Every day, hundreds of workers across Washington state are hurt on the job. Some lose their lives. Many of the industries that shaped the state 鈥� forestry, fishing, agriculture 鈥� are riddled with risk.听听

The 天美影视传媒 has for years been instrumental in the state鈥檚 efforts to keep workers safe. UW experts study workplace hazards like the toxic fumes inhaled by nail salon workers and the worsening heat waves faced by agricultural workers east of the Cascades. The UW鈥檚 training and education programs, from undergraduate education to continuing education for industry professionals, prepare trainees to oversee health and safety programs for businesses across the state. UW experts consult with businesses on how to keep workers safe and productivity high. And a provides specialized care to injured workers.听

鈥淲orker health and safety is a vital component of what the 天美影视传媒 does,鈥� said , a UW assistant professor of environmental & occupational health sciences.听

But those efforts are now under threat. This year, the federal government has dramatically cut the programs that fund worker safety efforts like those at the UW. In April, the Trump administration of the (NIOSH), the federal agency dedicated to worker safety. The agency has closed nearly all its research and training programs, creating uncertainty over whether funding will continue. 听

NIOSH has long been a significant source of funding for UW鈥檚 occupational health and safety research and training programs, complementing core funding from the state. Without federal support, much of that work will stop in its tracks. That means less research into the hazards workers face, and fewer people who are trained to mitigate those risks and treat workplace injuries and illnesses.听

Ultimately, Baker fears workers across Washington will feel the impact.听

鈥淚 suspect that if the cuts to NIOSH are maintained and the work that we’re doing here at the 天美影视传媒 no longer continues, the number of workers who are injured or lose their lives in Washington is going to go up,鈥� Baker said.听听

Federal funds support the (NWCOHS), which prepares graduate students to work in occupational health and safety and provides continuing education to industry professionals. The NWCOHS addresses the need for specialists in occupational medicine by supporting training programs for physicians.听

Trainees work out of specialty clinics, including the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Clinic at Harborview Medical Center, which treats patients who are injured on the job. Physicians at the clinic learn how to connect workplace exposures to patients鈥� health outcomes and craft treatment plans to help workers recover and safely return to work.听

听鈥淚t’s a unique combination of medicine and public health. We鈥檙e thinking about individual patients who are sitting in front of us, and also how to prevent workplace injuries and illness for populations of workers鈥� said , research associate professor of environmental & occupational health sciences and former director of the occupational & environmental medicine program at the UW. 鈥淭he goal is for workers and patients to be healthy and feel gratification from the work they’re doing, which often contributes to a healthy and productive workplace.鈥�听

The benefits aren鈥檛 theoretical 鈥� the UW鈥檚 occupational health and safety work has led directly to improved working conditions for some of the state鈥檚 most essential workers.听听

Consider forestry and agricultural workers, who experience higher rates of workplace injury and death on the job. For decades, the UW鈥檚 (PNASH) has received federal funding through a NIOSH program focused exclusively on agricultural workers鈥� health and safety. PNASH experts have built deep ties across the state, working in collaboration with community members and industry partners to build safer, stronger workplaces.听听

A few years ago, PNASH researchers learned that workers tasked with applying pesticides weren鈥檛 always properly wearing their protective equipment and faced frequent exposure to these hazardous chemicals. Researchers leaned into community and industry connections to better understand the barriers. Then they got to work on solutions.

PNASH developed practical training that allows pesticide applicators to see how the sprays drift through the air by using a fluorescent tracer that lights up on clothes or skin. They studied how workers typically apply pesticides and suggested new methods that ensured the chemicals hit their target and didn鈥檛 drift onto workers. And they built tools to translate the warning labels on pesticide containers, which were written almost entirely in English, into Spanish, the primary language of many farm workers.听

The developed in collaboration with farmers, educators and researchers across the state, is designed to benefit both workers and their employers.听

鈥淎 unique role that we have at the UW is being able to listen to those who don鈥檛 have the ability to individually contact their employer or to contact the state, and to really make their voice heard,鈥� said , a UW assistant professor of environmental & occupational health sciences whose research focuses on protecting agricultural workers. 鈥淎nd we work with a wide variety of partners to really engage those essential workers that are growing our food and fishing in dangerous waters and understand how we can return information to them that’s actionable, meaningful and practical.鈥�听

NIOSH funds make that work possible. But the White House has proposed eliminating all federal funding for agricultural worker health and safety, putting PNASH鈥檚 funding in jeopardy. Leaders are searching for alternate funding to support the center鈥檚 critical services.听

鈥淲e鈥檙e very concerned about this sudden change in federal focus and lack of resources being allocated to health and safety research,鈥� Austin said. 鈥淲e worry about our region in particular, that our workers are going to suffer and our businesses are going to have to bear the cost.鈥�听

Highlights of current and upcoming exhibitions:听

October 27 – November 23 | , Art Building

The Jacob Lawrence Gallery is pleased to host Seattle artist Miha Sarani. This exhibition is a broad survey of Sarani’s work, focusing on portraiture while also reflecting his Slovenian heritage.

