Shubham Bansal and other students founded Narcare in 2023 as an independent nonprofit organization based in Washington. It has since expanded nationwide with various chapters advocating for increased accessibility to naloxone in communities. 

Heidi van Rooyen didn’t pursue a degree in public health, but it came knocking on her door all the same. “In a way, public health found me,” she said. It found her growing up in South Africa. From a young age, van Rooyen had a sharp awareness of health inequities that resulted from apartheid.

The Department of Global Health (DGH) is honored to welcome 45 new students to our community. Of the 45 students, six are joining the Pathobiology PhD program, nine are beginning their studies in the PhD in Global Health Metrics and Implementation Science program, and 30 are entering the Master of Global Health program.  

On October 1, Heidi van Rooyen began her appointment as the Chair of the Department of Global Health (DGH). Van Rooyen is an internationally recognized and accomplished South African scholar.

America’s homeless services system relies on a massive amount of data, and at first glance, that data is exacting. Federal reports describe the country’s unhoused population in granular detail, listing precisely how many people are experiencing homelessness in each city along with detailed demographic data. 

Dengue fever, a potentially fatal virus spread by mosquitoes, is sweeping across the Americas, breaking records with a skyrocketing rate of infections.

A report published this month in The Lancet focuses on a global concern: premature death. It argues, optimistically, that countries can cut their populations’ risk of premature death in half by 2050, if they choose. A UW Medicine coauthor gives context to data showing poor U.S. progress on the metric, relative to other nations’ rates.

Four new cases of avian influenza were detected in farmworkers in Washington state this week, the latest in a drumbeat of human infections cropping up across the U.S. as the virus continues to spread among farm animals. 

Human health, animal health and environmental agencies are working together to assess conditions, prevent further spread, and better understand the strain. Dr. Peter Rabinowitz offers some insight on the One Health approach to addressing Avian Flu.  

The Washington Post analyzed the risks of a prolonged, citywide blackout coinciding with a more severe heat wave. Experts warn this type of catastrophe — a combined power outage with a heat wave — is a scenario that cities and states are unprepared for.