天美影视传媒

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Tag: School of Public Health

September 7, 2023

UW assessment finds fentanyl and methamphetamine smoke linger on public transit vehicles

Two years ago, as life regained its rhythm and public transit once again filled with people, train and bus operators spotted a troubling trend. Some operators reported instances of people smoking drugs on their vehicles, and worried that the haze it created could linger, potentially affecting workers鈥� physical and mental health.聽 Spurred by operators鈥� concerns, five transit agencies in Washington and Oregon approached researchers at the 天美影视传媒 with a yes-or-no question: Were transit operators being exposed to drug…

June 26, 2023

New report, tool suggest how Washington can better protect against extreme heat

report cover with silhouettes on skyline

Two years after the Pacific Northwest heat dome 鈥� the deadliest weather-related disaster in state history 鈥� a collaborative effort has drawn up recommendations for how people and groups across the state could prevent future heat-related illness and save lives. The effort involves a report led by the UW Climate Impacts Group and an interactive risk-mapping tool led by the UW Center for Health and the Global Environment,

September 26, 2022

Heat-related mortality risk is widespread across Washington state, study shows

W in sunshine

Heat-related deaths occur across Washington state, even in regions with typically milder climates. This is the most extensive study yet of heat-related mortality in Washington state, and the first to look beyond the major population to and include rural areas. Researchers used statistical methods to uncover 鈥渉idden鈥� deaths that may have listed something else, like illness or a chronic disease, as the primary cause.

September 9, 2022

Pandemic federal programs helped kids in need get access to 1.5 billion meals every month

National Guard distributing food

  When schools closed during the first year of the pandemic, an immediate and potentially devastating problem surfaced: How would millions of children in struggling families get the school meals many of them depended on? The U.S. Congress responded by authorizing the Department of Agriculture to roll out two major programs. It launched the 鈥済rab and go school meals,鈥� which helped schools provide prepared meals for off-site consumption and distributed funding for the state-operated Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) program, which gave…

August 2, 2022

Popular map for exploring environmental health disparities, vulnerabilities in Washington gets an update

Since it first launched in 2019, Washington state鈥檚 Environmental Health Disparities Map has been used to help decisionmakers and government agencies engage with overburdened communities to clean up contamination, improve buildings and electric grids, plant trees and many other projects. Using a complex matrix of data, this open-access, interactive map ranks Washington鈥檚 nearly 1,500 U.S. census tracts by health risks due to environmental degradation and economic and health disparities. It acts as a guide for state agencies and the legislature…

July 20, 2022

UW atmospheric sciences achieves No. 1 global ranking; nearly three dozen UW subjects in top 50

person stands in front of bright green wall

Eight 天美影视传媒 subjects ranked in the top 10 and Atmospheric Sciences moved to its position as No. 1 in the world on the聽Global Ranking of Academic Subjects list for 2022. The ranking, released Tuesday, was conducted by researchers at the ShanghaiRanking Consultancy, a fully independent organization dedicating to research on higher education intelligence and consultation.

July 19, 2022

Suicide prevention training for health care providers a first step in longer-term efficacy

doctor talking with patient

After Washington became the first state to require suicide prevention training for health care providers, the 天美影视传媒 worked with experts and organizations to develop the All Patients Safe program. A new study shows how All Patients Safe helped providers of all specialties learn how to identify and respond to patients at risk of suicide.

July 12, 2022

UW study strengthens evidence of link between air pollution and child brain development

Seattle traffic

Air pollution is not just a problem for lungs. Increasingly, research suggests air pollution can influence childhood behavioral problems and even IQ. A new study led by the 天美影视传媒 has added evidence showing that both prenatal and postnatal exposure to air pollution can harm kids. The study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, found that children whose mothers experienced higher nitrogen dioxide聽(NO2) exposure during pregnancy, particularly in the first and second trimester, were more likely to have behavioral problems….