November 6 – April 16 | , Burke Museum听(Free admission for UW students, faculty and staff)

Until January 8 | , Henry Art Gallery (Free admission for UW students, faculty and staff)

November 7, 6 PM | , online or HUB

Our annual public event draws from different stories and areas of knowledge to collaboratively consider a problem that鈥檚 keeping students up at night. Honors students, staff and faculty invite our broader community on campus and beyond to join our conversation on the power (and politics) of place.

With passionate speakers from public health, sociology, ethnic studies, geography, and history, we鈥檒l explore how communities respond to systems and events that disrupt relationships to place (like colonialism, war, climate change, or global pandemics); explore how people and communities sustain themselves in the face of such displacements through creative adaptation and collective care; and find opportunities to honor the radical placemaking work of vulnerable communities and coalitions who are leading the way.

Free |

Autumn Quarter:

The College of Arts & Sciences is launching its initiative by inviting students, faculty, and staff to join a campus-wide reading experience, followed by conversations about how we can enhance teaching and learning at the 天美影视传媒.

(in person or Zoom).

November 8, 7:30 PM |, Meany Center

Daniil Trifonov has made a spectacular ascent since he premiered at Meany in 2013. The Grammy-winning pianist was catapulted to international fame after winning medals in three prestigious competitions 鈥� Warsaw Chopin, Tel Aviv Rubinstein and Moscow Tchaikovsky 鈥� and has been named Artist of the Year by Musical America (2019) and Gramophone (2016). He inspires audiences with a combination of rare sensitivity, depth of expression and consummate technique. His return to Meany in a recital of Mozart, Ravel, Tchaikovsky, Schumann and Scriabin is a musical event not to be missed.

UW Faculty, UW Staff, UW Retirees and UW Alumni Association (UWAA):听, subject to availability. A valid UW ID (e.g. Husky card or UWAA card) is required; limit of one ticket per valid ID听|听

November 8, 7:30 PM | ,听Kane Hall or online

By creating clean, ultra-low radioactivity laboratories deep underground to avoid cosmic rays, it is possible to study very fundamental questions about our Universe. These include studies of the tiniest fundamental particles called neutrinos and of Dark Matter, a very important but still mysterious component of the Universe. Dark Matter has only been revealed so far through gravitational effects but represents five times as much mass as the type of matter from which we are composed, It has had a strong influence on how the Universe has evolved since the Big Bang. Experiments to investigate these topics will be described, including the Nobel-Prize-Winning Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) experiment in which 天美影视传媒 scientists played a major role.

Free |

November 9, noon |Empires Strick Back: Football and Colonialism, online

In anticipation of the 2022 World Cup, the Department of History presents this panel discussion which will examine the connections between colonialism and the game of football/soccer.

Chris Tounsel, Associate Professor of History, UW (moderator)
Molly Yanity, Associate Professor of Journalism, Quinnipiac University
Anand Yang, Professor of History, UW

Free |

November 10, 5:30 PM| , Kane Hall or online

The Center for Korea Studies and the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Seattle will host the Korean Peninsula Forum 2022. This year鈥檚 forum will include two keynote speakers, Dr. Sang-hyun Lee of the Sejong Institute, and Mr. Scott Snyder of the Council on Foreign Relations. The two will discuss how the United States perceives of democracy in South Korea and vice-versa, the role of democracy in US-South Korean bilateral relations, and how US-South Korean relations are changing in light of geopolitical turmoil.

Professor Emeritus Kenneth B. Pyle (天美影视传媒) and Assistant Professor James Lin (天美影视传媒) will join Mr. Snyder and Professor Lee as discussants for the forum. Professor Yong-Chool Ha (天美影视传媒) will moderate the forum, adding his political science expertise to the discussion.

Free |

, online

What did it mean to be a Jewish minority in an Arab-Islamic society? How did Judaism shape Islam and vice versa? What is the future of Jewish-Arab relations?

Today, Jews and Arabs sometimes seem to be entrenched in a timeless conflict. But for centuries, over 90% of the world鈥檚 Jews lived, worked, and thrived (or sometimes floundered) in the Arab Near East.

In four talks from scholars drawing on their original research, this series will explore interactions between Jews and Arabs across fifteen hundred years of history.

