We are officially in Autumn Quarter at the university and things are still bustling for the State Relations team. Here are some highlights from the month so far:
On October 7, Governor Inslee issued an executive order to combat the opioid crisis facing our state. The press conference took place in the Hogness Auditorium in the UW Health Sciences Building and featured Dr. David Tauben and Dr. Caleb Banta-Green from UW Medicine. Read a summary of the executive order here and learn more about the Department of Pain Medicine at UW Medicine here.
Also on October 7, Senator David Frockt paid a visit to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). Led by director Christopher Murray, IHME is an independent global health research center at the UW that provides high-quality data on major world health problems and evaluates strategies used to address them. You can find more information about IHME here.
On October 11, UW Medicine hosted the House Health Care & Wellness Committee for an interim work session. The committee received a briefing on IHME from director Christopher Murray and heard from Dean Joel Berg (UW Dentistry), Peggy Odegard (UW Pharmacy), Karen McDonough (UW Medicine) and Dean Sean Sullivan (UW Pharmacy) about interprofessional collaboration and training happening between UW Health Sciences schools.
Check out pictures from the hearing on our Facebook page. Materials from the work session are available here.
On October 12, the Clean Energy Institute (CEI) welcomed Representative Norma Smith for a briefing and several lab visits, starting with an overview from CEI Director Dan Schwartz. Rep. Smith learned about the printing of solar cell polymers from associate professor Christine Luscombe, the future of solar cell materials from CEI graduate fellow Jessica Kong, and advanced manufacturing and battery materials from associate professor Vince Holmberg. The tour ended with an update from professor Devin MacKenzie on roll-to-roll processing and printed materials as he prepares to open the new Washington Clean Energy Testbeds facility.
You can find pictures from Rep. Smith’s visit on our Facebook page. Learn about CEI here.
Coming October 21 – Together UW Day. Register at uw.edu/together. STAY TUNED!
Coming October 26 – Celebration of the new Denny Hall. STAY TUNED!
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