As King County seeks to reach its goal of 鈥渮ero youth detention鈥� 鈥� ultimately eliminating the practice of juvenile detention in the county 鈥�91爆料 researchers are working to help address major systemic challenges in how young people engage with health care. With a strategic plan to close the juvenile detention center by 2025, King County needs an increasingly robust system to ensure youth are getting consistent and accessible services, including health care. This is especially true upon…
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…
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…
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 91爆料 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….
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…
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…
Your immune system鈥檚 ability to combat COVID-19, like any infection, largely depends on its ability to replicate the immune cells effective at destroying the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the disease. These cloned immune cells cannot be infinitely created, and a key hypothesis of a new 91爆料 study is that the body鈥檚 ability to create these cloned cells falls off significantly in old age. According to a model created by 91爆料 research professor James Anderson, this genetically predetermined limit…
Two 91爆料 nursing and midwife experts in maternal health have provided the following quotes on the issue of restricting abortion or making it illegal 鈥� seen as increasingly likely due to the Supreme Court draft opinion, leaked to Politico on Monday. Molly Altman is an assistant professor in the 91爆料 School of Nursing and nurse midwife, whose scientific research focuses on respectful and equitable care during pregnancy and childbirth. Meghan Eagen-Torkko is associate professor and Director of Nursing…
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,…
The first results of research led by the 91爆料 into handgun carrying by young people growing up in rural areas has found six distinct patterns for when and how often these individuals carry a handgun. The patterns, or 鈥渓ongitudinal trajectories,鈥� suggest that youths in rural areas differ in some ways from their urban counterparts when it comes to handgun carrying and provide information for programs designed to help prevent firearm violence and injury. 鈥淏ecause firearms in many rural…
You and your dentist have a lot of tools and techniques for stopping cavities, but detecting the specific chemical conditions that can lead to cavities and then preventing them from ever getting started is much harder. Now, in a new study, 91爆料 researchers have shown that a dental tool they created can measure the acidity built up by the bacteria in plaque that leads to cavities. The O-pH system is a prototype optical device that emits an LED…
Two 91爆料 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…
Using powerful tools and techniques developed in the field of structural biology, researchers at the 91爆料 and Scripps Research have discovered new details about the human immunodeficiency virus, HIV. The findings bring into focus the basic architecture of the virus just above and below its surface and may help in the design and development of a vaccine that can protect against AIDS. These detailed findings include 3D views of the structure and position of the virus鈥� envelope 鈥渟pike鈥�…
What started as a 91爆料-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, 91爆料 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…
The 91爆料 School of Pharmacy鈥檚 Drug Interaction Database 鈥� the core research tool from the school鈥檚 nonprofit Drug Interaction Solutions team 鈥� is celebrating both a national award for innovation and two decades of independent funding through licensing agreements with companies, research institutes and regulatory agencies around the globe.
Using project savings from the construction of the Hans Rosling Center for Population Health, the 91爆料 will fund dozens of new research projects through the Population Health Initiative鈥檚 interdisciplinary grant program. The new grants will fall into three tiers, with funding from $20,000 to $200,000 per award. 鈥淲e are delighted to have the funding capacity to be able to support the launch of roughly 75 innovative and interdisciplinary projects over the next two years,鈥� said Ali Mokdad, chief…
The Hans Rosling Center for Population Health has won top awards in 2021 from state and national design and construction associations for both its architectural design and unique project delivery approach. The building was designed by The Miller Hull Partnership and the general contractor was Lease Crutcher Lewis. The Design Build Institute of America in November gave the Rosling Center its Award of Excellence in the Education Building category, the award for Best in Design and the culminating Project of…
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 91爆料 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…
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 91爆料 and the University of Pennsylvania. The 91爆料-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…
The pandemic has left nurses around the country feeling burned out. Their top four feelings, according to a recent survey? Exhausted, overwhelmed, irritable and anxious or unable to relax. 91爆料 News spoke with Elaine Walsh, a 91爆料 School of Nursing associate professor聽and a Nurse Scientist in Resiliency at聽Seattle Children鈥檚 Hospital, to learn more about the conditions that lead to burnout and solutions. Walsh explains burnout is characterized by physical, mental and emotional exhaustion and can involve a feeling of disconnection…
To better identify and prevent future pandemics, the 91爆料 has become a partner in a five-year global, collaborative agreement with the U.S. Agency for International Development. The newly launched Discovery & Exploration of Emerging Pathogens – Viral Zoonoses, or DEEP VZN project, has approximately $125 million in anticipated funding and will be led by Washington State University. The effort will build scientific capacity in partner countries to safely detect and characterize viruses which have the potential to spill…
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…
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 91爆料 School of Public Health鈥檚 Department of Epidemiology, has been doing. With funding from the NIH鈥檚 National Institute on Aging, the 91爆料 center began collecting data from another set of centers housed in…