• November 10, 3 PM | Coffeehouses, Parks, and Neighborhoods: Jews and Muslims
  in 20th-Century Cairo

Free |

November 10, 8 PM | , Meany Center

S艒 Percussion and Pulitzer Prize-winner Caroline Shaw combine forces for a powerful new set of co-composed music in听Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part. Shaw鈥檚 faultless ear for melody and harmony, united with S艒鈥檚 rhythmic invention and compositional experimentation, create an imaginative world of sonic richness. It is a journey across the landscape of the soul, told through the medium of distinctly contemporary songs. Also on the program is Jason Treuting鈥檚 remarkably beautiful and ethereal work,听Amid the Noise.

UW Faculty, UW Staff, UW Retirees and UW Alumni Association (UWAA):听, subject to availability. A valid UW ID (e.g. Husky card or UWAA card) is required; limit of one ticket per valid ID听|听

November 14, 5 PM | Online

Please join us a week after the general elections for a roundtable discussion of what the election results portend for national and state policymaking over the next two years, and for the 2024 Presidential election race. Speakers include Scott Lemieux, Becca Thorpe, and Mark Smith moderated by John Wilkerson.

Free |

Highlights of current and upcoming exhibitions:听

October 27 – November 23 | / November 2, 5 – 8 PM: , Art Building

The Jacob Lawrence Gallery is pleased to host Seattle artist Miha Sarani. This exhibition is a broad survey of Sarani’s work, focusing on portraiture while also reflecting his Slovenian heritage.

Until November 5 | , Koplin Del Rio (Georgetown, Seattle)

November 6 – April 16 | , Burke Museum听(Free admission for UW students, faculty and staff)

Until January 8 | , Henry Art Gallery (Free admission for UW students, faculty and staff)

November 1, 7:30 PM | , Meany Center

Faculty pianist Cristina Vald茅s performs music by Henri Dutilleux, Alexander Scriabin, Huck Hodge, Ruth Crawford-Seeger, and Gabriela Ortiz in this program of preludes and etudes. She is joined by Cuong Vu, trumpet, for the premiere of her work Sketches of an Anniversary Prelude, for trumpet and piano.

$20 tickets ($15 UW Affiliate, $10 students and seniors). |

November 2, 12:30 PM | ,听Online Meany Hall – Studio Theatre

Join the Department of Dance to hear research presentations by second year MFA candidates in dance. This event is free and open to all UW and Seattle community members! Presentations will include:

Hip Hop Dance: A Multi-Referential Label with Controversial Considerations
Gary Champi, MFA Candidate UW Department of Dance

Party Environments and the Development of the Hustle: How Dance Party Spaces Foster Creativity and Community Connection Past and Present
Abdiel Jacobsen, MFA Candidate UW Department of Dance

Unlocking Creativity: Community Engaged Dance & Storytelling for Senior Adults
Jenn Pray, MFA Candidate UW Department of Dance

Free |

November 2, 6:30 PM| Democracy and the 2022 Midterm Elections, Part I, Kane Hall

Jake Grumbach is an associate professor of political science at the 天美影视传媒 who focuses on political economy of U.S. Democracy. In the first of a two- part series, he will discuss the current crisis in American democracy and how national conflicts of race, labor, and democracy are playing out in state governments.

Free | RSVP

, online

What did it mean to be a Jewish minority in an Arab-Islamic society? How did Judaism shape Islam and vice versa? What is the future of Jewish-Arab relations?

Today, Jews and Arabs sometimes seem to be entrenched in a timeless conflict. But for centuries, over 90% of the world鈥檚 Jews lived, worked, and thrived (or sometimes floundered) in the Arab Near East.

In four talks from scholars drawing on their original research, this series will explore interactions between Jews and Arabs across fifteen hundred years of history.

• November 2, 3 PM | Lecture 3. Jews and Muslims in Colonial Algeria: Between Intimacy and Resentment
• November 10, 3 PM | Coffeehouses, Parks, and Neighborhoods: Jews and Muslims
  in 20th-Century Cairo

Free |

November 3, 5:30 PM | , Thomson Hall听

Hafu (2013 Producer/Director/Videographer Megumi Nishikura) With an ever increasing movement of people between places in this transnational age, there is a mounting number of mixed-race people in Japan, some visible others not. 鈥淗afu鈥� is the unfolding journey of discovery into the intricacies of mixed-race Japanese and their multicultural experience in modern day Japan. The film follows the lives of five 鈥渉afus鈥濃�搕he Japanese term for people who are half-Japanese鈥揳s they explore what it means to be multiracial and multicultural in a nation that once proudly proclaimed itself as the mono-ethnic nation.

Each quarter during the academic year the UW Japan Studies Program will host a film to include discussion.

