Applications are now open for the University of Washington Future Rivers graduate training program beginning Autumn quarter 2024! Any prospective (incoming fall quarter 2024) or current PhD or Masters students in any discipline at the University of Washington are encouraged to apply. Future Rivers is a graduate training program building skills in data science, science communication, and social justice to bridge work across all fields to better solve today’s freshwater sustainability challenges. It is a one-year program that is undertaken alongside any chosen graduate degree. They offer up to 18-months of full funding on a competitive basis. Applications can be submitted anytime; however, to be considered for funding, submissions need to be received by January 26, 2024.
They request a 1-2 page statement of interest from prospective students and a letter of support from a potential advisor (for new students) or current advisor (for currently enrolled students) – further details can be found in the application form. For additional program information or questions about the application process, please contact futurerivers@uw.edu or visit futurerivers.uw.edu.
The Washington Center for Equitable Growth (WCEG) announced an RFP for research grants for early career scholars. Through this new competitive grant program, Equitable Growth seeks to invest in early career scholars whose research agendas are policy relevant, related to how inequality affects economic growth, and who are interested in engaging with nonacademic audiences. Early career scholars are defined as graduate students currently in the dissertation stage of their graduate career and scholars at a U.S. college or university whose Ph.D. was issued within the past 8 years. Evans researchers have received support from WCEG – so be sure to check this out. The deadline to apply is 11:59pm EST on January 29, 2024.
CSDE Affiliate Dr. Emily Williams (Health Systems and Population Health) published research with co-authors in Addiction Science & Clinical Practice, titled “Perspectives of clinical stakeholders and patients from four VA liver clinics to tailor practice facilitation for implementing evidence-based alcohol-related care“. Unhealthy alcohol use (UAU) is particularly dangerous for people with chronic liver disease. Liver clinics may be an important setting in which to provide effective alcohol-related care by integrating evidence-based strategies, such as brief intervention and medications for alcohol use disorder. Authors conducted qualitative interviews with clinical stakeholders and patients at liver clinics in four Veterans Health Administration (VA) medical centers to understand barriers and facilitators of integrating alcohol-related care and to support tailoring of a practice facilitation implementation intervention.
Join CSDE and the Population Health Initiative (co-sponsor), for a seminar by Dr. Rachel Wilbur (Washington State University) on Friday, Jan. 19th from 12:30-1:30 PM in 360 Parrington Hall and on Zoom (register here). There will be several opportunities to meet with Dr. Wilbur throughout the afternoon, including 1-1 meetings (sign up for 1-1 meetings here) and a graduate student lunch/discussion from 1:30-2:30 in Raitt 221. RSVP to Maddie Farris to attend the lunch (csde-prgm-coord@uw.edu). All in-person attendees will have the opportunity to get their CSDE seminar punch card and earn an opportunity to be entered into a prize raffle.
American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) collectively experience some of the greatest inequities in health of any population in the US, including lower life expectancy and a greater burden of many preventable diseases. The root of contemporary AI/AN health patterns extends beyond classic public health emphases on social determinants of health, and instead derives distally from histories of colonization and subsequent subjugation. Commonly referred to as “historical trauma,” intergenerational experiences of trauma and adversity have been shown to compound contemporary social determinants of health, contributing to the inequities we see today. The first part of this talk details a study on the intergenerational physical health impacts of exposure to the Federal Indian Boarding Schools as a historical trauma event at the levels of AI/AN individual, family, and community. The study is based on data collected as part of the Honor Study and included survey responses from 447 AI/AN individuals from 7 urban centers, analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results indicate that, while there are deleterious impacts of exposure to the boarding schools, AI/ANs are actively engaging with histories of trauma, practicing agency in promoting wellbeing for themselves and future generations. In the second part, we build on lessons learned through the study, specifically, how deficit-based models of Indigenous health contribute to the perpetuation of health inequities and introduce alternative, strengths-based approaches as a means of countering harms and supporting Indigenous wellbeing, focusing on health survivance as a concept with increasing salience for Indigenous communities and scholars.
CSDE Affiliate Dr. Trevor Peckham (King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks) co-authored a new article in the American Journal of Public Health, titled “Characterizing the Burden of Occupational Chemical Exposures by Sociodemographic Groups in the United States, 2021“. UW assistant professor Dr. Marissa Baker (Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences) was also a co-author. Authors sought to estimate the number and prevalence of workers in the United States exposed to chemical hazards available in the Canadian job-exposure matrix (CANJEM) database and examine exposure disparities across sociodemographic groups. They found that in the United States, marginalized sociodemographic groups are estimated to experience an inequitable burden to many chemical exposures because of occupational segregation. Data from this analysis can inform occupational and public health research, policy, and interventions aimed at reducing the burden of disease and health inequities in the United States.
CSDE Affiliate Dr. Anjum Hajat (Epidemiology) co-authored new research in AIDS Care, titled “Associations between adverse childhood experiences, viral suppression, and quality of life among persons living with HIV in Washington state“. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been linked to numerous negative health outcomes in adulthood and have been recognized as a hurdle to participating in HIV care. However, few studies have examined the cumulative impact that different types of childhood trauma have on HIV care engagement and HIV outcomes. This study characterized the relationship between ACEs, viral suppression, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among persons living with HIV (PLWH).