Awards and Honors

Maria Blancas (MPH, 2017), staff member of environmental and occupational health sciences, has won the 2019 Bullitt Environmental Prize for her advocacy work with immigrant farmworkers. The first family member to graduate from college, Blancas will use the resources to complete her Ph.D. in the UW School of Environmental and Forest Services, creating a digital platform for storytelling about farmworker experiences.

Elaine Faustman, professor of environmental and occupational health sciences, received the 2019 Merit Award at the 15th International Congress of Toxicology. The award is the highest honor conferred by the International Union of Toxicology. Faustman was recognized for her intellectual contributions to the field and a career dedicated to mentoring scientists around the world. Additionally, Faustman was elected to the 2019 Washington State Academy of Sciences for her work on risk assessment of chemical hazards and her contributions in neurodevelopmental toxicology.

Elizabeth “Betz” Halloran, professor of biostatistics and epidemiology, was elected to the National Academy of Medicine for her pioneering work in designing and analyzing vaccine studies. She also received the 2019 Nathan Mantel Lifetime Achievement Award. Halloran is director of the Center for Inference and Dynamics of Infectious Disease at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Sara Lindström, assistant professor of epidemiology, received the 2019 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. The award is the highest honor given by the U.S. government to early career scientists and engineers. Lindström was nominated by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services for her work to investigate the shared genetic origin of different types of cancer, using genetic data on more than 500,000 individuals.

Eteni Longondo (MPH, 2005) has been appointed head of the Ministry of Public Health in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Prior to receiving an MPH from the UW, Longondo studied medicine at the University of Kinshasa. He has been a doctor for the DRC's national soccer team, served as a general practitioner in Switzerland, and worked with World Vision and the U.S. Agency for International Development.