Free |

November 4, 2 PM |, HUB

Featuring:
Shaunak Sen听(Director,听All That Breathes)
Vivek Bald听and听Alaudin Ullah听(Directors,听In Search of Bengali Harlem)

In conversation with:
Anand Yang听(Professor of History and International Studies)
Alka Kurian听(Associate Teaching Professor of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences)

Identities are in flux today. How do individuals and groups make sense of their lives and beliefs in an ever-changing world increasingly in the throes of socioeconomic and religious conflict and environmental crises? Come join us in a conversation with the award-winning directors of the films 鈥淎ll That Breathes鈥� and 鈥淚n Search of Bengali Harlem鈥� which highlight the choices people make to keep hopes alive.

This event is part of the听.

Free |

November 7, 6 PM | , online or HUB

Our annual public event draws from different stories and areas of knowledge to collaboratively consider a problem that鈥檚 keeping students up at night. Honors students, staff and faculty invite our broader community on campus and beyond to join our conversation on the power (and politics) of place.

With passionate speakers from public health, sociology, ethnic studies, geography, and history, we鈥檒l explore how communities respond to systems and events that disrupt relationships to place (like colonialism, war, climate change, or global pandemics); explore how people and communities sustain themselves in the face of such displacements through creative adaptation and collective care; and find opportunities to honor the radical placemaking work of vulnerable communities and coalitions who are leading the way.

Free |

Autumn Quarter:

The College of Arts & Sciences is launching its initiative by inviting students, faculty, and staff to join a campus-wide reading experience, followed by conversations about how we can enhance teaching and learning at the 天美影视传媒.

(in person or Zoom).

In a deep and dark December, an eagerly awaited event brightened the early morning in a UW Medicine loading zone. The first shipment of COVID-19 vaccinations had arrived.

The 3,900 doses had been marked priority boarding for their FexEx flight to Seattle, after being trucked in insulated, dry ice containers out of a Pfizer BioNTech facility in the upper Midwest.

UW Medicine prepared for weeks to receive and distribute COVID-19 vaccines, which are now shipped on a staggered schedule and which also includes the Moderna vaccine. UW Medicine collaborated with state and local public health offices to follow national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines in determining the line-up for getting vaccinated.

The first scheduled to receive vaccinations were frontline personnel working with COVID-19 patients. In addition to patient-care staff in intensive care units, COVID acute care floors and emergency departments, the immediate list also included environmental services staff, as well as emergency medical responders in the community. Next in line are nursing home residents and their caregivers.

Dr. Shireeshy Dhanireddy, an infectious-disease specialist at Harborview Medical Center, was among those at UW Medicine who led the overall planning for the UW Medicine vaccination program.

Early vaccination of healthcare staff keeps a workforce vital for saving lives from contracting COVID-19, even a mild case, that could put them out of commission for a couple of weeks, when hospitals are already short staffed due to the pandemic surge. Dhanireddy explained that immunizing frontline healthcare workers helps safeguard the lives of vulnerable populations.

鈥淭his is a way to protect not just ourselves, but our community,鈥� she said.

UW Medicine pharmacies, operations and many other hospital departments are part of managing and protecting the vaccines before they head up to the vaccine clinics and into the shoulders of employees.听 For example, ultra cold deep freezers were leased by UW Medicine for keeping the highly perishable vaccines. The vaccines stay at minus 70 degrees Celsius until they are thawed shortly before administration.

UW Medicine staff and the institution鈥檚 community partners will qualify for the vaccine in waves as the campaign fans out beyond the frontline healthcare workers essential to the care of COVID patients.

Despite months of getting ready, the vaccine didn鈥檛 seem real to Steve Fijalka, UW Medicine鈥檚 chief pharmacy officer, until he held one of the boxes to be transferred from UW Medical Center-Montlake to our other UW Medicine hospitals.听 He was greeted with quizzical looks from his colleagues when he sped by them on his way to the loading dock and said, 鈥淗appy vaccine day!鈥�

The next morning, UW Medicine held a event during which the vaccine was given to 13 frontline healthcare workers. They represented the four UW Medicine hospitals and various frontline pandemic healthcare workers at UW Medicine and among emergency responders, including Medic One and Airlift Northwest.

One of the frontline healthcare staff participating in the event was Amy Fry, a critical care nurse at Harborview鈥檚 COVID-19 ICU. She received the inaugural shot of vaccine from UW Medical Center-Montlake cancer unit nurse Allison Miller. Fry told news reporters she felt honored to be chosen for the vaccination program launch and afterward felt hope, something she had not felt in a while. Miller was grateful that vaccines were becoming available, bringing closer the horizon when her baby, born earlier in the pandemic, would be able to meet their relatives in person.

Myo Thant, a patient care technician at UW Medical Center-Montlake was excited at the prospect of vaccination. 鈥淲e have seen so many struggle. This is what we鈥檝e been waiting for a long, long time and now it鈥檚 a dream come to reality.鈥�

Jules Mack, a respiratory therapist at Harborview, said she was excited to receive the vaccine, 鈥淚 was thinking, yes! We鈥檙e going to get these doses in, we鈥檙e finally going to get that extra measure of protection.鈥� As a person of color, she said she understands that it can be challenging to go into a hospital and not see staff members who look like you.

