UW News
The latest news from the UW
September 12, 2019
Enhancing the way epilepsy is managed by engaging community pharmacists
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…
Tag(s): Andy Stergachis • Bryan Weiner • Edward Novotny • Jennifer Bacci • John Miller • Population Health Initiative • Sabra Zarâa • School of Pharmacy • Steve WhiteSeptember 11, 2019
UW at No. 26 in the world, fourth among U.S. public institutions, on Times Higher Education ranking list
The University of Washington has been ranked No. 26 on the Times Higher Education world rankings for 2020, released Wednesday. The UW moved up two places from 2019.
Tag(s): RankingsSeptember 10, 2019
Hugo House documentary ‘Where the House Was’ to debut Sept. 21 at Northwest Film Forum
“Where the House Was,” a new, 58-minute documentary produced by France McCue, UW senior lecturer in English, tells of the old location for Hugo House, the place for writer, and its subsequent demolition.
Tag(s): College of Arts & Sciences • Department of English • Frances McCue • Ryan K. Adams • Simpson Center for the Humanities
New coalition to address lack of access, resources for youth physical activity in King County
A report released Sept. 10 — the product of research led by the University of Washington — gives Seattle and King County a “D” in getting youth active through sport, play and outdoor recreation.
Tag(s): Center for Leadership in Athletics • College of Education • Julie McCleery
Tides don’t always flush water out to sea, study shows
Researchers at the University of Washington and the University of Strathclyde report that, in Willapa Bay in Washington state, the water washing over the tidal flats during high tides is largely the same water that washed over the flats during the previous high tide. This “old” water has not been mixed in with “new” water from deeper parts of the bay or the open Pacific Ocean, and has different chemical and biological properties, such as lower levels of food for creatures within the tide flats.
Tag(s): College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Biology • Jennifer Ruesink • oceanographySeptember 9, 2019
UW-GU Regional Health Partnership announces new center in Spokane
McKinstry to design and construct $60 million ‘leap forward’ for medical education, health sciences research and innovation.
Tag(s): Regional Health Partnership • UW Medicine
Breakthrough Foundation honors UW researcher studying ‘exotic’ states of matter
Lukasz Fidkowski, an assistant professor of physics at the University of Washington, is one of the winners of a 2020 New Horizons in Physics Prize from the Breakthrough Foundation. The prize to early-career scientists, announced Sept. 5, recognizes Fidkowski and his three co-recipients “for incisive contributions to the understanding of topological states of matter and the relationships between them.”
Tag(s): awards • College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Physics • Lukasz Fidkowski
Lightning ‘superbolts’ form over oceans from November to February
A study of superbolts, which release a thousand times more electrical energy in the low-frequency range than regular lightning bolts, finds they occur at very different times and places than regular lightning. Superbolts tend to strike over particular parts of the oceans, while regular lightning strikes over land.
Tag(s): College of the Environment • Department of Earth and Space Sciences • lightning • Michael McCarthy • Robert Holzworth • weatherSeptember 5, 2019
Study shows exposure to multiple languages may make it easier to learn one
A new study from the University of Washington finds that, based on brain activity, people who live in communities where multiple languages are spoken can identify words in yet another language better than those who live in a monolingual environment.
Tag(s): College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Psychology • I-LABS • Kinsey Bice
University of Washington Magazine takes the UW’s anchor publication to a broader audience
One of the Pacific Northwest’s largest-circulation magazines is changing its name and look.
University of Washington Magazine – the new quarterly publication from the University of Washington Alumni Association – is out for home delivery next week replacing what since 1989 has been known as Columns.
Tag(s): UW Alumni AssociationSeptember 4, 2019
New study tracks sulfur-based metabolism in the open ocean
UW oceanographers used lab experiments and seawater samples to learn how photosynthetic microbes and ocean bacteria use sulfur, a plentiful marine nutrient.
