News
November 20, 2014
Certificate Student Focus – Lisa Shawcroft
Categories: Education
Tags: Certificate Program
Lisa Shawcroft, a 2014 Global WACh Certificate Program Alum, was selected as one of 128 fellows with Global Health Corps. She is currently a Communications Specialist for Marie Stopes International (MSI)- US in Washington DC, and is blazing a trail for future Global Health Corps fellows to be able to work with the organization in sexual and reproductive health.
During her studies at the Evans School of Public Affairs, Lisa was drawn to the conversations about health systems and hospital cases. She had taken the Global WACh Law & Policy Solutions course; which according to her, compliment her Masters in Public Administration coursework very well. She had previously been involved with a few non-profits here in Seattle and wanted to broaden her horizons. After graduating from the UW with an MPA and certificates in Non-profit Management as well as the Global WACh Certificate, Lisa identified MSI-US as an opportunity to put her recently acquired skills into practice.
“It’s hard to put a border on health,” she says, emphasizing that everything is interconnected and that borders are fluid. Global health is truly global. “I’m an American born, somewhat privileged woman who speaks English. If I have problems accessing the care I need–how hard must it be for someone who doesn’t have those same privileges and is coming from a total different cultural background and trying to adjust—to access care?”
Lisa’s Global WACh Certificate Capstone focused on community-based asset building with Latino children and adolescents in Federal Way. She focused on strengths of this community as reported by these populations in an effort to better connect these populations to needed health services.
Lisa hopes to use her fellowship year with Global Health Corps and MSI-US as a stepping stone to working with refugees and immigrants to Washington state, specifically in the field of reproductive health. While researching potential Global WAch capstone projects, she struggled to identify a particular organization that tackles refugee family planning, so she says that’s what pushes her to fill that gap. For Lisa, global is local, and the Global WACh certificate helped her learn the skills necessary to work with resource scare settings—both internationally and domestically.
We here at Global WACh wish Lisa all the best and know that she’s doing some fantastic work to change people’s lives for the better.
November 3, 2014
Birth Defects in Iraq: The Consequences of War
Categories: Talks and Events
Tags: birth defects, Iraq
On October 27th, Global WACh co-sponsored a series of presentations entitled: “Birth Defects in Iraq: The Consequences of War.” Dr. Muhsin Al-Sabbak, an obstetrician at Basra Maternity Hospital and Mozhgan Savabieasfahani, an environmental toxicologist, shared their knowledge of the devastating effects of war on the children of Iraq.
Dr. Al-Sabbak began by describing his experiences as a physician in Iraq, followed by statistics and figures to help the audience understand the gravity of the situation. One of the more impactful statistics was the rate of birth defects, which in 1995 stood at 1.37 per 1,000 births and in 2003 had risen to 23 per 1,000 births. There has been an estimated increase of 60% in the last decade. He shared pictures and stories from his hospital about the children born there with life threatening defects. “I have thousands of these pictures,” he said, later revealing his own personal tragedy of his young nephew who had died from Leukemia, likely as a result of the environmental poisoning.
Mozhgan Savabieasfahani spoke next, explaining the causes of the environmental pollution in more detail. The main issue, she says is the waste from weapons, explosives, and munitions left by the US military in “burn pits” the size of football fields. Iraqi citizens are exposed to chemicals and toxins, often distributed by dust storms in the area, and the effects may be shown for generations to come.
Iraqi mothers and children are not the only ones in danger. Many U.S. soldiers came home with ailments directly related to the negligence associated with these burn pits, and some are even seeking justice. This gives Savabieasfahani hope that one day accountability will drive cleanup efforts.
“We will keep reaching out to people like you,” she said, emphasizing the need for word to spread. Both Al-Sabbak and Savabieasfahani have been on a speaking tour in the U.S. in hope that the issue will gain more attention.
The two also spoke at an event at UW on October 24th entitled “Environmental Poisoning of Iraq: Why Academics Must Speak Out.” Here is the video.
October 29, 2014
Global WACh’s Technical Symposium on Strengthening the Nutrition Continuum
Categories: Nutrition, Talks and Events
Tags: malnutrition, nutrition
There are 7 billion people in the world and nearly 2 billion are undernourished and 2 billion are overweight or obese. Last week, the team at Global WACh held a fascinating and informative learning symposium at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Experts from The University of Washington, Seattle Children’s Hospital, PATH, and 1,000 Days came together for a full day of discussion and presentation on the global burdens of malnutrition.