鈥淏ut I鈥檓 one person saying that this vaccine will prevent you from getting the serious type of COVID and passing away from this,鈥� she said.

Emily Agudo, an emergency department nurse at UW Medical Center-Northwest, said, 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 important to be one of the first people who gets it just to show that yes, it鈥檚 new and it might be scary but it鈥檚 my job. Even if there鈥檚 24 hours where I don鈥檛 feel great, I鈥檇 rather have that than COVID.鈥�

Several others receiving the first shots said that, by doing so, they, too, wanted to be role models for the public. From their frontline vantage point, they can vouch to the importance of getting the vaccine when your turn is offered.

Vaccine clinics for frontline UW Medicine staff members are underway at UW Medical Center鈥檚 Montlake and Northwest campuses, Harborview Medical Center and Valley Medical Center in Renton.

Joining the faculty and staff who have volunteered to work at the vaccine clinics are students from the schools of medicine, pharmacy and nursing.听 Dental students are also learning vaccine protocols so they, too, can participate.

“Honestly I felt lucky to be a part of the vaccination effort. It felt like the first time all year that we as a community were able to actively combat this pandemic, and have hope for what follows,鈥� said Ryan Breske, a nursing student who worked at UWMC on Dec. 21 administering COVID-19 vaccines.

Breske was among dozens of faculty and students from the School of Nursing who have been activated to provide vaccinations at hospitals, clinics and public health agencies across the region.

鈥淗olding my first vial of the Pzfizer COVID vaccine felt like I was holding liquid gold,鈥� said Kendra Nguyen, a UW School of Pharmacy student and director of Pharmacy’s Operation Immunization. 鈥淭en years from now, I can look back and say I did something meaningful during this world-wide pandemic.鈥�

Nguyen participated in a vaccination effort set up by Public Health鈥擲eattle & King County.

鈥淲e鈥檙e proud our students are a part of this important public health effort, and we鈥檙e excited to see them utilize their training and preparation as immunizers. They are ready and qualified to meet this momentous challenge,鈥� said Peggy Odegard, professor and associate dean at the School of Pharmacy.

Many medical students and physician assistant students at the UW School of Medicine have also signed up to help with the UW Medicine vaccination program and the vaccination of emergency responders. Others will also be volunteering with Public Health鈥擲eattle & King County for future COVID-19 vaccination events. The students are participants in the medical school鈥檚 Service Learning Program.

Victorya Piehl, a third-year medical student, was another recent volunteer.

She said, 鈥淚 am thankful to have been a part of this historic event. It was an honor to provide vaccinations to some of our incredible first responders.鈥�

Liam Malpass, a graduate nursing student who administered COVID-19 vaccines at a Public Health鈥擲eattle & King County site, added: 鈥淪o many of us who work in health care have been waiting nine exhausting months for this moment and our hope has been reignited as we start to turn the corner on this pandemic.鈥�

Mower is director of surgical business operations at Harborview Medical Center and a long-distance runner. She has edited and independently published “.” The book came out in paperback and a Kindle Edition on May 6.

are footraces that are longer than the traditional marathon 鈥� either just a little longer, or a matter of running for days. Winners are determined by who covers the most miles in a specific time.

The book comprises original submissions by about 20 ultramarathon runners writing in prose and poetry about how the sport has impacted them, sent in response to a prompt from Mower, who also contributed 11 pieces.

The people who run such grueling races are “an interesting and eclectic community,” Mower said. “Folks get into it for their own reasons but most derive deep meaning from the sport.” She noted that several of the submissions in the book deal with exercise as self-care during the coronavirus pandemic.

Mower is a member of the . The Spartathlon is a historic 246-kilometer (153 mile) ultramarathon between Athens, Greece, and Sparti, the town on the site of ancient Sparta, that is run every September.

One Amazon reviewer wrote of the book, “This is a beautiful collection of short stories and poetry about one of the most difficult sports on Earth, which, as it turns out, is not as lonely as you at first think.”

For more information, contact Mower at aemower@uw.edu.

Light

By Amy Mower

Rhythmic footfalls transform dark into day
pumping legs and beating heart are pistons
drawing lightning from the earth
step upon step

my direct current
forges brilliance —
my private sun.

Fingertips tingle
hair on fire
electric sparks leap from
ground to feet
dark city womb gives birth to stars
a brief (eternal) pause
City lights glitter now;
moonlight brightens clouds
with shimmering joy鈥�
I am, for a moment, blinded.

Ironic that these nighttime hours
are the brightest light of Seattle day

Post run, post joy,
dim drippy gray, or watery sunshine —
shades of pewter streaked with despair
nibbles relentlessly into my joy

Leaden skies
negative pressure
sucks energy like
air from a room

Emergency room doctors often have only a few minutes to determine which patients are in need of a blood transfusion.