Tag(s): Anitra Ingalls • College of the Environment • Ginger Armbrust • marine microbiology • oceanography • School of OceanographySeptember 3, 2019
UW colleges, offices share three-year NSF grant to make ‘internet of things’ more secure
Several UW schools and offices will team up to research how organizational practices can affect the interagency collaboration needed to keep the “internet of things” — and institutional systems — safe and secure.
Tag(s): Carrie Dossick • Center for Education and Research in Construction • Chuck Benson • College of Arts & Sciences • College of Built Environments • Construction Management Department • Jackson School of International Studies • Jessica Beyer • Laura Osburn • UW FacilitiesAugust 29, 2019
Crowdsourced archaeology shows how humans have influenced Earth for thousands of years
A new map synthesized from more than 250 archaeologists worldwide, including from the University of Washington, argues that the human imprint on our planet’s soil goes back much earlier than the nuclear age.
Tag(s): Ben Marwick • College of Arts & Sciences • Department of AnthropologyAugust 27, 2019
Pregnant women of color experience disempowerment by health care providers
A new study finds that women of color perceive their interactions with doctors, nurses and midwives as being misleading, with information being “packaged” in such a way as to disempower them by limiting maternity health care choices for themselves and their children.
Tag(s): Ira Kantrowitz-Gordon • Molly Altman • School of Nursing
ArtsUW Roundup; William Morris and the Kelmscott Press Exhibition, Closing soon – Cecilia Vicuña’s About to Happen, and more
In the arts, purchase tickets for the New Burke Opening Weekend, attend a rare duet setting performance by two School of Music faculty members, view a selection of gowns from the Henry’s collection of clothing and textiles, and more! New Burke Opening October 12th Ticket sales open on September 3rd for the New Burke Museum…
Tag(s): ArtsUW • Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture • College of Arts & Sciences • Henry Art Gallery • School of Music • UW Botanic Gardens • UW Libraries
Rankings: UW is No. 14 in the world, third among U.S. public universities; makes Money and Washington Monthly lists
The University of Washington held its position at No. 14 in the world — No. 3 among U.S. public universities — on the 2019 Academic Ranking of World Universities, released this month.
Tag(s): RankingsAugust 23, 2019
Video: Wildfires west of the Cascades: Rare, but large and severe
More than 99 percent of wildfires in the last 40 years have been east of the Cascade Crest. But evidence that suggests Western Washington also has a history of large wildfires, each burning hundreds of thousands of acres. We might not be familiar with them, because most happened centuries ago.
Tag(s): Brian Harvey • School of Environmental and Forest Sciences • wildfiresAugust 22, 2019
UW books in brief: Tribal sovereignty and the courts, mentoring through fan fiction, UW Press paperback editions
Recent notable books by UW faculty members explore the legal history of Indigenous nations and the mentoring benefits of fan fiction. Plus, a UW anthropologist’s book is honored, a former English faculty member is remembered in a biography, and UW Press brings out paperback editions of three popular titles.
Tag(s): Alexandra Harmon • books • Cecilia Aragon • Jeffrey Ochsner • Joanna Russ • Katie Davis • Margaret Willson • Richard Haag • Sareeta Amrute • Thaisa WayAugust 21, 2019
3 UW graduate students earn NASA fellowships, continue legacy of success
Three University of Washington graduate students are among this year’s recipients of a prestigious NASA fellowship that funds student research projects in the fields of Earth and planetary sciences and astrophysics.
Tag(s): College of Engineering • College of the Environment • David Shean • Department of Atmospheric Sciences • Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering • Jessica Lundquist • School of Environmental and Forest SciencesAugust 20, 2019
New tools to minimize risks in shared, augmented-reality environments
UW security researchers have created ShareAR, a toolkit that lets developers build collaborative and interactive features into AR apps without sacrificing their users’ privacy and security.
Tag(s): College of Engineering • Franziska Roesner • Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering • Tadayoshi KohnoAugust 19, 2019
USGS awards $10.4M to ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system in the Pacific Northwest
The U.S. Geological Survey announced $10.4 million in funding to the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, based at University of Washington, to support the ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system. Some $7.3 million of the two-year funding total will go to the UW.
