The future of our health and the health of the communities we live in relies, in many ways, on students in the health sciences. The education and experiences that future doctors, dentists, pharmacists, nurses, social workers and public health experts receive will to a large degree shape how those professionals work and work together when solving problems affecting our health.

And while the 天美影视传媒鈥檚 highly ranked health sciences schools have long focused on interdisciplinary education and training students to be part of seamlessly integrated teams, the space where much of that training takes place on 鲍奥鈥檚 Seattle campus has been in need of a serious upgrade.

That upgrade is now 鈥渙fficially鈥� underway as deans of the UW Health Sciences schools 鈥� Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Public Health and Social Work 鈥� and Washington State legislators celebrated construction of the on the 鲍奥鈥檚 Seattle campus with a small, physically distanced groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday, Aug. 27.

鈥淭his new facility will enable our students across the full range of health sciences to work in a setting that better mirrors the way they鈥檒l be engaging in patient care as professionals,鈥� said UW President Ana Mari Cauce. 鈥淭his will result in better care for the patients they serve, because we鈥檝e seen the benefits that come from coordinating various health disciplines, rather than keeping them siloed.鈥�

The Health Sciences Education Building will be where students learn integrated patient care听in an integrated training facility. The 100,000 square-foot, four-story, $100 million, fully modern facility received $70 million from the Washington state Legislature. The University is seeking an additional $30 million in private support from community members through and donations to complete funding for the building.

鈥淚 am proud to have worked with my legislative colleagues to support this project with nearly $70 million in state capital funds. Ensuring that UW health sciences students have access to state-of-the-art interdisciplinary training facilities is critical to our state鈥檚 health care workforce pipeline,鈥� said Sen. David Frockt (D-46th District).

The new building is designed around flexible spaces that allow for 21st-century teaching techniques, including high-tech learning facilities used for computer simulation, mock treatment labs and an ultra-modern Anatomy Lab Suite with virtual anatomy capabilities. The facility will also enable robust remote learning access for students and professionals who are part of the 鲍奥鈥檚 multi-state medical education program 鈥� WWAMI, which stands for the states served by the School of Medicine: Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho.

In addition, the health sciences deans envision a building with the capacity for students to immediately share ideas, images and projects in classrooms and in their working teams.听The finished building will also have a library extension that is integrated into the main classroom floor to help students immediately engage evidence in their learning, gain skills in navigating resources and benefit from coaching about how to use library tools, resources and in their project work.

Fifty years ago, the average person was under the care of three health-care professionals. Now, the average healthy person relies on 16 professionals for their overall health care. Consequently, integrated patient care is increasingly necessary for the future of health sciences. The building will be a hub that fosters interaction, collaboration and cutting-edge learning necessary for recruiting and retaining talented students and faculty 鈥� critical to maintaining the 鲍奥鈥檚 top-ranked programs.

鈥淭he Health Sciences Education Building is a state-of-the-art facility that will prepare the next generation of professionals for a more collaborative, more collegial role as part of interprofessional teams to address today鈥檚 health care needs. From pandemics to health equity, the nation鈥檚 first integrated health sciences training facility will provide students with a high-tech learning space to develop solutions to global issues affecting population health,鈥� said School of Nursing Executive Dean Azita Emami, who is also chair of the Board of Health Sciences Deans.

The building will be completed in May 2022.

For more information contact Jake Ellison at Jbe3@UW.edu.

Beginning June 26, face coverings will be required statewide, as by听Gov. Jay Inslee and Secretary of Health John Wiesman. This mandate follows on the heels of a听mandatory mask proclamation for Yakima County earlier this week and a May 18 face covering directive for King County.

The order states that face coverings are required in all indoor spaces and outdoor areas where people can’t maintain 6 feet of distance from other people. More details, including several exemptions, are on the state’s coronavirus response website.

In this video,听, dean of the UW School of Public Health and professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences,听offers听some practical information about using masks to slow the spread of COVID-19.

UW School of Public Health professor , also provided comments on why it’s important to wear a mask in public.

“Masks aren鈥檛 perfect 鈥� nothing is perfect 鈥� but I think about a mask the same way that I think about my seatbelt and setting down my phone when I鈥檓 driving: a small action that I can take that makes me safer, keeps others safer and gets me to where I want to be without something bad that I didn鈥檛 want to happen,” Baeten said.

Additional comments from Baeten:听

“I wear a mask because I care about the health of my family and community.

“Wearing a mask is a reminder, to me and to those around me, that I care about everyone鈥檚 health and that I鈥檓 doing my part to get us all past coronavirus.

“When public health folks talk about being all in this together, it is not about making things tough for everyone 鈥� it is about everyone chipping in, all together, and that鈥檚 how we stop this virus in our communities.”