But currently doctors have no direct method to assess the health of one of the most critical component of the blood: platelets. These tiny blood cells play a huge role in helping blood clot after an injury.

Now researchers at the 天美影视传媒 have created a novel system that can measure platelet function within two minutes and can help doctors determine which trauma patients might need a blood transfusion upon being admitted to a hospital. The team March 13 in Nature Communications.

“Our system requires a tiny amount of blood to look at how healthy platelets are in real time,” said co-corresponding author , an associate professor in the UW Department of Mechanical Engineering. “We found that platelet function is a far better measure of platelet health and whether a trauma patient will need a blood transfusion than current methods.”

Platelets are the first responders to any sort of damage to blood vessels.

“They act as a sort of instant patch,” Sniadecki said. “They become activated and stick to the damage, and then they rapidly change their shape to stretch and reach out for more of the wound surface or other platelets. Then they begin to come back together to compact and add strength to a clot.”

In patients who’ve experienced trauma, however, platelets can lose the ability to do their jobs, including becoming less able to apply the forces needed to stop bleeding.

“When trauma patients come into the ER, we use a variety of methods to estimate their risk of bleeding, but none of these tests tells us specifically about platelet strength,” said co-corresponding author , an associate professor of emergency medicine at the UW School of Medicine.

White, Sniadecki and their team designed a microfluidic device that measures platelet forces in real time. First, the researchers inject a blood sample into the device. As the blood flows through it, the cells hit an obstacle course: tiny blocks and posts jutting up from the base of the device. This activates the platelets. They feel a massive force when they flow over the blocks, and then the surface of both the blocks and the posts are coated with a platelet-activating molecule.

“The block and post structures act like a mini wound surface,” said lead author , who conducted this research as a mechanical engineering doctoral student at the UW. “The platelets attach between the block and post, and they start to snowball. They aggregate to form a miniature plug that then begins to contract and pull the post toward the block. Based on how far the post moves, we can determine how functional the platelets are.”

Sniadecki’s lab has used to measure cell forces, but this is the first time that blocks have been added to the mix. Without the blocks, the platelets didn’t stick to the posts.

“As the platelets whip around the block, they are forced to change direction rapidly, and that activates the platelets,” Ting said.

To test their device, the researchers recruited participants from Harborview Medical Center. After providing informed consent, 93 trauma patients and 10 healthy participants had their blood sampled when they arrived at the center.

The results showed a significant difference between the healthy participants’ blood and that of the trauma patients. Trauma patients’ platelets had decreased forces compared to healthy participants’ platelets. Of the trauma patients, 17 required a blood transfusion during their first 24 hours in the hospital. These patients also had the lowest platelet forces compared to the trauma patients who didn’t receive a transfusion.

Sometimes trauma patients have fewer platelets, so one current test in the ER is to count the number of platelets. But when the researchers looked at platelet count for this study, all blood samples 鈥� including those from healthy participants 鈥� had a comparable number of platelets.

“It’s a big deal not just knowing how many platelets are in the blood but knowing how well they’re actually functioning,” White said. “It’s not always obvious which patients will need a blood transfusion, and a device like this can really help us make decisions quickly.”

Currently the team is working to make the device more user-friendly.

“It’s still a prototype where you have to have some training in how to operate it to get a reading,” said Ting, who is now director of research and development at , the company that spun out from this research. “Our goal is to make it user-friendly and comparable to a blood sugar monitoring device where people deposit blood samples on a strip and put it into the reader. Then the reader just takes care of it.”

The team also hopes the device will be useful for measuring platelet strength in other areas of medicine, such as measuring how blood-thinning medications like aspirin or Plavix affect different patients or helping neurosurgeons monitor patients for bleeding complications during surgery.

Co-authors include , a senior engineer at BD Biosciences who conducted this research while a UW mechanical engineering doctoral student; , a mechanical engineering doctoral student; Annie Smith, who was a mechanical engineering research scientist but is now a research scientist at Stasys; , the director of operations at Stasys who completed this work as a mechanical engineering postdoctoral fellow; , a scientist at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance who conducted this research as a research scientist at UW Medicine; , an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Harborview Medical Center; Xu Wang, a UW emergency medicine research scientist; and , a biostatistics research scientist. The microfluidics cards used in this study were made at the 听at UW.

This research was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Young Faculty Award, the Coulter Foundation Translational Research Award, grants from the Life Science Discovery Fund, the Combined Funding Initiative, 天美影视传媒 CoMotion, the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.

###

For more information, contact Sniadecki at nsniadec@uw.edu.