Tag(s): College of the Environment • Department of Earth and Space Sciences • earthquakes & seismology • Harold Tobin • Pacific Northwest Seismic Network • ShakeAlert
‘Hidden’ data exacerbates rural public health inequities
The SHARE-NW project is a five-year effort to identify, gather and visualize data in four Northwest states to help rural communities more effectively address health disparities and achieve health equity.
Tag(s): Anne M. Turner • Betty Bekemeier • Department of Health Services • India Ornelas • School of Nursing • School of Public Health • Seungeun Park • Uba Backonja
Starbucks, United Way, Mary’s Place and Wellspring welcome UW to coalition supporting local unsheltered families
Today local community leaders welcomed University of Washington to a coalition dedicated to supporting unsheltered families across Puget Sound. The University will host three Family Resource Exchanges that will take place on its campuses in Bothell, Seattle and Tacoma, expanding the coalition’s ability to help unsheltered families in the region. This commitment comes shortly after the one-year anniversary of the first exchange in King County last summer.
How ergonomic is your warehouse job? Soon, an app might be able to tell you
Researchers at the UW have used machine learning to develop a new system that can monitor factory and warehouse workers and tell them how ergonomic their jobs are in real time.
Tag(s): Ashis Banerjee • College of Engineering • Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering • Department of Mechanical EngineeringAugust 16, 2019
ArtsUW Roundup: Creating Alternative Worlds, Bulrusher, Final Week of James Coupe: Exercises in Passivity and more!
In the arts, celebrate the accomplishments of the 2019 Summer Institute in the Arts and Humanities program’s undergraduate researchers in “Creating Alternative Worlds,” attend Bulrusher – an Intiman Theatre production directed by Valerie Curtis-Newton at the Jones Playhouse, drop into the Library for the Fourth Wednesday Concert Series featuring Brian Schappals and more! Creating Alternative…
Tag(s): ArtsUW • College of Arts & Sciences • College of Engineering • Comparative History of Ideas Program • Department of American Indian Studies • Department of English • Department of Gender Women and Sexuality Studies • Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering • Department of Philosophy • Department of Physics • Jackson School of International Studies • Jacob Lawrence Gallery • Liberal Arts • School of Art + Art History + Design • School of Drama • School of Music • Simpson Center for the Humanities • UW LibrariesAugust 13, 2019
HUB closed starting at 2 p.m. on Aug. 14 and Sept. 4 for police training activities
The Husky Union Building (HUB) will be closed from 2 to 9 p.m. on Aug. 14 and Sept. 4 for the UW Police Department to conduct training exercises inside the building.
James Webb Space Telescope could begin learning about TRAPPIST-1 atmospheres in a single year, study indicates
New research from astronomers at the UW uses the intriguing TRAPPIST-1 planetary system as a kind of laboratory to model not the planets themselves, but how the coming James Webb Space Telescope might detect and study their atmospheres, on the path toward looking for life beyond Earth.
Tag(s): Andrew Lincowski • astronomy & astrophysics • College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Astronomy • Jacob Lustig-Yaeger • James Webb Space Telescope • NExSS • Victoria Meadows • Virtual Planetary Laboratory
Dr. Nancy Allbritton named dean of UW’s College of Engineering
Dr. Nancy Allbritton has been named the next Frank & Julie Jungers Dean of the College of Engineering, University of Washington Provost Mark Richards announced today. Allbritton’s appointment, set to begin Nov. 1, is subject to approval by the UW Board of Regents.
Tag(s): College of Engineering • Nancy Allbritton
Air pollution can accelerate lung disease as much as a pack a day of cigarettes
Air pollution—especially ozone air pollution which is increasing with climate change—accelerates the progression of emphysema of the lung, according to a new study led by the University of Washington, Columbia University and the University at Buffalo.
