When 91探花 President Ana Mari Cauce launched the Population Health Initiative in 2016, she spoke in soaring, ambitious terms. 鈥淲e have an unprecedented opportunity to help people live longer, healthier, more productive lives 鈥� here and around the world,鈥� she said. 91探花researchers have leapt at that opportunity, forging connections across the university, working side by side with community partners and breaking down traditional barriers to improving public health. 听

In just eight years, the Initiative has funded 227 innovative, interdisciplinary projects. Many are focused right here in Western Washington, where projects have helped in South Seattle, identified soil contaminants in community gardens in the Duwamish Valley, and improved how community leaders along the Okanogan River . Other projects have reached across the globe, targeting health disparities in Somalia, Peru, Brazil and more.听听

鈥淚n this relatively short period of time, we鈥檝e demonstrated the power that accrues when faculty and staff across the various areas of our campuses are working together and also exposing students to the cutting-edge work of tackling grand challenges,鈥� Cauce said in her most recent .听

And they’re just getting started. Many PHI-funded projects are still in their earliest stages, leveraging initial funding to show proof-of-concept for their ideas and setting the stage for future work. Fourteen projects so far have received much larger grants to empower researchers and community partners to expand successful projects and scale up for greater impact.听

With the Initiative now a third of the way into its 25-year vision, 91探花News checked in with three projects that recently received funding to scale their efforts.听

Spotting potential memory health issues in rural Washington

Diagnosing memory health issues in the best of circumstances is extraordinarily difficult. Patients typically make multiple visits to their doctor and take a many of which can produce flawed results 鈥� people who take the same test more than once, for example, will often score higher, potentially masking memory loss. 听

It鈥檚 even harder in rural America, which has a Patients seeking memory care might have to make a long, expensive trip to a major city, which leads many people to wait until a problem becomes apparent. By then, it鈥檚 often too late 鈥� modern treatments can slow the progress of memory loss, but there鈥檚 no way to regain what鈥檚 been lost.听

鈥淪o, how do you catch it early?鈥� said , a 91探花associate professor of psychology. 鈥淲e give people an app to have them check for themselves.鈥澨�听

Stocco and , director of the 91探花Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease Research Center, together with Hedderik van Rijn of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, led the development of an online program that can measure a person鈥檚 memory and predict their risk of memory disorders. Like a flash-card app that helps students cram for a test, the program shows pictures and asks the user to recall what they saw a few minutes earlier. The app records how quickly and accurately the user responds to each question and makes the next one a little easier or more difficult.听听

Researchers have long understood that a person鈥檚 ability to recall a specific memory tends to fade over time. This is called the 鈥�.鈥� In听 Stocco and van Rijn found that they could measure individual differences in the slopes of such curves.听 The app works by comparing a person鈥檚 responses to an internal model of forgetting and adjusting the slope of the model until it matches the responses. The resulting slope can be used to estimate the likelihood that their memory is fading faster than normal.听听

By taking the test regularly, a person can track their memory鈥檚 decline over time. But preliminary tests, Stocco said, have shown that even a single use can spot a potential problem.听

鈥淛ust by looking at a single lesson, based on the result, there鈥檚 almost a perfect correspondence between the speed of forgetting and your probability of being diagnosed by a doctor,鈥� Stocco said. 鈥淚t can be as accurate as the best clinical tests but, instead of taking two or three hours, this can be done in eight minutes, and you don鈥檛 need a doctor.鈥�听

A Tier 3 grant from the Population Health Initiative and a collaboration with the will allow the researchers to share the app with up to 500 people in rural and counties. Participants can take the test on their own time, and the results will be shared with researchers. If a potential problem emerges, the researchers plan to invite participants to Seattle for an in-person evaluation.听听

鈥淚t鈥檚 a solution that seems to solve these problems of early access and diagnostic bottlenecks,鈥� Stocco said. 鈥淚f this works, there鈥檚 no problem giving it to everybody in the state. We鈥檙e really interested in expanding and adding people from underrepresented populations and underrepresented areas, and the grant will allow us to do that.鈥�听

Nancy Spurgeon of the Central Washington Area Health Education Center is also a collaborator on the project to test the prototype app, which is not yet available to the public.听