Grant numbers: N66001-11-1-4129, LSDF-7434512, CMMI-1402673, UL1TR000423, KL2TR000421, EB001650

Modalities for dialysis include hemodialysis (in a kidney center or medical center, or at home) and peritoneal dialysis (at home). In-center treatments for hemodialysis are typically required three times per week. Peritoneal dialysis is an alternative way to remove waste products from blood through the blood vessels in the abdominal lining known as the periteneum. This procedure may be performed by the patient at home or while traveling.

Dr. Rajnish Mehrotra, professor of medicine in the Division of Nephrology and nephrology section head at Harborview Medical Center, compares outcomes in patients using center or home dialysis. His findings show a similar survival of patients with either of the two types of dialysis.

Outcomes research has led to recent changes in the Medicare reimbursement structure. These changes provide a strong financial incentive for promoting the use of dialysis at home. Currently less than 1 percent of Medicare beneficiaries are on dialysis but it accounts for 8 percent to 9 percent of the Medicare budget. Home dialysis costs $20,000 less than in-center treatment, which runs an average of $90,000 per year, per patient.

Working as a single practice group led by Dr. Fionnuala Cormack, a clinical assistant professor of medicine specializing in chronic kidney disease,听 the nephrologists at the 天美影视传媒 have changed the model of care for their dialysis patients.

In addition to the consolidated, in-center care they provide hemodialysis patients, once a week, physicians, nurses, and support staff meet peritoneal dialysis patients at one of the kidney centers in the community to deliver multi-disciplinary care.

鈥淲e have built an infrastructure to seamlessly provide home dialysis to our patients in the community that we serve,鈥� said Mehrotra.

Partnering with the UW Department of Surgery has also provided outstanding results, according to Mehrotra. A team of surgeons headed by Dr. Zoe Parr, assistant professor of surgery, received special training on laparoscopic placement of peritoneal dialysis catheters to provide better care for patients.

The Northwest Kidney Centers has helped expand the peritoneal dialysis patient population by offering a class called Choices for patients with kidney disease. Patients who attend the class are more than twice as likely to choose home care. Recently they made the class available at Harborview Medical Center, so it is even more convenient for patients.

Dr. Stuart J. Shankland, professor of medicine and 听head of the Division of Nephrology, said that the model that Mehrotra and his colleagues have developed for patients at UW Medicine 鈥渋s at the forefront of how patient care should be delivered to this population with a chronic illness.鈥�

Currently, a large, international and multi-centered clinical study called Peritoneal Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns, or PDOPPS, is underway to identify how differences in practice patterns affect the ability of patients to continue to do home dialysis.

Mehrotra and Dr. Gail P. Jarvik, professor of medicine and 听head of the Division of Medical Genetics, are working on an ancillary study 鈥� the first and largest of its kind 鈥� to look at the genetic determinants of how peritoneal dialysis works.

鈥淲hat we do in peritoneal dialysis is use naturally occurring membrane that lines our abdomen as a dialysis membrane,鈥� said Mehrotra. 鈥淏ut there is huge variability from person to person in how efficient that membrane is in getting rid of the toxins that accumulate in people with kidney disease. We want to test the hypothesis that this variability is determined genetically.鈥�

The longstanding tradition at UW Medicine of improving dialysis care began more than half a century ago under the late Dr. Belding Scribner, the inventor of long-term dialysis. Progress continues through the recruitment of Mehrotra to the Division of Nephrology.

鈥淒r. Mehrotra鈥檚 research is pioneering,鈥� Shankland noted, 鈥渁nd partnering with Dr. Jarvik is almost certain to give insights that would help determine who the best candidates are to receive this therapy and potentially predict those who might develop complications.鈥�

An independent film producer, Stanislaw will present his film “Living on the Edge” at 10 a.m., Saturday, Nov. 9 am in the Harborview Medical Center Research & Training Building, 300 Ninth Avenue. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion of individuals living with epilepsy and UW Medicine professionals who treat seizure disorders.

鈥淎fter that seizure at school, I felt closed out of society,鈥� recalled Stanislaw. 鈥淭hen one day my sister heard the chair for Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE) talking on television about epilepsy research and I knew that there were people out there trying to help.鈥�

In “Living on the Edge,” the filmmaker takes us through the challenge of life with epilepsy. Although it affects three million Americans directly, and millions more through family members, friends, co-workers and caregivers, epilepsy is widely and grossly misunderstood. Through the stories of the director and epilepsy patients and their families this documentary looks unflinchingly at the alienation, depression, and loneliness that epilepsy can bring.

Life with epilepsy can be unpredictable. Medicines that control seizures can have major side effects; seizures can be frightening and dangerous and can have devastating consequences. Deeply personal and honest, On The Edge examines this complex disorder and dispels the myths that surround it, to seek a path to understanding, effective treatment, and a cure.

