Each year, the UW Health Sciences schools select a Common Book that serves as a platform for students from across health professions to engage with one another in substantive, inter-professional dialogue about pressing topics related to health equity and social justice. We're pleased to announce this year’s Common Book is How to Be an Antiracist, a No. 1 New York Times bestseller by American author and historian Ibram X. Kendi.

On June 30, 2020, Dr. Ann Downer retired from her post as the Executive Director of the International Training and Education Center for Health (I-TECH) at the University of Washington (UW).

Downer has had a 31-year career at UW; she founded I-TECH 18 years ago with a talented team of global health professionals at UW, along with her friend and colleague Dr. Michael Reyes, at the University of California, San Francisco. In that time, she has been the center’s trusted leader; a principal investigator for several awards; and a pioneering educator, mentor, and friend.

It’s virtually certain that 2020 will be on the top five list of hottest years on record for the planet, according to atmospheric scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In a briefing, NOAA officials announced their three-month outlook for this summer, with above average temperatures expected across almost all of the United States. The likelihood of excessive heat is highest in the West and Northeast.