There were three main sessions throughout the day: Basic Science and Discovery; Implementation; and National Systems Building, each including impactful presentations with quite a few staggering facts and figures. Throughout the day we were presented with new ideas, innovative techniques for testing, all with a healthy air of hopeful idealism. To see the presentations, you can view the slides on our Nutrition Think Tank webpage. It was wonderful to have a day to discuss what we can do to help ensure healthy, happy, and nourished lives around the world.
Thanks to all of our speakers and to the Gates Foundation for hosting!
October 8, 2014
Birth Defects in Iraq: The Consequences of War
Categories: Talks and Events
Tags: Discovery Series, Iraq, maternal health
Global WACh is proud to co-sponsor the next Washington Global Health Alliance Discovery Series highlighting the effects of war on Iraqi mothers and infants. Mozhgan Savabieasfahani, an environmental toxicologist from the University of Michigan will be giving a talk Friday, October 24th at 12:30pm entitled “Environmental Poisoning of Iraq: Why Academics Must Speak Out.” Dr. Muhsin Al-Sabbak who is an obstetrician at Basrah Maternity Hospital will speak on Monday, October 27th on “The Epidemic of Birth Defects in Iraq: Conversations with an Iraqi Doctor.”
Monday’s event is open to the public with a reception starting at 5:30pm. Dr. Al-Sabbak will speak at 6:00 at University Temple United Methodist Church (1415 NE 43rd St. Seattle). Please join us for this very important and enlightening event. For more information, you can email ghrc@uw.edu.
October 3, 2014
1,000 Days Joins Global WACh for Discussion of Malnutrition
Categories: Nutrition
Tags: malnutrition, nutrition, thousand days
We were fortunate to have Adrianna Logalbo, director at 1,000 Days, recently join us at our Nutrition Think Tank. She led a powerful discussion on the importance of maternal and early child nutrition, both here at home and within the global community.
There are nearly 1 billion hungry people in the world. More than 2 billion people are undernourished, and more than 2 billion are obese. “If we can make that investment from the very beginning, it sets up a lifetime of better outcomes,” Logalbo said. 1,000 Days is working to improve this global public health challenge through social media, phone apps, television, and simply going out and meeting with people.
1,000 days and their many partners hope to help achieve a world where every woman and child is nourished, empowered, and able to reach their full potential. Logalbo went on to say “Of course, there is a lifecycle happening here, so while we can say the 1,000 days starts at pregnancy it’s very true that the health and nutritional status of the adolescent girl, or the young women going into pregnancy, is critically important.”
You can read more about the impactful work Adrianna Logalbo and 1,000 Days are doing on their website here.
September 9, 2014
Interested in Global Health Law?
Categories: students
Tags: courses
Calling all students! We have a fantastic Global Health Law course on our list of amazing courses. The course (Law H 515) is worth 3 credits and will examine the legal, economic, social, ethical, and political aspects of all things global health related. This is a great prelude to our Legal and Policy Solutions to Women, Adolescents and Children course, offered in the Spring
‘What is global health law? Why should rich countries such as the US care about and invest in the world’s least healthy people, particularly in difficult economic times? What are the challenges for the future of global health and global health governance? What would you (from the perspective of your home country) prioritize as pressing issues for global health?’
If you’re interested in learning more about this course you can contact the following individuals:
Instructor
Jennifer Lenga-Long, JD
Phone: 206-713-2732
Email: jlenga@u.washington.edu
Teaching Assistant
Tanya Karwaki, JD, LLM
Phone: 206-616-0326
Email: tkarwaki@u.washington.edu
We also have a great, in-depth course description right here at this link.
Global Health Law – Law H 515 Fall
August 22, 2014
Our SCOPE Scholars in Action – Emily Robinson
Categories: students
One of the truly incredible things about our scholars is that they’re able to get out into the world to experience the joy of helping others while positively contributing to the field of Global Health. Emily Robinson (UW Doctorate of Nursing Practice student), and Kate Pfizenmaier (UW Master of Public Administration student) have been doing just that in Gondar, Ethiopia. They are our 2014 SCOPE fellows, and have been in Gondar for 3 months.