New studies show that mask-wearing is one of the most effective things people can do to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. A听 by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the UW found that wearing masks can reduce the risk of respiratory illnesses like COVID-19 by one third or more.

The new statewide mandate also reflects the knowledge that people can have COVID-19 and have no symptoms. Masks are primarily to help protect those around you in the event you have COVID-19 and don鈥檛 know it. By covering your nose and mouth, they limit the spread of droplets from coughs and sneezes.

For more information on wearing masks, visit the state of Washington鈥檚听.

Contacts:

Public information officer Jake Ellison: jbe3@uw.edu or 206-543-1969
Video producer Kiyomi Taguchi: ktaguchi@uw.edu or 206-685-2716

Beginning May 18, King County is asking people to wear face coverings in most public settings. The states that people should wear a face covering at any indoor or outdoor public space where they may be within 6 feet of someone who does not live with them.

is the dean of the UW School of Public Health and a professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences. She answers questions about the directive and shares information about using face coverings, including what kinds of masks are appropriate to wear and how they protect people.

The new recommendations reflect the knowledge that people can have COVID-19 without showing symptoms. Masks primarily help protect other people in the event that you have COVID-19 and don’t know it. By covering your nose and mouth, masks limit the spread of droplets from coughs and sneezes.

Godwin said it’s a good idea to wear a mask when leaving home if it will be difficult to maintain a distance of 6 feet or more from听other people, such as at a grocery store or crowded outdoor area.

More information:
Video producer Kiyomi Taguchi: ktaguchi@uw.edu or 206-685-2716

Beginning May 18, residents to wear a face covering when in an indoor or outdoor public space where you may come within 6 feet of someone who does not live with you.听The county’s new directive follows CDC regarding the use of cloth face coverings.

Public information officer Jake Ellison: jbe3@uw.edu听or 206-543-1969
Video producer Kiyomi Taguchi: ktaguchi@uw.edu or 206-685-2716

In a to the White House Coronavirus Task Force, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) drew upon the testimony by Hilary Godwin, dean of the 天美影视传媒 School of Public Health, in calling for federal guidelines be established for the aviation industry and the traveling public.听

鈥淎t the (May 6) about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the aviation industry, Dr. Hilary Godwin testified to the importance of having national guidelines and that no one measure in and of itself will solve this problem, so we need to weave a net of protections to have the biggest impact,鈥� the senator wrote.

鈥淚 recognize that air travel is a critical part of our nation’s economy,” Godwin said in her , submitted to the committee ahead of the hearing, “as we resume air travel, we must prioritize keeping airports, airplanes听and the public safe.鈥�

In her letter to Vice President Mike Pence, Dr. Robert R. Redfield, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Cantwell summarized the safety measures listed by Godwin at the hearing:听

• Contact and travel information gathering to aid in contact tracing;
• Communicating to passengers, workers, and the public about good hygiene;
• Screening individuals for symptoms prior to travel;
• Minimizing contact between individuals at screening points and during flights;
• Wearing masks and gloves when appropriate;
• Frequently cleaning high touch surfaces;
• Requiring HEPA filters on airplanes;
• Making hand sanitizer readily available;
• Requiring passenger, and airport and airline worker attestation to being asymptomatic;
• COVID-19 testing at airport entry points, once there is widespread availability of听inexpensive point-of-care tests.

鈥淎s I’ve laid out,鈥� Godwin concluded in her testimony, 鈥渨e can improve safety by implementing a variety of measures to limit virus transmission throughout the travel continuum. The aviation industry and lawmakers must also work closely with federal, state, territorial and local health agencies to rapidly integrate new information, ensure that communities have the plans, tools and resources to identify potentially exposed individuals during and after air travel, as well as ensure sufficient healthcare capacity in high volume destinations. Public health professionals must be involved in these conversations and throughout the planning process.鈥�

A little after 10 p.m. on March 19, 天美影视传媒 graduate students Anne Massey and David Coomes happened to be online when they received an email听that would give them an unexpected role in Washington鈥檚 rapidly evolving response to the outbreak of a novel coronavirus.

As context, the World Health Organization had just the spread of the virus a pandemic, the state of Washington had gone from having the country鈥檚 for the virus to having the nation鈥檚 from COVID-19. The number of infections had jumped to statewide and in the nation.

The two graduate students in the Department of Epidemiology are members of the听, or SEAL Team, established in 2015 in the UW School of Public Health. Roughly 20 team members had been working since early February with Public Health 听鈥� Seattle & King County, the state’s Department of Health and other agencies to track health information. Massey, Coomes and others had already helped in various ways.

