UW News

Population Health Initiative


October 29, 2024

Q&A: After developing a better way to count homelessness, UW researchers discuss how more accurate data can help providers and people

Seattle buildings at sunset

America’s homeless services system relies on a massive amount of data, and at first glance, that data is exacting. Federal reports describe the country’s unhoused population in granular detail, listing precisely how many people are experiencing homelessness in each city along with detailed demographic data. Want to know how many people ages 55-64 slept outside…


September 19, 2024

Over 8 years, UW Population Health Initiative has turned ideas into impact

In a time-lapse image, a bus passes in front of a large building with a reflective glass exterior.

In just eight years, the UW Population Health Initiative has funded 227 innovative, interdisciplinary projects. With the Initiative now a third of the way into its 25-year vision, UW News checked in with three projects that recently received funding to scale their efforts. 


May 9, 2024

Navy Growler jet noise over Whidbey Island could impact 74,000 people’s health

Two men facing away from the camera watch a blurred jet land on an airstrip. The men are both wearing over-ear headphones.

As often as four days a week, Boeing EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island fly loops overhead as pilots practice touch-and-go landings. The noise is immense. New research from the University of Washington shows that the noise isn’t just disruptive — it presents a substantial risk to public health.


October 17, 2023

CDC funds UW to take first steps toward regional public health emergency preparedness center

The UW will convene partners across Washington, Alaska, Idaho and Oregon to develop a workplan to establish a future regional Center for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response.


September 5, 2023

UW, Stanford launch resource to help health care professionals respond to climate concerns 

The case studies in Medicine for a Changing Planet, collated from clinical encounters around the world, support health professionals in recognizing and treating a variety of health-related conditions that can be traced to environmental stressors.


December 14, 2021

Millions in savings from construction of UW’s Hans Rosling Center for Population Health to fund new research

Using project savings from the construction of the Hans Rosling Center for Population Health, the University of Washington will fund dozens of new research projects through the Population Health Initiative’s interdisciplinary grant program. The new grants will fall into three tiers, with funding from $20,000 to $200,000 per award. “We are delighted to have the…


December 3, 2021

Hans Rosling Center wins state, national architectural design and project awards

Has Rosling Center

The Hans Rosling Center for Population Health has won top awards in 2021 from state and national design and construction associations for both its architectural design and unique project delivery approach. The building was designed by The Miller Hull Partnership and the general contractor was Lease Crutcher Lewis. The Design Build Institute of America in…


November 11, 2021

Deforestation, climate change linked to more worker deaths and unsafe conditions

Outdoor workers in the world’s lower-latitude tropical forests may face a greater risk of heat-related deaths and unsafe working conditions because of deforestation and climate warming, according to a study led by The Nature Conservancy, the University of Washington and Indonesia’s Mulawarman University. In the study, researchers found that increased temperatures of 0.95 C (1.7…


October 29, 2021

ArtSci Roundup: Global Month

November is UW Global Month!  UW Global Month celebrates our University’s global impact and community. During the month of November, we highlight the connections and relationships the UW has all over the world and the impact of our University’s global engagement. Many of these opportunities are streamed through Zoom. All UW faculty, staff, and students have…


October 1, 2021

UW study provides rare window into work life of app-based drivers during pandemic

When you get into the car of the app-based driver you just tapped up on your phone, you expect and hope the driver and the car are safe and capable of getting you where you need to go. Apps rate drivers, which you can see. But what if the driver is sick? What if the…


March 19, 2021

‘A turning point’: UW Population Health Initiative’s pandemic grants changed how the university works

Rainier horizon

A year ago, seemingly overnight, streets emptied, shops boarded up, grocery shelves were cleared, schools closed and the University of Washington led universities nationwide in moving all instruction online. Nearly all of us disappeared inside, stunned and staring out at a world suddenly paralyzed by something we’d only seen in movies or read about in books:…


October 21, 2020

Pandemic further isolating older adults, as senior services struggle to adapt

older man sitting on park bench with laptop

A new UW study of senior services in Washington during the COVID-19 pandemic reveals providers’ concerns about isolation, and worsening mental and physical health among older adults.


October 7, 2020

Turning hotels into emergency shelter as part of COVID-19 response limited spread of coronavirus, improved health and stability

hotel hallway interior

A King County initiative to relocate people from homeless shelters to hotel rooms during the pandemic not only limited the spread of COVID-19, but also improved people’s mental health and well-being, and allowed them to focus on long-term goals.


September 29, 2020

ArtSci Roundup: Velvet Sweatshops and Algorithmic Cruelty, Social Movements & Racial Justice, the Vice Presidential Debate Preview, and More

Margaret O'Mara's history of Silicon Valley was published in July by Penguin Press.

