From left, faculty Jamie Donatuto and recent graduate Vincent Da received Fulbright awards for the 2025-26 academic year. (Photo credit: Krista Bouchey and University of Washington, respectively).
Two members of the University of Washington School of Public Health recently received Fulbright awards for work, study, and research around the world.
Jamie Donatuto, a clinical associate professor in the Department of Environment & Occupational Health Sciences, was selected as a Fulbright Scholar for 2025-2026 and will pursue studies in Spain. There, she will work with the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), the nation’s largest public research institution, to implement a comparative analysis of human-ocean engagement in the northeast Pacific and northwest Mediterranean coast regions. The research will fill in a data gap identified by the United Nations’ Ocean Decade Vision Challenge — a lack of data describing the human-ocean connection.
Donatuto was one of four faculty awarded across the University.
“These four Fulbright awards are yet another example of UW’s global reach and scholarly impact,” said Ahmad Ezzeddine, UW vice provost for Global Affairs, in a UW News release. “The Fulbright program remains the flagship international educational exchange program, fostering academic collaboration and cross-cultural understanding for nearly eight decades."
Vincent Da, a recent graduate of the School of Public Health's Master of Health Administration program, was awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student Program scholarship for the 2025–2026 academic year, for study and research in the Phillipines, where he will study the migration of Filipino nurses to the United States. Hosted by the University of the Philippines Manila and working in close collaboration with the Dean of the College of Nursing, Da will use interviews, fieldwork and ethnographic observation to better understand the personal and systemic factors that drive Filipino nurses to leave home and care for patients halfway across the world, the Graduate School announced in a release.
Da was one of seven UW students selected, and among 2,000 across the U.S.
“These Fulbright awards reflect the exceptional caliber of our students and underscore the University’s commitment to fostering global citizens and scholars,” said Ezzeddine in a UW News release. ”As the nation’s flagship international exchange program, Fulbright offers transformative opportunities for the next generation of leaders to engage meaningfully with the world."
Read the full news releases about student and faculty Fulbright Scholars.