Revamping the Point-In-Time Count to better understand King County鈥檚 unhoused population听

For years, volunteers fanned across King County on a cold night each January, flashlights and clipboards in hand, searching for people sleeping outside. They鈥檇 also gather the shelter head counts for that night. Officially called the , this effort attempted to tally the number of people who lacked stable housing. This endeavor was replicated in cities across the country, and the results were combined to create a national count that influences how the federal government allocates funding.听

There鈥檚 just one problem 鈥� the count is Volunteers can鈥檛 possibly find everybody. It captures only a single moment in time, and collects only limited data on people鈥檚 circumstances or personal needs. A person sleeping in their car might need different services than a person who sleeps in a tent, and the count didn鈥檛 fully capture that distinction.听

So, a team of 91探花researchers designed a better way to count. Their method, detailed in a published Sept. 4 in in the American Journal of Epidemiology, taps into people鈥檚 social networks to generate a more representative sample, which the researchers then ran through a series of calculations to estimate the total unhoused population.听听听

Called 鈥渞espondent-driven sampling,鈥� the method stations volunteers in common 鈥渉ubs,鈥� like libraries or community centers, and offers cash gift cards for in-person interviews and peer referrals. Volunteers collect detailed information on people鈥檚 circumstances and needs, giving each person three tickets to share with their unhoused peers. When those peers come in for an interview and show the ticket, the person who referred them receives another small reward. The new person gets a gift card and another three tickets.听

鈥淭his method gives people a more active voice in being counted. It鈥檚 a more humane way to count people, and it鈥檚 also voluntary,鈥� said , a 91探花associate professor of sociology and co-lead on the project. 鈥淭he regular PIT (Point-In-Time) count just counted people. Now we can collect all sorts of information from people on their circumstances and their needs. Should policymakers want to, they could leverage that data to change service offerings.鈥�听

The researchers received a Tier 2 grant to develop the system. They launched it in partnership with King County in 2022 and 2024, and were recently awarded a Tier 3 grant to test out the feasibility of running it quarterly.听听

鈥淩unning the count quarterly allows us to estimate how many people move in and out of homelessness and whether there are seasonal changes, which are rarely measured,鈥� Almquist said. 鈥淎lso, people鈥檚 needs change depending on the time of year, and this method will help us better understand those rhythms.鈥澨�听

Other cities and counties have expressed interest, the researchers said. The team has also begun to expand the effort, aiming to improve data across the broad spectrum of housing and homelessness services.听听

鈥淎 very important byproduct of this work across schools and departments at 91探花is that we can create an ecosystem of people and projects,鈥� said , a 91探花professor emeritus of health systems and population health and co-lead on the project. 鈥淲e鈥檝e spun off projects on sleep assessments, relationships with organizations that collect data on homelessness, and we鈥檙e mapping the sweeps of encampments in relationship to where people choose to be located. We have a whole network of homelessness-related research now.听

鈥淭hese PHI grants gave us the fuel to ignite these projects.鈥�听

Other collaborators are of the 91探花Department of Health Systems and Population Health and of the VA Health Services Research and Development; of the 91探花Departments of Sociology and Statistics; of the Center for Studies in Demography & Ecology and the eScience Institute; and Owen Kajfasz, Janelle Rothfolk and Cathea Carey of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority.听

Engaging community to mitigate flood risk in the Duwamish Valley听

More than a century ago, Seattle leaders set out to control and redirect the Duwamish River. They dredged the riverbed and dug out its twists and turns. Wetlands were filled in, the valley was paved over and a system of hydrology was severed. What had been a wild, winding river valley with regular flooding became an angular straightaway built for industry. But when 91探花postdoctoral scholar looks out at the Duwamish, she sees the river fighting back.听听

鈥淭he water was always there,鈥� Jeranko said, 鈥渁nd now it鈥檚 fighting to come back up.鈥澨�听

The river returned with devastating effect in December 2022, when a king tide and heavy rainfall , submerging homes and shuttering local businesses. The underserved neighborhood faces a significant risk of future floods.听

To mitigate that risk, the City of Seattle has updated the neighborhood鈥檚 stormwater drainage system and launched a new flood-warning system. But the , a nonprofit focused on river pollution and environmental health, saw an opportunity for something greater. The DRCC asked a team of 91探花researchers to help develop flood adaptation plans that are community-based, culturally responsive and that enrich the local environment.听听

