News
March 2, 2023
New study focuses on immune function to improve treatment of severely malnourished children worldwide
Categories: Awards, Children, Nutrition, Research
Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) remains a global public health emergency, especially among young children in limited resource settings who are not consuming enough energy, fat, protein, and other nutrients to maintain healthy bodily functions. This places children at high risk of life-threatening infectious diseases, such as diarrhea and pneumonia. Severely malnourished children are often treated at inpatient and outpatient hospital clinics or feeding centers, using protocols promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO). Treatment currently focuses on initial recovery as defined by anthropometric standards without adequately addressing the health of children after discharge from treatment programs. (more…)
February 10, 2023
New CHAIN Network research integrate machine learning to strengthen efforts to identify high-risk children during paediatric hospitalizations
Categories: Gut Health and Child Survival, Publication, Research
New research from the Childhood Acute Illness and Nutrition Network (CHAIN) Network published in the Lancet’s discover series, eClinicalMedicine, applied machine learning algorithms to data collected on hospitalized children from six countries in sub Saharan Africa and Asia. The data showed that children with severe wasting, nutritional oedema, signs of sepsis, or evidence of renal insufficiency experienced extremely high rates of mortality. The authors concluded that developing novel interventions to treat these common comorbidities is a potentially important alternative to continued investment in incremental changes to the current WHO syndromic management approach. Click here to read the publication titled, “Characterising paediatric mortality during and after acute illness in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia: a secondary analysis of the CHAIN cohort using a machine learning approach.”
February 9, 2023
Attend a Global WACh Graduate Certificate Virtual Information Session in Winter and Spring Quarters
Categories: Certificate Program
Join us to learn more about the Global WACh Graduate Certificate requirements and application process. UW graduate students with interests in gaining a comprehensive overview of current issues in global health as they pertain to the intertwined health and well-being of women, adolescents, and children are encouraged to attend!
- Friday, March 3rd, 1:00-1:50 PM
- Friday, April 7th, 12-12:50 PM (Revised Date)
- Friday, May 19th, 12-12:50 PM
https://washington.zoom.us/j/97368496918
Zoom Meeting ID: 97368496918
Visit https://www.globalwach.org/graduate-certificate-program for more information and to download an application. Contact gwach@uw.edu with questions.
January 30, 2023
Implementation science researchers share their findings at Conference on the Science of Dissemination & Implementation (D&I)
Categories: Conferences, Implementation Science, students

In December 2022, the 15th Annual Conference on the Science of Dissemination & Implementation (D&I) in Washington, DC convened several members of Global WACh’s Working in Implementation Science (WISE) Working Group, which include Global Health PhD Implementation Science track students, to share scientific findings and learn from other researchers. The D&I Conference is co-hosted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and AcademyHealth and helps realize the full potential of evidence to optimize health and health care by bridging the gap between research, practice, and policy. By outlining priorities in the field, the conference aims to ensure that evidence is used to inform decisions that will improve the health of individuals and communities. (more…)
January 9, 2023
Dr. Claire Gwayi-Chore presents DeWorm3 findings on optimal delivery of community-wide mass drug administration for intestinal parasitic worm infections
Categories: Conferences, Gut Health and Child Survival, Research

Dr. Claire Gwayi-Chore presents at the 2022 Society for Implementation Research Collaboration Conference.
The DeWorm3 Study recently published findings regarding the cost, acceptability, and optimal delivery of community-wide mass drug administration (cMDA) for or parasitic intestinal worms (soil-transmitted helminths (STH)), in Benin, India, and Malawi. As part of the efforts to disseminate these findings, Dr. Claire Gwayi-Chore, Project Lead of several neglected tropical diseases studies at Global WACh, presented at the Society for Implementation Research Collaboration (SIRC) Conference in San Diego, CA in September 2022. Dr. Gwayi-Chore’s presentation highlighted the objective of the DeWorm3 implementation science (IS) research, to generate evidence of sustainable and scalable deworming models for possible STH transmission interruption.
December 30, 2022
Researchers receive $6.6 million award to generate evidence on biological factors influencing health outcomes in HIV-exposed children
Categories: Awards, HIV and Co-Infections