SCOPE (Strengthening Core Opportunities Through Partnership in Ethiopia) helps link medical and religious communities in order to better prevent HIV infection and deliver comprehensive care to those in need, particularly pregnant women and new mothers and babies. “One of the most important things I will take away from this experience is the importance of listening,” says Emily, “not just with my ears, but also with my heart. I have so much to learn from those I have been privileged enough to partner with here in Ethiopia. Inspiring people with inspirational stories will follow me home and will undoubtedly inform the way I practice as a healthcare provider in the future.”
Emily’s experience with SCOPE has inspired a fantastic personal blog called ‘Spilling Emily’ where she shares her experiences and those inspirational stories of the women and children for whom she has come to care a great deal.
You can learn more about our SCOPE program, and the work that we do here.
August 13, 2014
Global WACh & Coulter Foundation 2014 Pilot Award
Categories: Research, students
Tags: bioengineering, pilot grants, tuberculosis
We are pleased to announce that the Global WACh/W.H. Coulter Foundation Seed Grant for 2014 has just been awarded to Drs. James Lai, Barry Lutz, and David Horne for their excellent proposal focused on point-of-care tuberculosis testing. The doctors were first approached with the idea by two students attending Global WACh’s course on Bioengineering Solutions to Improve the Health of Women, Adolescents and Children (WINTER | GH590). Nuttada Panpradist (Bio Engineering) and Diana Marangu (Global Health) were very excited, and had this to say about their involvement:
We are delighted to be the part of the team that has received the 2014 Coulter Seed Grant Award. Who could imagine that this all started from participating in the Bioengineering-Global WACh Seminar? We both have been very passionate about tackling the diagnostic dilemma in tuberculosis and were fortunately paired together to develop a solution to one of the many challenges in Global Health. Our mentors were very supportive and drove us to think critically about this challenge when we shared our idea with them. This experience has been a wonderful learning opportunity, from the process of grant writing and now seeing this idea being potentially translated into reality. The world needs a low-cost, accurate diagnostic tool for active TB that uses a non-invasive sample like urine. Hopefully, this technology can be truly implemented at all levels of healthcare and benefit patients with TB who need it the most.
Tuberculosis affects 9 million people with 1.7 million dying every year. Because most TB testing requires 6-8 weeks and a culture of sputum, it’s been difficult to implement methods of detection in limited resource settings. Many of the methods currently in use are not widely available, and delays in diagnosis can mean easier transmission of the disease. Being able to diagnose the disease using efficient, same day methods that use urine samples instead of sputum would be a great step in the right direction. That’s what Drs. Lai, Lutz, and Horne hope to do, so please join us in congratulating these great researchers and students who are helping to improve the health of women, children, and adolescents everywhere!
August 6, 2014
Dr. Tahmeed Ahmed Speaks at Global WACh on Acute Malnutrition
Categories: Children, globalwach, Nutrition
Tags: icddrb, malnutrition, nutrition, Tahmeed Ahmed
Last week, over 25 students and faculty gathered to hear UW Affiliate Professor Dr. Tahmeed Ahmed speak on the subject of acute malnutrition in children, from basics to delivery. Dr. Ahmed is the head of the Nutrition and Food Security program at International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh. Under his leadership over the last 25 years, there has been a 50 percent reduction in the fatalities of children admitted with severe acute malnutrition to the icddr,b facilities in Dhaka. Global WACh has recently established a partnership with icddr,b to research new ways to prevent stunted growth in children. You can learn more about Dr. Ahmed and the great team at icddr,b here.
July 30, 2014
Mobile WACh Engages Women in Their Own Maternal Care
Categories: Nutrition
Tags: mHealth, Mobile WACh
Global WACh Associate Director Dr. Jennifer Unger gave a great talk last week about the implementation of mobile phones in the care of pregnant women in Mathare, Kenya. Three hundred women are currently participating in the study, which aims to use SMS text messaging as a means to keep the expectant mothers informed and involved in the health of themselves and their babies.
Text messages from a nurse at the clinic offer tips and general information, as well as answers for any health questions the participants may have. The messaging system also provides appointment reminders and a way to check in to see how they’re feeling. Perhaps most importantly according to the women in the study, the messages offer encouragement and support while allowing them to feel cared for and empowered.
Many countries have some version of mHealth in place, and Dr. Unger stressed the importance of working together and also making the messages culturally appropriate and tailored to each individual community. This particular study is completely free for the participants.
The findings in Mathare, Kenya will lay the foundation for a larger Global WACh study on using mHealth to enhance the prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV. The results of the Mobile WACh study should be available in the spring, and we’re certainly looking forward to sharing them.
Previous page