鈥淚n the community, people don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 been enough engagement. There鈥檚 all this talk about flood mitigation, but all they see are sandbags,鈥� Jeranko said. 鈥淪o DRCC was like, 鈥楲ook, we really need the people who live in the flood zone to understand the solutions.鈥� Because we have this long-lasting relationship with them, they see us as someone who鈥檚 able to provide a list of solutions, not favor one over the others, and do it in an informative way.鈥�听

Boosted by a Tier 3 grant from the PHI, Jeranko and a team representing five 91探花departments, the Burke Museum and the DRCC are engaging with the community. This fall, the team will present the neighborhood with an expansive list of flood mitigation options and encourage city leaders to consider people鈥檚 preferences. Early work shows the community would favor nature-based solutions, Jeranko said. Floodable parks, for example, would provide ecological, recreational and public health benefits to the entire community, while storing flood water during storms.听听

鈥淚t has been wonderful to collaborate with the 91探花team on this to make sure we are centering community voices in every single step of the planning for climate resilience,鈥� said Paulina L贸pez, executive director of the DRCC. 鈥淐ommunity leadership and representation is indispensable to bring climate justice to the Duwamish Valley.鈥�听

Jeranko hopes their community-based model will be replicated by communities across the country facing similar risks from climate change and sea level rise.听

鈥淓ven though 91探花and a lot of other universities really support and invest in community-engaged work, a lot of times it鈥檚 fundamentally hard to make that research happen,鈥� Jeranko said. 鈥淏ut the Population Health Initiative grant was about supporting all those things.鈥�听

Other collaborators on the project are , and of the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences; of the Department of Landscape Architecture; of the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, of the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences; of the Quaternary Research Center and the Burke Museum; and L贸pez and Robin Schwartz of the DRCC.听

For more information on any of the projects mentioned, or to learn more about the 91探花Population Health Initiative, visit the Initiative’s website or contact Alden Woods at acwoods@uw.edu.听听

As unprecedented as the outbreak of COVID-19 felt, it was far from the first time a deadly disease has swept the globe. dating as far back as 430 B.C. Records tell us how these diseases spread and how many people died, but not people鈥檚 personal experiences of the crises.听听

COVID-19 presented a rare opportunity to document in real-time how people processed the tumult of a pandemic, and how necessary public health measures affected their lives. Starting in the earliest days of the 2020 outbreak, a team of researchers at the 91探花 conducted real-time surveys of King County residents, asking what measures people had taken to protect themselves, how their daily lives had been affected and what worried them most. 听

The results, , provide a glimpse into the subtle effects that public health measures like social distancing and stay-at-home orders had on the community.听听

91探花News spoke with , research scientist at the 91探花Collaborative on Extreme Event Resilience, and a 91探花assistant professor of environmental and occupational health sciences and director of the new , to discuss the study, how people experienced those early months and what public health practitioners can learn for future pandemics.听听

It鈥檚 been four years since COVID-19 changed all our lives, and more than two years since we started to emerge into this new normal. Why is it important to share this research now, to understand people鈥檚 experiences of the pandemic and collective efforts to limit COVID鈥檚 spread?听听

Kathleen Moloney: Unfortunately, COVID-19 is unlikely to be the last pandemic we face. To fully understand this pandemic鈥檚 impacts and better prepare for the next, we need research studies like ours 鈥� where data was collected in real time, from March to May of 2020 鈥� that document the lived experiences of communities during the pandemic. For example, by documenting how people in King County experienced the social distancing measures in real-time, our study provides valuable insights into which negative impacts were most acute during the early stages of the pandemic. Our results, combined with evidence from other research studies, can provide direction for researchers and policymakers to explore effective interventions for future pandemics.听

Nicole Errett: It is really important to start collecting data in the immediate aftermath of a disaster to understand effects on health and well-being, but researchers face a variety of administrative, logistical and ethical challenges when designing rapid-response research studies. By sharing our approach in this paper, we can provide ideas and guidance for other investigators while designing studies for future disasters, whether those are caused by an infectious disease or natural hazard.听听

