Infectious diseases

The discovery of penicillin’s antibiotic properties in 1928 is considered one of the greatest milestones of modern medicine, saving millions of lives by advancing our ability to fight infection.

Rita Colwell and her collaborators have successfully used satellite data to predict cholera outbreaks in Yemen, Sudan, Malawi and other places where the bacteria that cause the diarrheal disease lurk in zooplankton in the ocean. When ocean conditions are right, the zooplankton build up and can transfer the bacteria to people through contaminated water or seafood.

DEOHS research scientist Rachel Wood. Photo: Courtesy of Wood. Rachel Wood is looking for TB’s missing millions.

In the past several years, avian flu has rapidly evolved. A new variant has caused widespread, deadly outbreaks on chicken farms. In the U.S., farmers have culled millions of hens, hiking the price of eggs. The virus has also jumped from birds to mammals, spreading among dairy herds. 

For the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS), 2024 was a year of behind-the-scenes change, as we thanked Professor Michael Yost for his 10-year tenure as department chair and welcomed

Jorge Rivera-GonzalezPh.D., Environmental Health Sciences (Industrial Hygiene and One Health)HometownPuerto RicoFuture plansPursuing a career as an Environmental Health Officer.

Maegan ChuaBS in Environmental Public HealthHometownKetchikan, AKInternship with:Public Health – Seattle & King County

In the past several months, researchers in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) and their partners have received four awards from the UW Population Health Initiative to pursue research on the health impacts of emerging threats including extreme cold, sea level rise, extreme heat combined with wil

Four years ago, as attention locked onto COVID-19, another virus began circling the globe.

Despite efforts to stamp it out, tuberculosis (TB) is still one of most deadly infectious diseases worldwide, leading to 1.5 million deaths a year. Part of the challenge in combating this preventable, treatable disease is that only about half to two-thirds of people with TB are diagnosed. The other third often don’t know they are sick and can spread the disease.

Mariam Assaad MPH, Environmental Health Sciences Hometown Brazil and Lebanon Future plans Utilize my degree to create a healthier environment and safer workplaces. “I am grateful for the hands-on experiences, the lessons I’ve learned, and the meaningful connections I’ve built.”

How many grams of feces does the average human excrete each day?That question—part of Erica Fuhrmeister’s first college research project as an undergraduate at Johns Hopkins University—might have sent some budding scientists running for the nearest liberal arts course.

 

Wastewater surveillance was a valuable component of the US public health response in the nation’s emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and is worthy of further development and continued investment, says

Belen Salguero BS, Environmental Health Hometown Morton, WA Future plans A public health career focusing on worker health in marginalized communities

Greta Gunning BS, Environmental Health Hometown Seattle, WA Future plans A career as a public health scientist, likely at a public agency “It was great to see how prioritizing relationships could make a meaningful impact in public health.” - Greta Gunning

Learn more about NWCOHS funding for DEOHS graduate students in Occupational Hygiene, One Health and Occupational & Environmental Medicine At the marine mammal hospital Sealife Response, Rehab and Research (SR3) in Des Moines, Washington, this fall has been a busy one: the facility has

A new UW study is inviting pet owners who test positive for monkeypox to also have their animals screened for the virus. The Monkeypox and Pets Study is accepting enrollees in King County. Owners of dogs, cats, ferrets, rats, mice and hamsters may participate. The study will not include reptiles or birds.

About 100 staff, faculty and student workers in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) were designated “essential workers” by the UW and worked in person throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to maintain critical DEOHS work and services.

Vickie Ramirez jokes with colleagues that her jack-of-all-trades resume ranges from “assembling IKEA chairs to managing a global research center.” In fact, “other duties as assigned” only begins to capture the breadth and depth of Ramirez’s life experiences and skills:

Tiny pollution particles can cause major health problems. Our research shows how to minimize your risk.

Inna Antonchuk MPH, Environmental and Occupational Health Hometown Rivne, Ukraine Future plans Continuing to work as a nurse as well as applying her public health training, perhaps with a government agency “I am very interested in immigrant occupational health but also in public health policy."

Katy Burr MPH, One Health Hometown Seattle, WA Future plans Joining the CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service program “I'm hopeful that my work will help to illuminate ways to keep people who work with animals safer at work.” - Katy Burr

Two international research projects co-led by researchers in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) were recently awarded Tier I pilot grants from the UW Population Health Initiative (PHI). The grants support researchers in laying an interdisciplinary foundation for a future project to generate proof of concept.

Marilyn Roberts still remembers the advice her father gave her when she headed off to college: “Do something so you can get a career.”

Tips for wearing an N95 or KN95 mask: Improve the fit by pinching the metal nose clip around the bridge of the nose. N95s have straps that go around the back of your head.

In 2021, the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) welcomed new faculty, forged collaborations in climate and health, and continued our innovative, community-oriented environmental health research on areas including air pollution, COVID-19 and the far-reaching health impacts of wildfire smoke across Washington state. Explore our top stories below.

My PhD adviser approached me with an unexpected opportunity in June 2020. A colleague in Portugal was looking for students to study at his university in Lisbon as part of the US Fulbright Student program. This was something I had never considered. But completing a year of my PhD in Lisbon was not a chance I was going to pass up.