A researcher and a child demonstrating a cognitive assessment. Credit: Sarah Benki-Nugent
Global WACh researchers and collaborators received a milestone National Institutes of Health grant award, totaling nearly $6.7 million, to generate evidence on biological factors that may cause adverse birth and neurodevelopmental outcomes in young children exposed to but uninfected with HIV (HEU). Research shows that HEU children have compromised growth, neurodevelopmental delays, and increased morbidity and mortality compared to that of unexposed, uninfected children (HUU) and Global WACh is currently involved in several studies that are examining pathways that influence these outcomes to help inform future health interventions. (more…)
Researchers present latest scientific findings at ASTMH 2022
Categories: Conferences, Gut Health and Child Survival, Research

Global WACh researchers from left to right: Stephanie Tornberg-Belanger, Patricia Pavlinac, Marie-Claire Gwayi-Chore, Esther Choo, Shawon Riffat Ara, Adino Tsegaye, Judd Walson, Kirk Tickell, Hannah Atlas, Mame Mareme Diakhate (Credit: Stephanie Tornberg-Belanger)
Global WACh faculty, staff, and students attended the annual American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (ASTMH) held in Seattle, WA from October 30 to November 3, 2022. ASTMH is the premier international forum for the exchange of scientific advances in tropical medicine, hygiene, and global health.
Our researchers contributed to 11 poster abstracts and two oral presentations and facilitated a symposium featuring the latest scientific findings from their research. These findings could inform strategies to implement mass drug administration for soil-transmitted helminths to combat childhood malnutrition to improve management of diarrhea among children and improve childhood survival of preventable diseases. See a roundup of the abstracts below. (more…)
December 29, 2022
Mobile WACh Empower trial, aimed to evaluate SMS-based reproductive health counseling intervention among women living with HIV, launches in Kenya
Categories: Awards, Contraception, Family Planning

Mobile WACh Empower study team members from UW Global WACh and Kenyatta National Hospital in Kenya (Credit: Alison Drake)
On December 1st, the Mobile WACh Empower randomized clinical trial launched in 10 sites in Kenya. In this trial, the study team aims to assess whether a digital, self-administered reproductive life planning counseling tool given to women living with HIV (WLWH) at baseline and continued counseling support through the unique two-way Mobile WACh SMS platform that combines automated bulk SMS messaging and dialogue with a health care provider (the foundation for several former and ongoing Global WACh studies using mobile health technology) can reduce contraceptive discontinuation, improve dual contraceptive use, and help women plan for healthy pregnancies. This innovative intervention was developed though stakeholder engagement in workshops held with WLWH, health care providers, and policy makers in June and November 2022. The intervention is designed to reduce the burden for health care providers to offer reproductive counseling, tailor reproductive life planning counseling for a range of needs, and importantly, support women as their needs change over time. (more…)
New study will develop novel approach to measure fertility intentions among Kenyan women
Categories: Awards, Contraception, Family Planning

Closeup of pregnancy test and contraceptive pills birth control concept
Measuring fertility intentions, which pertain to ideal family size and desire for additional children, is complex and may be influenced by contextual factors and culture, and beliefs held by individuals that drive their attitudes and behaviors. Most existing fertility intention scales are designed to classify women with binary measures, such as having an intended or unintended pregnancy, and do not allow for the spectrum of feelings that women might have, including ambivalent feelings about pregnancy. (more…)
December 28, 2022
COVID-19 in Pregnancy Study Team presents findings on SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses at IDWeek 2022
Categories: Conferences, COVID-19

Drs. Janet Englund (Seattle Children’s Hospital) and Sylvia LaCourse at IDWeek 2022. Credit: Sylvia LaCourse.
Dr. Sylvia LaCourse, Assistant Professor in Global Health and Medicine-Allergy & Infectious Diseases, presented on behalf of the COVID-19 in Pregnancy Study team on SARS-COV-2 antibody response in pregnant people at the Infectious Disease Society of America’s (IDSA) conference, IDWeek 2022, in Washington D.C from October 19-23, 2022. (more…)
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