The COVID-19 pandemic has been unprecedented in a lot of ways, and was for most Americans the most significant disruption to our daily lives ever. How unusual are events like this in human history? What do we know about how past pandemics and epidemics have affected the people who lived through them?听听

KM: During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, we often heard comparisons to the 1918 influenza pandemic, as closures of schools, businesses and other community gathering spaces were implemented in response to both. However, it isn鈥檛 really possible to compare the experiences of those who lived through COVID-19 with those who lived through the 1918 Flu and other pandemics throughout history, because there weren鈥檛 any research studies conducted at the time to document those experiences. That鈥檚 why rapid-response disaster research, like our study, is so important.听听

In the paper you evaluate the unintended impacts of efforts to slow the pandemic, like people losing their jobs and students falling behind in school. How do you think about that delicate balance between public health and individual well-being?听听

KM: I don鈥檛 think of protecting public health and individual well-being as opposing priorities that need to be balanced. Public health, as a field, is dedicated to protecting and improving the health and well-being of the individuals that make up communities. Disruptions to employment and schooling can negatively impact long-term health outcomes, and ideally, these potential consequences should be considered when thinking through the type and duration of social distancing measures. Unfortunately, all the empirical research needed to inform those decisions was limited prior to this pandemic.听听

You asked participants about steps they took to protect themselves at the height of the pandemic. Some steps had pretty low rates of participation 鈥� for example, only 63% of people said they stopped going to the gym, and 82% of people avoided large gatherings. What does that say about the effectiveness of our collective response to the pandemic?听听

KM: I want to give the caveat that our survey only captured participants鈥� self-reported behavior at a single point in time. For example, someone who responded to the survey on March 19th, 2020, that they had not stopped going to the gym might have stopped the next week, when the statewide Stay Home, Stay Safe order was issued. Our survey was also a convenience sample, and therefore shouldn鈥檛 be considered representative of the compliance of King County residents as a whole with various social distancing recommendations.听听

With that said, those numbers were still slightly surprising. The narrative we often hear of public acceptance of COVID-19 social distancing measures is that compliance was initially high, and then decreased over time due to factors such as message fatigue 鈥� there鈥檚 research documenting this phenomenon. We need additional research to confirm this, but our results might indicate that there was also an initial lag in compliance with the social distancing recommendations implemented in response to COVID-19.听听

Overall, these measures still appear to have been effective, despite imperfect or slightly delayed compliance among certain residents.听

NE: At the time of our survey, our understanding of disease transmission was still evolving. It鈥檚 possible that people took measures they thought were protective (like hand washing) while attending these gatherings, based on their understanding of transmission at the time. It would have been interesting to re-survey folks at various time points throughout the pandemic to see how their behavior evolved as the pandemic, and our understanding of the disease, progressed.听

You evaluated participants鈥� well-being as described in their written stories about their experience. What trends appeared there, and were they what you expected to find?听听

KM: Two findings surprised me in particular. First, less than half of our participants described impacts to their social life 鈥� I expected the percentage to be much higher. It would be interesting to know how that result might change if we surveyed the same participants at a later point in the pandemic, when social distancing measures had been in place for longer. I was also surprised to see the poorest average well-being reported by those over the age 65, and the highest average well-being reported by 18-to-34 year olds. This is in contrast to several other national-scale studies in the US and Europe, which found worse mental health impacts in young adults.听听

Given that older adults are more likely to reside alone in the U.S. than in most other countries and report high rates of social isolation and loneliness even during non-pandemic times, interventions to mitigate the mental health impacts of future pandemics on older adults probably deserve special attention.听听

In their written responses, participants most frequently described a negative financial or employment-related impact, even more than social impacts. How might that change how we prepare to help people through future crises?听听

KM: Knowing which negative impacts are most prevalent at various points in the pandemic, and how these impacts differ between groups, can help us develop more specific, more effective interventions to prevent these unintended consequences in the future. We saw that employment and financial impacts were the top concern for every age group except those 65 and older 鈥� this group expressed higher concern about physical health and social impacts. So while an early intervention to mitigate the financial impacts of a future crisis on younger adults could be effective, we would likely want to prioritize different resources for older adults.听听

