Michele Andrasik was selected by the UW School of Public Health to receive the 2019 Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Award for her efforts to create an environment where individuals can empower themselves and her commitment to addressing community needs. She will receive the award at an MLK celebration on Thursday, Jan. 17, in the Magnuson Health Sciences Center.

Greetings, SPH! This is a short update on what’s been happening on the equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) front.

Seattle residents who live in waterfront neighborhoods tend to have healthier diets compared to those who live along Interstate-5 and Aurora Avenue, according to new research on social disparities from the University of Washington School of Public Health. The study used local data to model food consumption patterns by city block. Weekly servings of salad and soda served as proxies for diet quality.

Two-liter bottle of soda increased 64 percent; price of diet drinks jumped, too

As expected, Seattleites paid significantly more for their Mountain Dews and Monster Energy Drinks last year. They also paid much more for diet drinks in some stores, even though non-sugary beverages were exempt from the city’s new tax.

A farmer’s market incentive program may increase access to fruits and vegetables for residents of low-income communities, suggests a study led by the University of Washington School of Public Health.

Stefan Wiktor, acting professor of global health at the University of Washington Schools of Public Health and Medicine, has received funding through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to promote HIV prevention and treatment and to help Zimbabwe’s efforts to reach HIV epidemic control. The five-year cooperative agreement, with an annual budget of about $15 million, is administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Anirban Basu, a professor in the schools of Pharmacy and Public Health at the University of Washington, has received more than $230,000 from the National Institutes of Health to measure the current and future costs of care for people with dementia. The research is part of a sub-grant from the University of Pennsylvania.

Dementia care has substantial economic costs, with consequences for health care systems as well as for the health and well-being of families who provide care for loved ones with dementia.

More than two million people in the United States in 2016 were addicted to opioids, according to the Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. Despite the existence of effective medication and services, nearly 80 percent of them did not receive treatment.

Kelsey Grinde, a doctoral student in the Department of Biostatistics at the University of Washington School of Public Health, is a recipient of the inaugural Dorothy L. Simpson Leadership Award, presented by the Seattle Chapter of Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Foundation. The award recognizes exceptional qualities of leadership, intellectual curiosity, generosity of community commitment and dedication to the greater good.

Samantha Dolan, a doctoral student at the University of Washington School of Public Health, was awarded a $100,000 Grand Challenges Explorations Grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to improve data collection and monitoring of childhood immunizations at Kenyan health facilities by optimizing workflows.

US experts say health care systems can lead America’s efforts to prevent further danger

Genes contributing to immune and metabolic processes may be linked to chronic inflammation, suggests a new study of genomic data from more than 200,000 individuals. Findings were published online Nov. 1 in the American Journal of Human Genetics.

Adolescent males who identify as gay or bisexual, or are sexually active with other males, are at high risk for HIV infection. Researchers at the University of Washington (UW) say pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) programs can significantly reduce this risk, especially in communities with high HIV burden.

Dr. Jeff Duchin, health officer for Public Health – Seattle & King County, was elected to the Board of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). Duchin is also a professor of medicine at the University of Washington, adjunct professor of epidemiology at the UW School of Public Health and member of the Northwest Center for Public Health Practice.

Two students from the University of Washington School of Public Health received Exceptional Student Awards from the Washington State Public Health Association during its annual conference last month in Wenatchee.

The UW School of Public Health will celebrate its next graduating class on Sunday, June 16, 2019, at the Alaska Airlines Arena. Graduation speaker nominations are now being accepted.

"We are looking for a dynamic speaker who can engage and inspire our public health graduates, their family and other attendees," said Juanita Ricks, director of program operations for Student and Academic Services.

Speakers will be selected based on their:

Robert Malte, former chief executive officer (CEO) for EvergreenHealth in Kirkland, Washington, joined the University of Washington School of Public Health on Oct. 1 as the Master of Health Administration (MHA) program’s practitioner-in-residence and clinical associate professor of health services.