SPH Stories Archive

Featured stories about SPH people, research and impact.

Read new stories on the SPH Blog 

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

The story behind the Rattlinggourd Endowed Scholarship and Fellowship established by Dylan and Susan Wilbanks runs along the Cherokee Trail of Tears— from the South to Oklahoma in the 1800s, to the oil boom around Tulsa in the early 1900s. The story finally lands in the present day in the UW School of Public Health (SPH).

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Students at several Seattle-area high schools are learning how they can improve the health of their communities, thanks to a new UW School of Public Health program where undergraduates do the teaching.

Through a structured capstone class, teams of undergraduates majoring in public health aim to help their younger peers understand the wide-ranging factors affecting health and how they can speak up for change, whether by writing a letter to the editor or giving a persuasive two-minute talk.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Think innovation and high-tech must go together? Think again. Partnerships between UW's Department of Global Health and the Department of Computer Science & Engineering (CSE) have created simple, low-tech solutions to public health challenges in Africa, especially for women and children.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Graduate student Jennifer J. Carroll wrote a colorful behind-the-scenes look at the protests in Kiev for the Seattle Times, and has been blogging and photographing the historic events for other outlets. Carroll is pursuing an MPH in epidemiology and a PhD in sociocultural anthropology, and has been studying drug addiction issues in Ukraine.

Monday, March 10, 2014

In about a cup of coffee's worth of time, a difficult task might become easier for caregivers' supervisors at Harborview Medical Center. A newly developed 15-minute training module can help them manage workplace injuries and get employees back on the job quickly and safely.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Does caregiving cause stress? A new study from the UW Schools of Public Health and Medicine found that associations between caregiving and different types of psychological distress depend largely on a person's genes and upbringing, and less so on the difficulty of caregiving.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Men who used a weapon against their female partners were more likely to commit a follow-up act of violence, according to a new study from the UW School of Public Health and collaborating institutions. A weapon was defined as a gun, knife or vehicle.

Monday, February 24, 2014

Dr. Robert Newman (MPH, Epidemiology '98) has been named the UW School of Public Health's 2014 Distinguished Alumnus.

Friday, February 21, 2014

Biostatisticians at the UW School of Public Health are hoping to better understand the genetic risk factors for diseases such as diabetes and asthma in Hispanic/Latino populations in the US.

"We want to understand the differences between individuals — their genetic variations — and how they are relevant to health outcomes," said Dr. Tim Thornton, assistant professor of biostatistics and co-investigator for the UW's new Omics in Latinos Genetic Analysis Center. The center was recently established with a $4.5 million dollar grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

Friday, January 10, 2014
Daniela Witten has done it again. The assistant professor of biostatistics at the UW School of Public Health was named to Forbes' "30 Under 30" list for 2013 in science and healthcare. It's the second straight year Witten has made the list in that category. In 2011, she was recognized in science and innovation. The magazine lists the 30 most influential young people in 15 separate categories.
Monday, October 14, 2013

Rattlinggourd Endowed Scholarship and Fellowship

Jennifer Bethune, Undergraduate, Public Health Major

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

To promote better health, the City of Seattle recently passed legislation requiring vending machines operated on city property to be stocked with healthier foods and beverages. At least half the items available were to be low-fat, low-salt or whole grain. It seemed like a straightforward policy.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

In a groundbreaking project for UW Global Health and China public health, four rising stars from premier Chinese universities are beginning MPH and PhD studies this month in the Department of Global Health. Separately, two outstanding faculty members from China will also come to UW as Faculty Scholars this winter.

Friday, July 19, 2013

Drinking fountains. Broken glass. Asbestos in the ceiling. A basketball court. These were some of the things a group of high school students noticed as they conducted a public health "scavenger hunt" around their school. Some things were good for their health. Others were not.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Research is underway to improve mental health care in Uganda, thanks to an endowed fellowship created by Andy Stergachis and his wife, JoAnn. Stergachis, now director of the Global Medicines program at the School of Public Health, spent two months in Uganda in 2006 during the country's response to the HIV/AIDS crisis.

Monday, June 3, 2013

Under the Thomas Francis Jr. Global Health Fellowship program, School of Public Health and other UW health sciences students are working across the globe to improve people's lives.

Monday, April 22, 2013

Can you patent a gene? Should genetically engineered fish be considered food or animal? What does it all mean to indigenous peoples and everyone else? Rebecca Tsosie posed these provocative questions and others as she explored the legal and ethical implications of treating the genome as a "commons" in which scientists freely explore on their quest for new discoveries.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Cynthia (Cynnie) Curl can't forget the quote. She said it 10 years ago, when she was interviewed by the New York Times after publishing a landmark study on pesticides and diet.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

MPH and MD student Sheridan Reiger was honored Jan. 17 as the School of Public Health's recipient of an annual Community Volunteer Recognition Award. Reiger formed a non-government organization called Salud Juntos (Health Together) that has worked to improve health in Honduras.

Reiger, an MPH student in epidemiology, was one of seven individuals (plus one group) recognized as part of Health Science's 2013 Martin Luther King Jr. Tribute.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013
What are the odds? A University of Washington statistician has made Forbes' list of top young researchers transforming science and health – for the second year in a row. Daniela Witten, assistant professor of biostatistics at the UW School of Public Health, was named to Forbes' "30 Under 30" list for 2012 in the field of science and healthcare.