鈥淟iving on the Edge鈥� has been publicly screened at the Cleveland Clinic and at the Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of Art Institute of Chicago. For more information on the Nov. 9 event, go to the UW Medicine

To learn about the film, visit

In Washington state鈥檚 first study to examine driver use of electronic devices, UW investigators saw that more than 8 percent of drivers were engaging with such devices behind the wheel, higher than previously estimated. Among those driving distracted, nearly half (45 percent) were observed texting.

The study looked at the behaviors of 7,800 drivers in six counties. Using randomized observations at controlled intersections, investigators recorded drivers engaged in a range of distracting activities, including texting and talking on the phone.

Researchers found that the most common source of distraction was a hand-held device, such as a cell phone. Among the 3.4 percent of drivers who were talking on a hand-held phone, half were holding the device near or under the steering wheel. This risky behavior diverts the driver鈥檚 attention from the road.

The study has important implications for state public health and law enforcement officials. Motor vehicle injuries remain the leading cause of death for Americans under 35 years of age. Estimates suggest that up to 28 percent of crash risk is attributable to cell phone use or text messaging in vehicles. While the use of cell phones in the United States has grown exponentially, enforcement of distracted driving laws has struggled to keep pace.

鈥淭hese findings suggest that distracted driving is more common than we thought and that texting has become a major cause of distraction,鈥� said Dr. Beth Ebel, principal investigator with UW Medicine鈥檚 Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center and UW associate professor of pediatrics.听 鈥淢ost people support laws restricting texting and cell phone use in vehicles, yet some choose to engage in behaviors that put everyone on the road at risk.鈥�

鈥淭hese traumatic injuries are entirely preventable,鈥� added Ebel. She noted that prior studies show texting while driving increases crash risk by 23 times, similar to driving with a blood alcohol level of 0.19.

In 2010, Washington state adopted a primary enforcement law for hand-held mobile devices and text messaging with an imposed fine of $124. The rise in distracted driving is prompting greater attention from law enforcement. In a recent King County seat belt citation campaign, more tickets were issued for cell phone use and texting than for not wearing a seat belt.

鈥淥therwise responsible drivers who talk or text have caused collisions that kill or seriously injure others. These drivers are criminally prosecuted, just like other impaired drivers,鈥� said Amy Freedheim, senior deputy prosecuting attorney at the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

The data released today are preliminary results, part of a broader study conducted to explore the effects of law enforcement on electronic distracted driving.听 In October, investigators will release a statewide report card providing more data by county. This baseline assessment will help county law enforcement, prosecutors and public health officials evaluate the effectiveness of various ways to stop distract driving. If intervention strategies are effective, traffic safety experts hope that a successful model can be adapted in other states.

鈥淭he recent findings provide objective support for what we鈥檝e long believed: texting contributes to more collisions than we can prove,鈥� said Chief John R. Batiste of the Washington State Patrol. 鈥淎fter a collision, drivers almost never admit they were texting. We believe the problem has, until now, been drastically under-reported.鈥�

The study is part of a statewide collaboration between the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, the King County Prosecuting Attorney鈥檚 Office, Seattle King County Public Health, Target Zero, the Washington State Traffic Commission, and the Washington State Patrol.听 A grant to Ebel听 from the听 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation鈥檚 Public Health Law Research program is funding the study.

Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center studies how people incur injuries and what can be done to prevent them.听 Founded in 1985, the Center is affiliated with UW Medicine’s Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

The Washington Traffic Safety Commission filmed teen drivers with their consent. The footage demonstrates real-life instances of distracted driving. The footage is available for viewing at and downloading听 in broadcast quality

As the weather gets warmer, Harborview Medical Center reports a significant increase in the number of children needing treatment because they fell from an open window. Each year between 3,000 and 5,000 children in the United States, most of them toddlers, will experience a window fall.

Dr. Brian Johnston, chief of pediatrics at Harborview and a researcher with Harborview鈥檚 Injury Prevention and Research Center, said the hospital receives about 50 pediatric window fall patients annually. About one-fourth of these children experience a serious head injury or permanent disability as a result of the fall.

Most window falls are caused by children falling against a window screen. Screens are not designed to support a child鈥檚 weight, and when the child makes contact with the screen, the screen pops out. Many people are unaware that window falls present a serious risk for children, or they blame the accident on lack of parental supervision.

鈥淧eople always want to blame the parents,鈥� Johnston said, 鈥渂ut the truth is most of the parents were observing appropriate supervision at the time of the accident. They may not realize that screens won鈥檛 support their child鈥檚 weight, or the child may approach the window too quickly for the parents to react in time.”

To reduce the risk of window falls, Johnston recommends these easy safety tips:

• Do not open windows more than four inches.
• Place a guard or stop in the window.
• Move furniture and boxes away from windows to discourage children from climbing on them to reach an open window.