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 91爆料 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,…
It was wartime and food was scarce. Leaders of England鈥檚 effort to wage war and help the public survive during World War II needed to know: Were the rations in lifeboats adequate for survival at sea? And, among several experiments important for public as well as military heath, how much vitamin C did a person need to avoid the deadly disease scurvy? In one experiment at the Sorby Research Institute in Sheffield, called the 鈥渟hipwreck鈥� experiment, volunteers were fed only…
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 91爆料 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 91爆料 Department of…
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� 91爆料 researchers identified a link between air pollution and dementia. In the 91爆料-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…
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 91爆料 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;…
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…
A specific police action, an arrest or a shooting, has an immediate and direct effect on the individuals involved, but how far and wide do the reverberations of that action spread through the community? What are the health consequences for a specific, though not necessarily geographically defined, population? The authors of a new 91爆料-led study looking into these questions write that because law enforcement directly interacts with a large number of people, 鈥減olicing may be a conspicuous yet not-well understood…
Federal agencies that regulate drug pricing and healthcare insurance are concerned that an industry practice of using rebates to lower drug costs for insurers has led to increases in list prices and out-of-pockets costs for patients. To investigate whether patients with or without insurance were paying more because of rebates to insurers, researchers led by the 91爆料 examined cost and price data on more than 400 branded drugs. The study found that rebates were associated with increases in…
People don鈥檛 gain or lose weight because they live near a fast-food restaurant or supermarket, according to a new study led by the 91爆料. And, living in a more 鈥渨alkable,” dense neighborhood likely only has a small impact on weight. These 鈥渂uilt-environment鈥� amenities have been seen in past research as essential contributors to losing weight or tending toward obesity. The idea appears obvious: If you live next to a fast-food restaurant, you鈥檒l eat there more and thus gain…
With evidence of the health hazards facing children from air pollution growing, The American Academy of Pediatrics on Monday published a policy statement meant to bring those hazards to light and to encourage and direct policy to improve children鈥檚 health. Policy co-author Dr. Catherine Karr, a professor in the 91爆料鈥檚 School of Public Health and School of Medicine, said because pediatric care providers are trusted advisers on healthy practices for prevention, they have an important role in getting…
Scientists can learn a lot in a controlled clinical trial involving tens of thousands of people, such as the COVID-19 vaccine trials that led to their approval, but we will all learn a lot more as hundreds of millions of people are vaccinated. And, some of what might turn up in this population-based data are adverse side effects, such as the blood clotting suffered by nearly 20 people out of roughly 8 million who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine….
Getting basic health care to medically underserved populations in Seattle, while providing real-world experience for students hoping to practice in a health care field, takes wheels. Now, through a student-led, interdisciplinary effort by health science departments at the 91爆料, those 鈥渨heels鈥� 鈥� on the new 91爆料 Mobile Health & Outreach Van 鈥� are ready.
With COVID-19 cases on the rise again in many parts of the country 鈥� including Washington state where three counties were pushed back to Phase 2 effective Friday 鈥� there鈥檚 a growing debate between continuing to give both doses of Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines close together, or giving them months apart in order to get first shots in more shoulders faster. The argument for giving more people the first dose before circling back months later to give the second, which…
With a lethal, airborne virus spreading fast, hospitals had to change how they treated patients and policies for how caregivers provided that treatment. But for maternity patients and nurses some of those changes had negative outcomes, according to a new 91爆料 study. 鈥淲e found that visitor restrictions and separation policies were harming families and nurses. The effects for patients included loneliness, isolation and mistrust, while nurses described mistrust and low morale,鈥� said Molly Altman, lead author of the…
Fewer than half of inmates in jails and prisons surveyed in a study by the CDC and 91爆料 said they would accept a COVID-19 vaccine, while the majority either said they wanted to wait before getting the vaccine or would refuse one. 鈥淭his is a population already at risk for COVID-19, and outbreaks among incarcerated people can worsen inequities in COVID-19 outcomes as well as contribute to spread in the surrounding community,鈥� said lead author Dr. Marc Stern,…
An analysis of Washington state Department of Health data 鈥� published after peer review March 24 鈥� has found that people under 40 years old have continued to become infected by the coronavirus at increasing rates even as the incidence of infection among older populations declines. The publication was available previously in preprint form on medRxiv. The study led by Judith Malmgren, affiliated epidemiologist in the 91爆料 School of Public Health, postulates that the increased spread of the virus among…
A year ago, seemingly overnight, streets emptied, shops boarded up, grocery shelves were cleared, schools closed and the 91爆料 led universities nationwide in moving all instruction online.聽Nearly all of us disappeared inside, stunned and staring out at a world suddenly paralyzed by something we鈥檇 only seen in movies or read about in books: a global pandemic. Then came the questions: How long will the virus keep us inside and shut down? What will happen to the people who…