What鈥檚 also interesting is that many of the concerns our participants reported, both in written narratives and the close-ended survey questions, were about impacts to others, rather than themselves. Concern and empathy for fellow community members鈥� well-being is something that we should want to cultivate for many reasons, but specifically in a pandemic context, there鈥檚 evidence that decreased concern for others鈥� well-being is correlated with decreased compliance with non-pharmaceutical interventions. Something we should also think about while preparing for future crises is how we can foster the concern for others and the sense of community that were clearly present during the early stages of the pandemic to make sure they endure.听听

NE: The pandemic influenced the development 鈥� or at least accelerated the uptake 鈥� of systems that allowed many folks to work safely from the comfort of their own home without financial or employment impacts. However, folks with jobs in 鈥渆ssential鈥� services and sectors often had to physically report to work, and often interface with the public. My colleague, Marissa Baker, found that . Accordingly, I鈥檇 suspect that employment and financial concerns would be disproportionately borne among lower wage workers, who would have to choose between their health and safety and their income. In advance of the next pandemic, we need to figure out ways to keep these folks safe and at work.听听

For more information, contact Errett at nerrett@uw.edu or Moloney at kmoloney@uw.edu.听

The 91探花鈥檚 new , or CDRC, has been selected to lead development of a workplan for a regional public health emergency preparedness and response center that will help prepare the Northwest for disasters and emergencies. 听

Under a $1.8 million contract with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 91探花will convene partners across Washington, Alaska, Idaho and Oregon to develop a workplan to establish a future regional Center for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response. The 91探花will also support development of a tribal-specific workplan that addresses the public health emergency preparedness and response needs and priorities of tribal partners across the region, as well as develop a model for a regional data ecosystem that can support the uptake of evidence-based strategies in public health emergency preparedness and response. 听

鈥淭his funding will support a partner-driven process to shape a future center for evidence-informed public health emergency preparedness and response that serves the needs of community and government partners in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington,鈥� said , CDRC director and a 91探花assistant professor of environmental and occupational health sciences. 听

鈥淲e are really excited to bring together community, tribal, healthcare, public health practice, emergency management and other partners to identify focus areas for the center and approaches the center can take to support their work.” 听

There will be a separate competitive funding opportunity to develop the Center for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response itself, which will become part of a nationwide network of such centers. 听

, the CDRC brings together the full breadth and depth of the 鲍奥鈥檚 expertise in disaster science to help build resilient communities. The center seeks to unite more than 100 91探花faculty from across the university, including disaster researchers, engineers, data and environmental scientists, as well as experts in public health, medicine, nursing and public policy and planning. 听

Those experts will offer resources, training, technical assistance and evidence-based solutions to help communities prepare themselves for potential disasters. Researchers will also collaborate with community, tribal and government partners to identify each community鈥檚 specific needs and implement tailored solutions. 听

The Center is supported by the 鲍奥鈥檚 Population Health Initiative, a university-wide effort that fosters a collaborative approach to improving human health, environmental resilience, and social and economic equity. 听

For more information, contact Resham Patel at rapatel@uw.edu. 听

When you get into the car of the app-based driver you just tapped up on your phone, you expect and hope the driver and the car are safe and capable of getting you where you need to go. Apps rate drivers, which you can see. But what if the driver is sick? What if the car has a mechanical problem? What if the driver has simply had a bad day?

What you may not have realized is that the driver is wondering the same thing about you: Is the passenger ill? Are they properly masked? Will they pull it down once seated? Will they cough, blowing air around? Are they in a bad mood? Did they just get out of a rough meeting or an alcohol-fueled altercation at a bar?

鈥淚t鈥檚 a job that is vital to so many people, for moving people to and from medical appointments, to and from the airport, etc. Obviously, app-based drivers are essential for moving people,鈥� said , an assistant professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at the 91探花. 鈥淚t鈥檚 vital work, but it鈥檚 largely something the general public seems to forget about.鈥�

Baker is senior author on new published Sept. 14 in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine that is focused on understanding the pressures, risks and dilemmas facing app-based drivers and how they were affected by the pandemic.