May 27, 2022

Critical race theory at center of UW study of unequal access to treatment for opioid addiction

Opioid use disorder is an addiction crisis in the United States that has become increasingly lethal during the COVID-19 pandemic. To preserve access to life-saving treatment during the pandemic, federal drug agencies loosened requirements on physicians for treating these patients, including moving patient evaluations away from in-person exams to telemedicine. This federal policy change focused primarily on buprenorphine, a highly effective treatment for opioid use disorder and one that is much less onerous and stigmatizing than methadone, the other most…

May 7, 2022

Consensus approach proposed to protect human health from intentional and wild forest fires

Prescribed forest fire

All forest fire smoke is bad for people, but not all fires in forests are bad. This is the conundrum faced by experts in forest management and public health: Climate change and decades of fire suppression that have increased fuels are contributing to larger and more intense wildfires and, in order to improve forest health and reduce these explosive fires, prescribed and managed fire is necessary. Video: Experts collaborate to troubleshoot necessary fires and harmful smoke   Journalists: Download soundbites…

May 3, 2022

Many pathologists agree overdiagnosis of skin cancer happens, but don鈥檛 change diagnosis behavior

Doctor Examining Patient

As the most serious type of skin cancer, a melanoma diagnosis carries emotional, financial and medical consequences. That鈥檚 why recent studies finding that there is an overdiagnosis of melanoma are a significant cause for concern. 鈥淥verdiagnosis is the diagnosis of disease that will not harm a person in their lifetime. If melanoma is being overdiagnosed, it means that too many people are getting the scary news that they have cancer, and receiving and paying for unnecessary treatment,鈥� said Kathleen Kerr,…

February 28, 2022

UW authors in IPCC report emphasize threats to human health and well-being

Two 天美影视传媒 experts in climate change and health are lead authors of the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The new report titled Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptations and Vulnerability, published Monday morning, details in over three thousand pages a 鈥渄ire warning鈥� about the consequences of inaction on reducing the emissions that are causing our planet to warm and on implementing interventions to prepare for and effectively manage the dangerous impacts of climate change…

February 9, 2022

New Center for Environmental Forensic Science aims to disrupt and dismantle international illegal wildlife trade

seized ivory

Across the globe, endangered species are at risk for illegal poaching. African elephants are sought out for their ivory, rhinoceros for their singular horns, and armadillo-like pangolins for their protective, brittle scales. Add to that list valuable and environmentally sensitive trees illegally harvested throughout the world where entire ecosystems are being deforested and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing that is devastating oceans. These illicit markets, estimated at $1 trillion annually, cause enormous environmental impacts and have the potential to unleash new, deadly pathogens.

January 26, 2022

Air pollution from planes, roads infiltrates schools and can be dramatically reduced with portable air filters

Professor testing air quality

What started as a 天美影视传媒-led project to measure air pollution near Sea-Tac International Airport has led to schools in the area installing portable air filters to improve indoor air quality. First, UW researchers found they were able to parse aircraft pollution from roadway pollution in the communities under Sea-Tac International Airport flight paths and map the air quality impacts of the ultrafine particles associated with planes. Then they discovered that the mix of ultrafine particle pollution, black carbon…

December 17, 2021

Deforestation-fueled heat already affecting millions of outdoor workers in the tropics

series of maps

New research from an interdisciplinary team at the 天美影视传媒, Duke University and The Nature Conservancy shows how local temperature increases in the tropics 鈥� compounded by accelerating deforestation 鈥� may already be jeopardizing the well-being and productivity of outdoor workers.

November 11, 2021

Deforestation, climate change linked to more worker deaths and unsafe conditions

Outdoor workers in the world鈥檚 lower-latitude tropical forests may face a greater risk of heat-related deaths and unsafe working conditions because of deforestation and climate warming, according to a study led by The Nature Conservancy, the 天美影视传媒 and Indonesia鈥檚 Mulawarman University. In the study, researchers found that increased temperatures of 0.95 C (1.7 F) in the deforested areas of Berau Regency, Indonesia, between 2002 and 2018 were linked to roughly 118 additional deaths in 2018, and 20 additional…

October 28, 2021

Countermarketing based on anti-smoking campaigns reduces buying of sugary 鈥榝ruit鈥� drinks for children

spoonful of sugar with raspberry on top

Public health messages such as in the image below 鈥� designed to reduce parents鈥� purchases of sugar-sweetened beverages marketed as fruit drinks for children 鈥� convinced a significant percentage of parents to avoid those drinks, according to a study by researchers at the 天美影视传媒 and the University of Pennsylvania. The UW-led study set out to assess the effect of culturally tailored countermarketing messages on drink choices, similar to stark anti-smoking campaigns, and involved more than 1,600 Latinx parents…

October 1, 2021

UW study provides rare window into work life of app-based drivers during pandemic

