Dementia cases could triple by 2050, according to the World Alzheimer Report 2015.

“Dementia is the new epidemic facing the Western world,” says Annette Fitzpatrick, research professor of Family Medicine and Epidemiology.

Staying fit and socially active may be the most important things people can do to delay the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, Fitzpatrick says. Right now, we are still searching for effective drugs to treat dementia in older people, she notes.

10,000 baby-boomers turn 65 every day.

There’s no disputing the demographics. Baby boomers are at or rapidly approaching retirement age.

Alumna Christy McKinney (PhD, Epidemiology ’06) spearheaded the development of a new feeding cup for preterm infants and newborns with cleft palates – infants who commonly have breastfeeding difficulties.

Flu vaccinations nearly doubled among workers at Seattle restaurants taking part in a workplace intervention tested by the University of Washington School of Public Health.

Researchers from Washington’s Health Promotion Research Center worked with managers at 11 Seattle restaurants to promote the events, providing fliers, posters and templates for emails and texts. Employers were encouraged to make group announcements and to talk with employees individually. The vaccines were free.

At about noon on the second and fourth Saturday of every month, dozens of homeless and low-income Seattleites and their furriest friends start to snake around the block of Pioneer Square’s South Washington Street.

Victoria Holt has been appointed Chair of the Department of Epidemiology within the University of Washington School of Public Health. A professor of Epidemiology, she takes over from Scott Davis, who stepped down as Chair and continues to serve as a professor.

A University of Washington-led study found that race, ethnicity and a number of sociocultural factors were significantly associated with performance on cognitive tests. But researchers are urging caution in interpreting the results.

Gemina Garland-Lewis, research coordinator at the Center for One Health Research, organized animal services for the first shared human/animal Feel Good Day Sept. 4 in the U District. The semi-annual event, led by Facing Homelessness, offers free services for the homeless, including haircuts and massage therapy.

Young children whose mothers were chronically stressed had a higher prevalence of cavities, according to a study by the UW Schools of Public Health and Dentistry, and King's College London.

The study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, found that dental cavities were more common among children whose mother had two or more biological markers of chronic stress, known as allostatic load. Chronic stress was also linked to fewer dental visits and less likelihood of breastfeeding.

Commercial Car Wash Chemical Can Harm Workers, Washington Study Finds

A new report highlights the health hazards faced by workers handling hydrofluoric acid in commercial car and truck washing operations.

Researchers from Washington State’s Department of Labor & Industries (L & I) and the University of Washington School of Public Health reviewed workers’ compensation data in Washington state from 2001-2013. The results were published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Ten years after Hurricane Katrina lashed New Orleans, a new study warns that future public health impacts of climate change in Gulf Coast states may be “especially severe.”

Three members of the University of Washington School of Public Health are among the 24 new members who will be inducted into the Washington State Academy of Sciences next month for their outstanding record of scientific achievement.

The three are Shirley Beresford, senior associate dean, professor of epidemiology, and adjunct professor of health services; Dedra Buchwald, professor of epidemiology and of general internal medicine; and Eric Larson, clinical professor of health services and of medicine, and executive director of the Group Health Research Institute in Seattle.

Kristjana Ásbjörnsdóttir, who received her PhD in Epidemiology in August, received the International AIDS Society (IAS) Lange-Van Tongeren young investigator prize for her research on HIV-infected infants and their response to antiretroviral therapy.

The $2,000 award was given at the recent IAS Conference on HIV Pathogensis, Treatment & Prevention in Vancouver, B.C. and was based on Ásbjörnsdóttir’s thesis. Her abstract received the highest scores out of more than 2,500 entries on the Clinical Science track. The prize was jointly funded by the IAS and the French agency ANRS.

Young adult males with cancer were more than twice as likely as female patients to report that they had discussed options to preserve their fertility before treatment, a study in the journal Cancer finds.

Even more striking, the study noted, about one-third of males reported making arrangements to preserve their sperm – a rate four to five times higher than the rate of women (6.8 percent) who froze their eggs, embryos or ovarian tissue.

One of Jeffrey Harris's epiphanies came when he was a floppy-haired, fourth-year medical student. It was 1977 and he was in Guatemala, working at a rural hospital. Five children had died from measles and malnutrition – deaths, he realized, that would not have occurred in the United States because of routine vaccinations.

Sherman Alexie, the award-winning author, looked around the lecture hall and noted "all the brown faces" looking back at him. "Is this Seattle?" he asked.

He was speaking to more than 80 Seattle high school students taking part in the UW's Upward Bound program for aspiring college students. The theme for this summer's six-week program was public health.

The first 50 students have graduated from an innovative pharmacy assistant training program in Malawi.

They will work in rural health centers, dispensing life-saving medication and managing inventory. Graduates are expected to make an almost immediate impact, allowing health workers to devote more time to patient care.

An international team of researchers has identified six new locations in the human genome where people could be more at risk for colorectal cancer. The findings, based on an analysis of numerous independent studies including more than 18,000 cases of colorectal cancer, were published this month in the journal Nature Communications.