Every ride carries potential risks. Each trip includes at least two people 鈥� possible disease vectors, unpredictable humans 鈥� now in a closed and confined space. The passenger may face this risk a few times a week. For the driver, this is a workplace risk possibly undertaken dozens of times a day.

Throw a viral pandemic into the mix, and you have workers in a largely unprotected job facing a range of very difficult choices: keep driving no matter what or lose income; ignore an improperly masked passenger or tell them to mask up and risk a bad review or altercation; drive a coughing passenger to a COVID-19 testing site or face deactivation for turning them away; pay out-of-pocket for cleaning supplies and PPE or run an even greater risk of infection.

To illuminate these pressures, Baker and other 91探花researchers trained four app-based drivers, all affiliated with the Teamsters Local 117 in Seattle, to conduct survey interviews of their fellow drivers. The newly trained interviewers surveyed 100 app-based drivers in Seattle between Aug. 11 and Sept. 7, 2020. The drivers were predominantly male (97%), identified as Black or African (84%) and were under the age of 55 (87%).

The majority of drivers reported high levels of stress and concern about being exposed to the novel coronavirus. Roughly 30% thought they had already had COVID-19. Most, 73 drivers, lost income, while spending their own money on PPE. Those who left the business because of the pandemic (42 drivers) reported having a hard time getting unemployment benefits. Only 31% said they received an appropriate mask and hand sanitizer from the company they drove for, and even then the supplies were not enough.

鈥淔or workers who are in this kind of employment during the pandemic, they receive very little support from the companies that they drive for, and this is a population that had a lot of awareness of the potential exposures they could be facing,鈥� Baker said. 鈥淭hey had a lot of concerns and worries, not only about how those exposures would be affecting their health and their family’s health, but also the viability and their job.鈥�

The drivers spoke of feeling isolated and lonely, since they rarely have a chance to talk with their peers.

In the study, one driver explained, 鈥淸I]n this line of work, you’re very insular. I mean, I’m in my own little universe… so finding a way to bridge that gap has been the biggest challenge.鈥�

Simple issues, like finding restrooms, became bigger problems with libraries, community centers and businesses closed during shutdowns.

鈥淵ou have other people who are doing the same job as you, but you may never interact with them. So you miss out on some of that strength, not only brainstorming of like, 鈥楬ey what masks are you using?鈥� or 鈥榃here are you stopping?鈥� but it also keeps workers from organizing,鈥� Baker said. 鈥淚f you get these workers talking to each other and recognizing that they are all facing the same struggles, that can lead to changes.鈥�

In Seattle, drivers and their union leaders have been able to win a as well as establish a 鈥溾�� where drivers contest being taken off the apps through which they are hired. There have been other improvements as well in Seattle and .

Baker explains that while Seattle has taken steps to try to improve drivers鈥� working conditions, drivers nationwide do not enjoy the same benefits because they are not classified as employees. So, they don’t have access to state or federal health and safety protections, a living wage or sick leave.

鈥淭his is a full-time job for many people, this is not just driving on the weekends to supplement another job. These drivers are raising families, using what they make to pay for their kids to go to college. This is important, vital work, and we should be recognizing that through the benefits that we demand that these drivers receive,鈥� Baker said. 鈥淣ot only for their well-being, but also for the customers they interact with.鈥�

Co-authors include Kerry Beckman, Lily Monsey and Megan Archer, all graduate students and staff in the 91探花School of Public Health; Nicole Errett, an assistant professor in the 91探花Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences; and Ann Bostrom, 听a 91探花professor of public policy and governance. This research was funded by a 91探花Population Health Initiative Economic Recovery Grant.

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For more information, contact Baker at bakermg@uw.edu

The National Science Foundation has funded a multi-institutional team led by Oregon State University and the 91探花 to work on increasing resiliency among Pacific Northwest coastal communities.

The new Cascadia Coastlines and Peoples Hazards Research Hub will serve coastal communities in Northern California, Oregon and Washington. The hub鈥檚 multidisciplinary approach will span geoscience, social science, public policy and community partnerships.

The Pacific Northwest coastline is at significant risk of earthquakes from the Cascadia Subduction Zone, an offshore fault that stretches more than 600 miles from Cape Mendocino in California to southern British Columbia. The region also faces ongoing risks from coastal erosion, regional flooding and rising seas due to climate change.