Tag(s): Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences • Joel Kaufman • School of Public HealthAugust 12, 2019
First cells on ancient Earth may have emerged because building blocks of proteins stabilized membranes
Scientists have discovered that the building blocks of proteins can stabilize cell membranes. This finding may explain how the first cells emerged from the primordial soup billions of years ago: The protein building blocks could have stabilized cell membranes against salt and ions that were present in ancient oceans. In addition, membranes may have been a site for these precursor molecules to co-localize, a potential mechanism to explain what brought together the ingredients for life.
Tag(s): cell biology • College of Arts & Sciences • College of Engineering • Department of Bioengineering • Department of Chemistry • evolution • Roy Black • Sarah Keller • School of Medicine
First evidence of human-caused climate change melting the West Antarctic Ice Sheet
A new study by U.S. and U.K. scientists finds that in addition to natural variations in winds that drive warmer water to the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which last about a decade, there has been a longer-term change in the winds that can be linked with human activities.
Tag(s): climate change • College of the Environment • Department of Earth and Space Sciences • Eric Steig • polar scienceAugust 9, 2019
Scientists can now control thermal profiles at the nanoscale
Scientists have designed and tested an experimental system that uses a near-infrared laser to actively heat two gold nanorod antennae — metal rods designed and built at the nanoscale — to different temperatures. The nanorods are so close together that they are both electromagnetically and thermally coupled. Yet the team measured temperature differences between the rods as high as 20 degrees Celsius and could change which nanorod was cooler and which was warmer, even though the rods were made of the same material.
Tag(s): College of Arts & Sciences • David Masiello • Department of Chemistry • Institute for Nano-Engineered Systems • Molecular Engineering & Sciences Institute
Artificial intelligence could yield more accurate breast cancer diagnoses
Researchers at UW and UCLA have developed an artificial intelligence system that could help pathologists read biopsies more accurately, and lead to better detection and diagnosis of breast cancer.
Tag(s): College of Engineering • Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering • Linda Shapiro • Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & EngineeringAugust 8, 2019
UW, UC San Diego, UC Berkeley receive $5M NSF award to simplify researcher access to public clouds
The National Science Foundation has awarded a five-year, $5 million grant to the University of California, San Diego, the University of Washington and the University of California, Berkeley to develop CloudBank, a suite of managed services to simplify public cloud access for computer science research and education.
Tag(s): College of Engineering • Ed Lazowska • eScience Institute • Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering
Study shows gun shops can aid in preventing suicides
Firearm retailers throughout Washington are willing to learn about suicide prevention but are reluctant to talk to customers about mental health issues, according to a new study by Forefront Suicide Prevention at the University of Washington.
Tag(s): Forefront • Jennifer Stuber • School of Social Work • Thomas Walton
More than 100 years of Arctic sea ice volume reconstructed with help from historic ships’ logbooks
A new study provides a 110-year record of the total volume of Arctic sea ice, using early U.S. ships’ voyages to verify the earlier part of the record. The longer record puts the recent loss into perspective.
Tag(s): Applied Physics Laboratory • Axel Schweiger • climate change • College of the Environment • Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean and Ecosystem Studies • Kevin Wood • Polar Science CenterAugust 6, 2019
How the Pacific Ocean influences long-term drought in the Southwestern U.S.
Analyzing the full life cycle of long-term droughts and how they relate to El Niño and La Niña conditions in the Pacific Ocean could eventually lead to better prediction of damaging, multiyear droughts in the Southwestern U.S.
Tag(s): climate • College of the Environment • Department of Atmospheric Sciences • oceanography • weatherAugust 2, 2019
B-roll: UW Population Health Building topping out
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. Construction of the eight-story building at the corner of 15th Avenue Northeast and…
UW selects artists and tops out Population Health Building
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.
Tag(s): Population Health InitiativeAugust 1, 2019
UW Division of Design faculty, Seattle Children’s physicians collaborate on more effective anesthesia cart organization
In recent years, physicians at Seattle Children’s Hospital have worked with UW faculty members in design to come up with a better, safer, more reliable way to order and use drugs on an operating room’s anesthesia cart.
Tag(s): Axel Roesler • College of Arts & Sciences • School of Art + Art History + Design • Seattle Children's Hospital« Previous Page Next Page »
