Manahil’s scholarship and advocacy.
September 30, 2016
Breakfast with WACh welcomes Drs. Ghayda Mirzaa and Kristina Adams Waldorf
Categories: Research, Talks and Events
Tags: Breakfast with WACh, maternal health, Zika
Join us for breakfast and a lecture on Tuesday, October 11th with Drs. Ghayda Mirzaa, MD, FAAP, FACMG and Kristina Adams Waldorf, MD.
The Zika Epidemic: An Unprecedented Health Threat for Pregnant Women
October 11th, 9-10 AM
University of Washington, Harris Hydraulics Laboratory, Large Conference Room
Dr. Ghayda Mirzaa is an expert in adolescent sexual and reproductive health. He has worked for the World Health Organization in Geneva since 1993. His experience in generating knowledge and taking knowledge to action is global in scope and spans over 25 years. A key area of his work is research on effective ways of providing sexuality education in different social, cultural and economic contexts, and then using these research findings to strengthen sexuality education programs in low and middle income countries.
Dr. Kristina Adams Waldorf is an expert in adolescent sexual and reproductive health. He has worked for the World Health Organization in Geneva since 1993. His experience in generating knowledge and taking knowledge to action is global in scope and spans over 25 years. A key area of his work is research on effective ways of providing sexuality education in different social, cultural and economic contexts, and then using these research findings to strengthen sexuality education programs in low and middle income countries.
For more information, please email Kate Pfizenmaier, Global WACh Program Manager, at kpfiz1@uw.edu.
September 20, 2016
SPEED study aims to better meet adolescent HIV care needs
Categories: Research
Tags: adolescent health, HIV, SPEED
Despite enormous expansion of HIV testing and treatment services in resource-limited settings, adolescents continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV. Lack of access to acceptable HIV testing, counseling, and treatment has been cited as a barrier to HIV care among adolescents. Additionally, health workers tasked with providing adolescent HIV services report feeling inadequately prepared to cope with the needs of this age group.
The SPEED study improves quality and accessibility of HIV care to meet the unique needs of adolescents. SPEED (Simulated Patient Encounters to promote Early Detection) uses patient actors to portray adolescent HIV patients as part of a clinical training intervention. This gives nurses and doctors in Kenya an opportunity to practice their skills diagnosing, caring for, and engaging adolescents living with HIV. The simulated encounters utilize a standardized patient script and provide opportunities for the trained actor and a faculty observer to deliver immediate feedback and support to the clinician.
Simulated patient interactions show great promise as a mechanism for health workers in low-resource settings to improve critical decision-making, patient interaction, and communication skills in working with adolescents. SPEED’s ultimate aim is for this increased provider confidence to in turn increase uptake and retention in adolescent HIV care.
a SPEED patient actor practices her case with a study nurse
Dr. Kate Wilson with the patient actor team
This week, SPEED has been busy training a new group of patient actors in Nairobi, Kenya. Actor training is part of the study’s first year of progress. Led by Global WACh and UW School of Nursing researcher Dr. Pamela Kohler and managed by Dr. Kate Wilson, SPEED’s interventions and analyses will be conducted over the next four years.
September 12, 2016
Making strides in HIV testing and counseling
Categories: Research
Tags: HIVTesting, Kenya, KNH, Pediatrics
Irene Njuguna and Jill Neary are MPH Candidates in Epidemiology at the UW School of Public Health. With mentorship from Global WACh researcher Jenn Slyker and Kenyatta National Hospital VCT Director Dr. David Bukusi, they developed a new tool to track provider initiated HIV testing and counseling for children admitted to hospitals in Kenya. Read about their work below.
In line with the World Health Organization recommendations, the Kenya National HIV testing guidelines recommend universal provider initiated HIV testing and counseling (PITC) for all children in sub Saharan Africa who come in contact with health care facilities. However, in many settings universal PITC is not routinely implemented, with ward transfers, weekend admissions, and discharges resulting in some missed testing opportunities. This results in late diagnosis of HIV infected children, who are at high risk of mortality and do not benefit fully from HIV treatment.
This project began with the intent to intervene in this cycle of unmet HIV care needs. The team looked to Kenya’s national referral hospital: Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH). Working with the PITC team at KNH, the team established an important framework for developing easy to use, acceptable tools to track and improve PITC coverage. In partnership with the KNH pediatric ward PITC counselors, a system was developed to track each individual child admitted, confirm testing completion, identify reasons any children missed testing, and flag children requiring testing.
The tool was successfully piloted in the pediatric department, and at the end of the practicum period, the PITC team recommended that the tool also be used in the adult in-patient medical wards.
Jill Neary (left) and Irene Njuguna (right) with Ruth Andere: the leader of the Pediatric PITC team.
Congratulations Irene, Jill, and the entire KNH team for your accomplishment! We can look forward to hearing about the continued success of PITC at Kenyatta National Hospital.
Previous page Next page