The newly established Cascadia CoPes Hub, based at OSU, will increase the capacity of coastal communities to adapt through community engagement and co-production of research, and by training a new generation of coastal hazards scientists and leaders from currently underrepresented communities.

The initial award is for $7.2 million over the first two years, with the bulk split between OSU and the UW. The total award, subject to renewals, is $18.9 million over five years.

鈥淭his issue requires a regional approach,鈥� said co-principal investigator Ann Bostrom, a 91探花professor of public policy and governance. 鈥淭his new research hub has the potential to achieve significant advances across the hazard sciences 鈥� from the understanding of governance systems, to having a four-dimensional understanding of Cascadia faults and how they work, and better understanding the changing risks of compound fluvial-coastal flooding, to new ways of engaging with communities to co-produce research that will be useful for coastal planning and decisions in our region. There are a lot of aspects built into this project that have us all excited.鈥�

The community collaborations, engagement and outreach will focus on five areas: Humboldt County, California; greater Coos Bay, Oregon; Newport to Astoria, Oregon; Tokeland to Taholah, Washington; and from Everett to Bellingham, Washington.

鈥淲e have a lot to learn from the communities in our region, and part of the proposal is to help communities learn from each other, as well,鈥� Bostrom said.

The Cascadia hub is part of the NSF鈥檚 newly announced , an effort to help coastal communities become more resilient in the face of mounting environmental pressures. Nearly 40% of the U.S. population lives in a coastal county. The NSF established one other large-scale hub for research and broadening participation, in New Jersey, and focused hubs in Texas, North Carolina and Virginia.

The Cascadia hub will focus on two broad areas: advancing understanding of the risks of Cascadia earthquakes and other geological hazards to coastal regions; and reducing disaster risk through assessment, planning and policymaking.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not thinking only about the possibility of one magnitude-9 earthquake; this effort is about the fabric of hazards over time,鈥� said co-principal investigator , a 91探花professor of Earth and space sciences and director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network. 鈥淭he heart of this project is merging physical science and social science with a community focus in an integrated way 鈥� translating scientific discovery with actions that coastal communities can use.鈥�

The project intentionally emphasizes incorporating traditional ecological knowledge from the region鈥檚 Native American tribes as well as local ecological knowledge from fishers, farmers and others who have personal history and experience with coastal challenges.

鈥淲e are committed to co-producing research together with coastal communities and integrating multiple perspectives about disaster risk and its management,鈥� said , an assistant professor in 鲍奥鈥檚 Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, who is co-leading the hub鈥檚 Community Adaptive Capacity and Community Engagement and Outreach teams.

鈥淭here are many dimensions to resilience, including economics, health, engineering and more,鈥� said principal investigator , a professor at OSU. 鈥淭his research hub is a way to bring together a lot of groups with interest in coastal resilience who have not had the resources to work together on these issues.鈥�

The research hub鈥檚 other principal investigators are , a 91探花associate professor of Earth and space sciences who will lead efforts to quantify the timing, triggers and effects of landslide hazards on communities and on landscape evolution, and , a professor of sociology at OSU. The other institutional partners are Washington Sea Grant, Oregon Sea Grant, University of Oregon, Washington State University, Humboldt State University, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, Georgia Tech University and Arizona State University.

For more information, contact Bostrom at abostrom@uw.edu, Ruggiero at 541-737-1239 or peter.ruggiero@oregonstate.edu and Tobin at htobin@uw.edu. See related press releases from and .

As the city of Seattle shut down in March 2020 to try to slow the spread of COVID-19, a group of 91探花 researchers got to work.

The team developed a project that scans the streets every few weeks to document what’s happening around the city 鈥� answering questions such as: Are people outside? Are restaurants open? This project, which began in May and will continue until at least fall of 2021, collects images of how Seattle has reacted to the pandemic and what recovery looks like. This creates a massive dataset that documents what was happening at any particular point in time. The researchers hope the data will help answer questions about what makes a city resilient and how to better prepare for potential future pandemics and other disasters.

The team will present this project Oct. 1 at the through the 91探花School of Public Health.

