Infectious diseases

Dr. Jeremy Hess

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.

Maria-Crina Curca. Photo: Elizar Mercado.

 

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.

The evidence has been clear for some time: Climate change presents a dire threat to human health. Unfortunately, as a result of inaction on the issue, the prognosis is getting worse.

This month, many in Washington state return to workplaces and schools for the first time since March 2020, when the state closed in-person schooling and issued stay-at-home orders to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Diana Marquez hopes to become a certified industrial hygienist serving agricultural workers in the Yakima Valley. Photo courtesy of Marquez.

For his unflagging encouragement of students and his inspiring teaching, UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) Professor Gerard (Jerry) Cangelosi has been awarded the 2021 Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award.

Tianai (Scyler) Li BS, Environmental Health Hometown Hefei, China Future plans Starting veterinary school at Washington State University this fall. “Community health is important in terms of protecting every individual in the population. It’s like medicine, but for a whole population.”

Renée Codsi MPH, One Health Hometown Beirut, Lebanon Future plans Starting a PhD in Environmental & Occupational Health at DEOHS in the fall.

The world has pledged to end tuberculosis (TB) by 2035. COVID-19 threatens to move the goalposts. In Jerry Cangelosi’s lab at the University of Washington—as in many labs and clinics around the world—efforts are being pulled from TB into COVID-19 research and diagnostic testing in response to the global pandemic.

Esther Min, DEOHS research consultant and Front and Centered environmental health lead.

For many farmworkers across Washington state, the risks of working on the front lines during the pandemic have been compounded by an “infodemic.”

While browsing in a Davis, California, bookstore, Karen Levy came across a brightly illustrated book with a provocative title that would change the trajectory of her academic career.