And as the official response to the outbreak changed day to day, some assignments ended while others were still developing. Here was a chance for Massey, teaching assistant and student leader of the SEAL Team, and Coomes to put their nascent expertise back to work in the state’s response.

鈥淲e had the initial training we all went through in the SEAL program. The expectation was that because response to the pandemic was changing so fast, we wouldn’t know what we would be doing until we got a call. So we had to be ready,鈥� Massey said.

Backstage access

The late-night email came from UW School of Public Health associate dean, professor of epidemiology and SEAL Team director Janet Baseman: Could they make it to the Washington State in Shoreline 听the next morning to help launch a new system registering people for a pop-up ?

鈥淢y first thought was about getting child care,鈥� said Coomes. “I have a 2-year-old and had to lean on my partner to cover child care for the day. But I wanted听to see them get it off the ground.听The response was changing all the time, because they鈥檙e constantly getting new information and dealing with resource challenges. They were throwing this together at a moment鈥檚 notice.”

The two were able to commit.听The next morning, a Friday, at the lab in Shoreline, they climbed into a state vehicle with a state official and headed for the Tacoma Dome. On the way, they learned how the program worked for this particular use: People remotely filled out an online survey, and based on symptoms, risk factors or involvement in a frontline occupation, they got a unique number and appointment to get tested.
At the Tacoma Dome, the students had to wander around the essentially deserted building for a bit looking for the way in. Once they found the right door, they were sent to听backstage rooms meant for concert performers听and听got to work training local public health workers on the听registration听program.

鈥淚t was all very exciting,鈥� said Massey. 鈥淲e had worked with that software application before, but this was an expedited use of the program. And, because we had the relationships with state officials and this tool was already created, we were able to quickly respond to the pandemic, to deploy skills and be creative.鈥�

First wave

Every quarter for the past five years, roughly 20 students from across the School of Public Health get trained and can then volunteer for assignments to help state and local health agencies in outbreak investigations 鈥� such as the 2019 or food safety issues.

But the field assignments for this spring quarter would be on a whole other level: Helping agencies respond to the greatest infectious disease threat in at least a generation.

鈥淪EAL students are trained to provide surge support to our public health practice partners,鈥� said Baseman. “The fact that their skills can be applied now to a global pandemic as it’s unfolding is pretty amazing.鈥�

Epidemiology graduate students Haylea Hannah and Erin Morgan thought so, too.

The two SEAL students had jumped into the first wave of Public Health 鈥� Seattle & King County鈥檚 efforts in early February to get a handle on who might be bringing the virus to Washington from out of the country. They made phone calls to help monitor travelers who had symptoms of the disease and talked to family members and other close contacts.

鈥淲hen I did the symptom-monitoring calls,” Hannah said, “people would be really nice. I think they thought it was kind that they were hearing from the county health department. Most of them said they had heard a little bit from the CDC when they got off their flight, but they were glad to have the information and to know who they should reach out to.鈥�

Morgan explained that they started out contacting all returning travelers, but quickly realized there were too many.听Even with SEAL Team backup, the health agency didn鈥檛 have the resources to contact everyone. So she听helped the agency brainstorm other strategies. They figured out a听way听to direct recent travelers to information they needed, without causing an investigator to contact every single traveler.

鈥淭his is such an unprecedented time,鈥� Morgan said. “Being in public health and being a student training for a career in epidemiology, it just felt great to have an opportunity to help. It felt impactful for me to do anything that took like one additional thing off a to-do list.”

Nitty-gritty of public health

“The SEAL students听came in super excited, and if they had to do something different, they were totally ready to go and do whatever needed to be done,鈥� said听Melinda Huntington-Frazier, a public health nurse in the听Communicable Disease Epidemiology & Immunization Section听of Public Health 鈥� Seattle & King County.

鈥淎t the time, we were just learning about听asymptomatic听infections,鈥澨鼿untington-Frazier added. “There were so many questions. It was great seeing students growing and learning to tackle the bigger questions as new details, like听the possibility of an asymptomatic contagion,听were coming in.鈥�

The SEAL Team also got experience with the nitty-gritty data work of case and contact investigation in public health while helping out at the Washington State Department of Health.

鈥淭he SEALs assisted the data management team at an imperative time during COVID-19 investigations,鈥� said听Kelsey Nichols, of the department’s听Office of Communicable Disease Epidemiology. “The investigations team was doing phone interviews and transcribing the data on paper when we first began interviewing people, and that data needed to be integrated into our data surveillance system as quickly as possible.”

Real-world impact

The SEAL Team includes newly trained members and experienced members like Coomes, who has transitioned to helping 鲍奥鈥檚 Environmental Health & Safety department stay in contact with COVID-19 cases associated with the university. The student group continues to support various agencies combating the pandemic.

