The dedication and innovation from our students in public health practice and research are part of what makes our department great. This summer we recognize several students in our department who have been selected for awards at the University of Washington. We would like to celebrate two of our students – Brekken Selah and Tessa Concepcion – for receiving  School of Public health (SPH) Excellence Awards, and congratulate Grace Umutesi on the Runner Up and People’s Choice Awards for the 2025 UW Three Minute Thesis Competition. Congratulations! 

Graduation Photo Gallery | Graduation Recording | Digital Graduation Program 

On Friday, June 13, the University of Washington’s Department of Global Health (DGH) proudly celebrated the graduation of 58 students from over 15 countries.  

These 58 graduates represented three doctoral and one master’s program: 

In the Department of Global Health faculty are dedicated to improving health for all through their research, teaching, and service to the university and our partners around the world. In recognition of their exemplary work at the University of Washington and beyond, two Department of Global Health faculty members, Drs. Kenneth Mugwanya, associate professor, and Julianne Meisner, assistant professor, have been awarded endowed appointments which will support them in advancing innovative teaching, research, and community engagement in DGH and beyond.

Associate Professor of the UW Global Health Department, Jason Daniel-Ulloa, earns the 2025 Distinguished Teaching Award, the UW’s highest teaching honor, among several other star faculty.

Every year, we take the time to recognize outstanding staff for their dedication and many contributions to our department. Criteria for selecting outstanding staff included superior service, resourcefulness, innovation, creativity, excellence, integrity, and a commitment to creating and sustaining a climate of equity, justice, and anti-racism. Congratulations to all nominees! 

DGH Outstanding Staff Award Recipient and SPH Anderson-O'Connell Award for Outstanding Staff Service

Lisa Nonzee
Senior HR Manager

UW Department of Global Health Professor and epidemiologist, Kristie Ebi, states that research regarding this intense heatwave may be underestimating the deaths because it relies on mortality data from a cooler past.

University of Washington Department of Global Health Professor and epidemiologist, Kristie Ebi, claims that “If it doesn’t cool down at night, then your core body temperature can’t really get back to what is normal for you. You’re starting the next morning with a higher baseline.” That’s why death rates start to increase after about 24 hours during heat waves. “It’s not the instantaneous exposure; it’s the buildup over the course of a day, not getting relief at night. That starts affecting the cells and organs,” Ebi says.

Adjunct Professor of Global Health, Helen Chu, went through two years of a rigorous application process to apply to one of the country’s top vaccine advisory panels at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Last July, she began what she thought would be a four-year term with the CDC’s Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices. But less than a year later and via a brief and vague email, Chu was abruptly dismissed. The June 9 email didn’t specify why, she said.

Adjunct Professor of Global Health, Helen Chu, went through a multiyear process to finally gain a seat on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccines experts panel, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. She and the rest of her colleagues on the ACIP were summarily terminated. 

UW Department of Global Health Professor, Steve Gloyd, had decried what he calls “phantom aid,” in which he said 30 to 60 percent of the total budget of some global health aid projects never even leave the headquarters of the nongovernmental organization hired to manage the program. International NGOs also can inflate the salaries of local staff, draining health ministries of expertise and raising in-country costs.