When you get into the car of the app-based driver you just tapped up on your phone, you expect and hope the driver and the car are safe and capable of getting you where you need to go. Apps rate drivers, which you can see. But what if the driver is sick? What if the car has a mechanical problem? What if the driver has simply had a bad day? What you may not have realized is that the driver…

September 28, 2021

Alzheimer鈥檚 data center at UW awarded $35 million to continue mission of free, global access

Neurons

For researchers around the world working to understand and treat Alzheimer鈥檚 and eventually find a cure, data from clinical exams of patients suffering from this complex neurodegenerative disease needs to be standardized and accessible. Since 1999, that鈥檚 what the National Alzheimer鈥檚 Coordinating Center (NACC), housed in the UW School of Public Health鈥檚 Department of Epidemiology, has been doing. With funding from the NIH鈥檚 National Institute on Aging, the UW center began collecting data from another set of centers housed in…

September 27, 2021

New Student Convocation on Tuesday afternoon opens UW鈥檚 2021-22 academic year

aerial view of large circular fountain on college campus

天美影视传媒 Associate Professor Wendy Barrington will be the featured speaker at the university鈥檚 38th annual New Student Convocation. Barrington has joint appointments in the Department of Child, Family, and Population Health Nursing in the School of Nursing and the departments of Epidemiology and of Health Systems and Population Health in the School of Public Health.

September 7, 2021

Research, education hub on 鈥榗oastal resiliency鈥� will focus on earthquakes, coastal erosion and climate change

tsunami warning sign on the beach

The new Cascadia Coastlines and Peoples Hazards Research Hub, led by Oregon State University and the 天美影视传媒, will study coastal hazards and community resilience. The National Science Foundation awarded $18.9 million for the hub over five years.

August 20, 2021

With extreme heat increasingly common, UW expert calls for urgent planning to protect health in new Lancet series

In a new series on increasingly common extreme heat waves and their impact on human health published Thursday in the British medical journal The Lancet, a 天美影视传媒 climate change and health expert joined more than a dozen international experts to warn that聽we better prepare. 鈥淭he preventable heat stress and deaths during this summer’s heat waves highlight the importance of developing a regional heat action plan. A heat wave early warning and response plan that includes all relevant services,…

August 6, 2021

UW expert discusses protecting workers from wildfire smoke

  With wildfire smoke forecast聽for next week in Seattle and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in Oregon posting rules for keeping workers safe during increasingly smoky conditions and heat in that state, we caught up with a 天美影视传媒 expert on worker safety for advice. Check out Professor Baker’s advice on worker safety in this video.   Journalists can download the video here. Marissa Baker, an industrial hygiene program director and assistant professor in the UW Department of…

August 4, 2021

Fine particulate air pollution associated with higher risk of dementia

Pollution map Puget Sound region

Using data from two large, long-running study projects in the Puget Sound region 鈥� one that began in the late 1970s measuring air pollution and another on risk factors for dementia that began in 1994 鈥� 天美影视传媒 researchers identified a link between air pollution and dementia. In the UW-led study, a small increase in the levels of fine particle pollution (PM2.5 or particulate matter 2.5 micrometers or smaller) averaged over a decade at specific addresses in the Seattle…

July 30, 2021

Food insecurity remains high and need for assistance dramatically up in Washington

Food bank scene

Washington residents continue to experience a dramatically higher level of food insecurity 鈥� from 10% before the COVID-19 pandemic to 27%, according to the latest 天美影视传媒 and Washington State University research on food insecurity and food assistance in the state. The study team also found that need for food assistance has continued to rise. Before COVID-19, about 29% of respondents reported using food assistance. In wave 1 of the survey, food assistance use increased to 33% of respondents;…

July 23, 2021

Older workers needed for UW study on worker safety during COVID-19 pandemic

Restaurant server at table

Public health researchers have learned a lot about how the pandemic affected workers and exacerbated existing health disparities that exist in many communities. However, there鈥檚 still a lot we don鈥檛 know about the experience of workers deemed essential in the food industry and who were at higher risk of contracting COVID-19, such those working in grocery stores, restaurants, delivery and factories. To find out how food workers were or were not protected and how they can be better protected going…

July 16, 2021

20 UW researchers elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences for 2021

Twenty scientists and engineers at the 天美影视传媒 are among the 38 new members elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences for 2021, according to a July 15 announcement. New members were chosen for 鈥渢heir outstanding record of scientific and technical achievement, and their willingness to work on behalf of the Academy to bring the best available science to bear on issues within the state of Washington.鈥