During this time of uncertainty and isolation, find solace in digital opportunities to connect, share, and engage. Each week, we will share upcoming events that bring the UW, and the greater community, together online.  Many of these online opportunities are streamed through Zoom. All UW faculty, staff, and students have access to Zoom Pro via UW-IT.  Velvet…


January 30, 2020

UW’s new WE-REACH center to accelerate development of the ‘most exciting’ biomedical discoveries

Logo for new UW center

With $4 million in matching funds from the National Institutes of Health, the University of Washington has created a new integrated center to match biomedical discoveries with the resources needed to bring innovative products to the public and improve health. “The University of Washington and regional partner institutions produce some of the most exciting biomedical…


January 21, 2020

A foundation for ‘safe motherhood’ created with and for the Somali community

On a recent Saturday evening, a dozen women gathered around a table at a community room in the White Center neighborhood of Seattle, settling in with snacks and conversation. The evening’s program would be more education than entertainment, an opportunity to discuss topics so sensitive that, without the group of women assembled that night, might…


November 13, 2019

Founder of World Justice Project, former top Microsoft lawyer Bill Neukom to chair advisory board for UW Population Health Initiative

Neukom standing at podium

Known for his decades-long leadership of Microsoft’s law and corporate affairs team and then at the American Bar Association, his success as CEO of the San Francisco Giants and founder/CEO of the World Justice Project, Bill Neukom will now chair the external advisory board for the University of Washington Population Health Initiative. The university initiative is a…


November 12, 2019

New Weill Neurohub will unite UCSF, UC Berkeley, UW in race to find new treatments for brain diseases

An image of neurons under a microscope

With a $106 million gift from the Weill Family Foundation, UC Berkeley, UC San Francisco and the University of Washington have launched the Weill Neurohub, an innovative research network that will forge and nurture new collaborations between neuroscientists and researchers working in an array of other disciplines — including engineering, computer science, physics, chemistry and mathematics — to speed the development of new therapies for diseases and disorders that affect the brain and nervous system.


October 10, 2019

UW names population health building after Swedish physician and ‘very serious possibilist’ Hans Rosling

Artist rendering of building

Hans Rosling is known internationally for his captivating analysis of global health data, for discovering a paralyzing disease in Africa and explaining its socio-economic causes, and for his intense curiosity and life-long passion for educating students, world leaders and the public. Now, Hans Rosling — a Swedish doctor, statistician, author and professor — will be…


Personal comments from Hans Rosling’s family about UW’s new Hans Rosling Center for Population Health

Hans Rosling with props

The new building on the University of Washington’s Seattle campus that will be home to some of the key departments at the center of the university’s Population Health Initiative was named in honor of Dr. Hans Rosling on Oct. 10, 2019, by the UW Board of Regents. The $230 million building under construction on the…


October 7, 2019

Pop-up galleries and data: Visualizing the lives of homeless people and their animals

Thumbnail

Sparked by a grant from the UW Population Health Initiative, the UW’s Center for One Health Research has created a series of pop-up galleries featuring autobiographical photographs made by people experiencing homelessness with their animal companions. The first gallery was Oct. 4 in UW’s Red Square. Other pop-up gallery events are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday,…


September 12, 2019

Enhancing the way epilepsy is managed by engaging community pharmacists

Community pharmacists can play a key role in managing care for people living with epilepsy.

The University of Washington’s School of Pharmacy announced on Thursday, Sept. 12, a collaboration with global biopharmaceutical company UCB to improve access to care for people living with epilepsy.This interdisciplinary project will explore ways in which community pharmacists can better support people living with this neurological disorder. The roughly 3.4 million people nationally and 75,000…


August 2, 2019

UW selects artists and tops out Population Health Building

rendering

The University of Washington today announced the topping out of the new $230 million Population Health Building. The UW also has selected two artists whose work will help tell the story of the education and research that will take place within the new facility.


March 4, 2019

University of Washington and Aga Khan University sign agreement to further population health, research, service and education

group shot

The University of Washington today signed a memorandum of understanding with the Aga Khan University to codify partnership activities already underway and to leverage complementary strengths to further expand research, service and education in low- and middle-income countries.


June 20, 2018

Ali Mokdad named chief strategy officer for Population Health

head shot

Ali Mokdad has been named the chief strategy officer for Population Health at the University of Washington, President Ana Mari Cauce announced today. In this new role he will be responsible for collaboratively setting and executing the UW’s vision and strategy for the Population Health Initiative, a 25-year effort to create a world where all people can live healthier and more fulfilling lives.


April 25, 2018

UW breaks ground on new Population Health building

A crowd of dignitaries gathered Wednesday for the official groundbreaking of the university’s new 290,000-square-foot Population Health Building, a facility that will house the Population Health Initiative launched by the UW in 2016.


May 11, 2017

UW Regents approve central campus site for Population Health building to house collaborative research and teaching

Rainier horizon

The University of Washington Board of Regents on Thursday approved the location for construction of a new building to house the UW’s Population Health Initiative.