September 30, 2021
Spotlight: Shawn Swanson pursues medical innovations through social entrepreneurship
Shawn Swanson is a Mechanical Engineering Ph.D. candidate at the University of Washington College of Engineering and 2021 Population Health Social Entrepreneurship Fellow. He is also the CEO and co-founder of MedsForAll, a startup that aims to provide accessible and affordable rescue drug autoinjectors to historically underserved populations. The idea behind MedsForAll stemmed from Swanson’s…
September 21, 2021
New study explores impact of police action on population health
Policing and exposures to law enforcement impact the population health of a community, a new University of Washington-led study demonstrates. The research study shows how policing influences the health and wellbeing of communities in complex ways that have short- and long-term consequences. The researchers conceptualize how incidents involving police, whether indirect or direct, lead to…
September 16, 2021
Project EMAR works to improve adolescent mental health via a co-designed social robot
According to data from the National Institute of Mental Health, about 3.2 million teens in the United States have had at least one major depressive episode within the past 12 months. These findings confirm that depression and anxiety among teenagers have been on the rise, which provokes questions around whether current school-based mental health services…
September 14, 2021
Social Entrepreneurship Fellows develop strategic roadmaps for UW innovations
The Population Health Initiative’s summer 2021 Social Entrepreneurship Fellows Program concluded in August with the fellows presenting their findings to students, faculty and staff from schools and colleges across campus. The fellows spent 10 weeks working on population health innovations developed by University of Washington researchers to determine how these innovations could be financially sustainable…
September 8, 2021
Spotlight: Nidhi Agrawal’s consumer psychology expertise helps improve population health
Nidhi Agrawal, the Michael G. Foster Endowed Professor of Marketing and International Business at the UW Foster School of Business, works actively to foster collaborations within her field of business and marketing to address critical population health-related issues. Her passion for marketing began as an undergraduate student at Gujarat University in Ahmedabad, India, where she…
September 1, 2021
New research finds air pollution hits people of color the hardest
A national research effort on air pollution reveals that people of color are disproportionately and systemically exposed to air pollution in the United States. Researchers from the University of Washington contributed to this study, creating an air quality model to analyze peoples’ exposure to air pollution based on race/ethnicity and income levels, utilizing data from…
August 25, 2021
Researchers work to understand and mitigate post-wildfire landslide hazards
The 2020 California wildfires that rampaged through seven million acres of West Coast land have left behind perishable data that researchers are now utilizing to better understand and reduce post-wildfire landslide hazards. The Natural Hazards Reconnaissance Facility (RAPID), directed by University of Washington civil and environmental engineering professor Joe Wartman, is conducting a natural hazards…
August 23, 2021
Six new members named to Population Health Initiative executive council
Six new faculty members have been named to the 30-member Population Health Initiative executive council by President Ana Mari Cauce. They are: Sharon Laing, assistant professor of Nursing & Healthcare Leadership, UW Tacoma Clarita Lefthand-Begay, assistant professor, Information School Magaly Ramirez, assistant professor of Health Systems and Population Health, School of Public Health Judd Walson,…
August 18, 2021
Impact of COVID-19 on domestic violence survivors’ ability to get help
The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped many industries, including the legal landscape. Some of these changes have proved beneficial, notably for survivors of domestic violence who may now file protection orders online rather than in-person. This finding is especially relevant considering the reported rise in domestic violence during lockdowns. New research from the University of Washington…
August 12, 2021
Initiative-funded COVID-19 economic recovery grantees report final results
The University of Washington Population Health Initiative awarded 18 COVID-19 economic recovery research grants to teams of UW faculty researchers in June 2020. These grants were intended to support UW researchers in quickly responding to the vast array of economic-related challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The funded project teams were composed of individuals representing…