Each student can recall that moment they recognized their efforts, no matter how technical or abstract, was really about the people affected and suffering during the crisis.

“When we called the son of one of the women who had passed,鈥� remembered Morgan, “he was just very grateful for someone reaching out and checking in on him and providing more information and making sure he was doing OK. That was probably one of the more impactful moments for me.”

Hannah鈥檚 passion for working in public health had brought her to the 鲍奥鈥檚 epidemiology graduate program, but along the way she鈥檚 discovered a strong interest in how public health agencies communicate.

鈥淚鈥檓 familiar with data and its interpretation,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut once you have that, you have to think about how it will be interpreted by the public. How should we present it so that it鈥檚 clear? What numbers do you communicate and how do you do that? That鈥檚 the piece this experience has highlighted for me.”

Once the worst is over, Morgan hopes to be a part of research into how injuries and violence played out during the pandemic.

鈥淭here will inevitably be side effects of people being told to stay at home, and some of them are positive, such as decreases in听motor-vehicle听collisions. But with the uncertainty and economic fallout, there鈥檚 the potential increased risk for injury, self-inflicted or toward other people. So even when things start to calm down with the pandemic, there will be a lot of questions and a lot of听research into what happened,鈥澨齭he said.

Massey, a teaching assistant, continues helping Baseman lead the SEAL Team, a program that was instrumental in her decision to leave a career to go back to school in public health at UW. She grew up in the Seattle area, and for much of her life has had an interest in pandemics and reading about them.

鈥淎nd to be able to not only help public health efforts听but to be in a pandemic in the region I grew up in, reading those books about spillover diseases from animals, all of those things coming together has been really stunning,鈥� Massey said.

The SEAL Team story continues. Some 30 graduate student members are currently supporting the state鈥檚 health agencies.

VIDEO: Baseman and other SEAL Team members join School of Public Health Dean Hilary Godwin in her weekly webinar sharing the latest updates on the school鈥檚 response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

For more information on the SEAL Team, contact Baseman at jbaseman@uw.edu or Massey at aemassey@uw.edu.

Learn more about the 鲍奥鈥檚 Population Health Initiative: a 25-year, interdisciplinary effort to bring understanding and solutions to the biggest challenges facing communities.

Godwin currently is professor and associate dean in the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. She is nationally recognized for her teaching and leadership, in addition to her interdisciplinary, collaborative research on nanotoxicology and the chemistry of lead poisoning and its impact on public health.

鈥淲e are enthusiastic that Dr. Godwin will join our university-wide work on population health. She has the remarkable ability to work across disciplines and perspectives. She understands the role that everyone 鈥� faculty, students and staff 鈥� can play in our vision to create a world in which all people can live healthier and more fulfilling lives,鈥� said Baldasty.

Trained in chemistry and biophysics, Godwin has supervised research programs in mechanistic toxicology and environmental health for more than 20 years. In addition to researching lead poisoning, her interests include the impacts of climate change on public health, efficacy of conservation programs and policies on indigenous populations, and community-based approaches to addressing environmental health problems.

As a UCLA Distinguished Teacher Award recipient, Godwin brings to the UW extensive experience in teaching and advising. Her leadership acumen and academic credentials are outstanding, as is her track record of working for, and within, communities to solve difficult problems that affect the public鈥檚 health. At UCLA, she has cultivated future leaders among faculty through recruiting, coaching, mentoring and promoting professional development.

鈥淭he 天美影视传媒 is a truly special place and I look forward to joining the School of Public Health and working collaboratively with a broad range of stakeholders to leverage their many existing strengths to help make the school, campus and surrounding community even stronger and healthier,鈥� Godwin said.

Godwin began her career as assistant professor at Northwestern University, and was appointed chair of its chemistry department. After serving as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute professor, she moved to UCLA where she was chair of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences. Since 2014, she has served as associate dean for academic programs in the Fielding School of Public Health, a position she also held from 2008-2011. Currently, Godwin holds professorial appointments in both the Department of Environmental Health Sciences in the Fielding School of Public Health and in UCLA’s Institute of Environment and Sustainability.

While at Northwestern, Godwin received a $1 million award from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to develop a program to help students, particularly those at risk, who are interested in the sciences transition from high school to college. Through the program, she strengthened her connections with local health departments and community-based organizations working on lead poisoning prevention. The experience was the primary reason she transitioned from chemistry to public health.

Godwin earned her Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry with honors from the University of Chicago, followed by her doctorate in physical chemistry from Stanford University. She completed a National Institutes of Health fellowship at Johns Hopkins University鈥檚 School of Medicine.

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