Population Health

Are we ready to break up with our masks? Or is it hard to let go? Washington is open again (except for indoor events of 10,000-plus people) and mask restrictions have been relaxed, but with coronavirus variants still out there, people are confronting a new set of social and emotional challenges. Jane Simoni, professor of psychology at the UW, is quoted.

"Trees can cushion urban areas from heat waves … This also means that trees reduce energy costs for running fans and air conditioners, a crucial issue for poor households that tend to spend a higher share of their household budgets on energy," write the UW's Nives Dolšak, professor of marine and environmental affairs, and Aseem Prakash, professor of political science.

“Falling fertility and rising longevity are neither accidents nor the inevitable result of personal choice. They are the signs of the multifactor, multiform advances that reflect the beneficial side of modernization. A good deal of this represents the investment wealthier countries have made in scientific knowledge, its applications to medicine and public health, and over time (and with delays), making this available to the rest of the world,” writes Scott Montgomery, lecturer of international studies at the UW.

Online charity drives help some in need, but don’t expect them to fill the gaps in the social safety net. Mark Igra, a graduate student in sociology at the UW, and Nora Kenworthy, an associate professor of nursing and health studies at UW Bothell, are quoted.

What if math could detect, treat and ultimately prevent cancer? Applied Mathematics Assistant Professor Ivana Bozic wants to find out. Professor Bozic has been selected as the 2021 mathematics recipient of Johnson & Johnson's WiSTEM2D Scholars Award Program, which will provides $150k over three years to support her research.

“As an increasingly vaccinated world emerges from lockdowns, lots of people are talking about whether the fight against the pandemic was too strong or too weak. Some people argue restrictions did not go far enough; others maintain the attempted cures have been worse than the disease. One reason for these conflicting views is that the answer depends on both facts and values,” writes the UW’s James Long, associate professor of political science; Mark Smith, professor of political science; and Victor Menaldo, professor of political science.

"As social scientists and public health practitioners familiar with Nepal’s health care delivery and emergency response systems, we recognize that ultimately, the capacity to care for people suffering from COVID-19 in Nepal is severely limited, with roughly 1,500 intensive care beds and just over 800 ventilators in the country. The mountainous terrain throughout much of the country, along with a lack of infrastructure, political marginalization and poverty compound the impacts of infectious disease," write David Citrin, affiliate assistant professor of global health and of anthropology at the UW; Katharine Rankin of the University of Toronto; Galen Murton of James Madison University; and Sienna Craig of Dartmouth College.

Jane Simoni, professor of psychology at the UW, talks about the sense of security and control people have gotten from wearing masks.

After over a year of masking, social distancing and staying put, many vaccinated Americans are itching to go, well, anywhere. But with COVID-19 cases on the rise worldwide — and a grotesque, preventable disparity in vaccine distribution — what does safe and ethical travel look like? Anu Taranath, a teaching professor of English and Comparative History of Ideas at the UW, is quoted.

Washington state is on track to fully reopen by June 30, and psychologists say some people are just not ready for that. Jane Simoni, professor of psychology at the UW, is interviewed.

A year into the COVID-19 pandemic, the “what ifs” having come true, therapists hear story after story of collective trauma, grief and loss, all through a computer or phone screen. Jane Simoni, professor of psychology at the UW, is quoted.

Psychology professor Jane Simoni explains the mental health implications of the COVID-19 vaccine phase.

Amid an acrid national controversy, the CDC proposed detailed criteria for returning students to classrooms. Carl Bergstrom, professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

“A couple of years ago racism almost killed the love of my life, my husband, the father of our two children. The attempted murder didn’t come about through police violence or Karens trying to regulate his use of public space. Instead it came through the hands of the very people who should be improving the quality of his life: his doctors,” writes Ralina Joseph, professor of communication at the UW.

We're all fatigued, and our resolve is slipping. But this is also the most consequential point of the coronavirus crisis so far. Susan Joslyn, associated professor of psychology at the UW, is quoted.