“We talk about resilience a lot in disaster sciences. There are lots of theories about what makes a community resilient to natural hazards, but we don’t fully understand resilience to pandemics, partially because we just haven’t been through these events at this scale,” said co-lead researcher , an assistant professor of environmental and occupational health sciences. “This project provided us with an opportunity to see what’s important for resilience in this context. What are people doing? Where are they recreating? Are they following distancing and mask-wearing recommendations? And how do their activities change as the pandemic progresses?”

Video footage taken from the team’s first drive on May 1, 2020.

To track what’s happening in Seattle, the researchers drive a car with a camera similar to Google Street View on top throughout the city.

“This is an amazing tool for quickly gathering highly perishable data from across the city,” said co-lead researcher , a professor of civil and environmental engineering. “Unless we capture these scenes now, these sights 鈥� and the rich data they contain 鈥� will be lost forever. I can already see a significant difference between the May dataset and what’s happening now. For example, when we first drove past Harborview Medical Center, no one was present on the block. Now it’s beginning to look like it used to.”

The team captured this series of photos from outside Harborview Medical Center between June and August 2020. The June photo shows very few people in the area. In July, there are people waiting at the bus stop. By August, there are more people at the bus stop and the surrounding areas.听Credit: 91探花

The team’s route takes between eight and 11 hours to drive each time.

“We wanted the route to capture different aspects of the city 鈥� such as restaurants, hospitals, schools, parks and museums 鈥� and also make sure we had an equal representation across a variety of neighborhoods,” said co-lead researcher , a senior principal research scientist in the human centered design and engineering department.

The researchers try to start the drive at 8 a.m. on Friday, every few weeks, to maintain a consistent schedule, but it depends on weather, specifically the camera doesn’t work in the rain. They also drive on some Sundays to try to capture any variation between weekdays and weekends.

The Street-View-like camera creates huge datasets 鈥� each drive is turned into tens of thousands of images that make up an almost 2-terabyte file. So the researchers are developing algorithms to help them identify things such as cars, people and whether they are physically distancing in each frame. Identities 鈥� such as human faces and vehicle license plates 鈥� will be blurred.

“When people study disaster recovery, they often look at location data from smartphones or transaction data from debit or credit cards,” said co-lead researcher , an assistant professor of industrial and systems engineering. “But these data points do not necessarily capture everyone in a community. By looking at our images, I hope we are creating a dataset that better represents all people who live and work in Seattle.”

Any insights gained from this project, such as how people respond to mask recommendations or which populations might need more resources, can help other cities better understand their own recovery trends the researchers said.

“People talk about this as a 100-year pandemic, because the last major pandemic was in 1918,” Errett said. “Now conditions are much different 鈥� we have increased population density, climate change and more. I don’t think we’re going to be waiting another hundred years. So whatever we can do to learn from this experience will help us develop better policies and plans for the future.”

Jaqueline Peltier, an operations specialist in civil and environmental engineering; , a doctoral student in industrial and systems engineering; Christopher Salazar, a master’s student in industrial and systems engineering; and Vanessa Yang, an undergraduate student in statistics and informatics, are also part of this project. This research is funded by the National Science Foundation.

For more information, contact Errett at nerrett@uw.edu, Wartman at wartman@uw.edu, Miles at milessb@uw.edu and Choe at ychoe@uw.edu.

Grant number: 听CMMI-2031119

鈥淲e want to start collecting this information now 鈥� as the COVID-19 pandemic is unfolding 鈥� about how families and communities are being impacted, and how they are adapting,鈥� said , a lecturer in the 91探花Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, who is one of the leaders of the new study. 鈥淥ur goal is to understand how individuals are dealing with these new and far-reaching public health response measures and document how communities are rising together to meet unprecedented challenges.鈥�

Errett is working with , who is a senior lecturer in the department and a 91探花clinical assistant professor of health services. Any adult King County resident can take part in the study, which consists of an online questionnaire and a written piece, prepared by the participant, of up to a page in length.

The study鈥檚 goals are to determine the ways in which communities, families and individuals are being impacted by the disease and capture community displays of resilience. Ultimately, the researchers hope to use the results to provide recommendations to public health officials on measures that can promote well-being while still protecting the public at-large.

The online questionnaire, which can be found on the , asks participants about particular behaviors they may have engaged in 鈥� such as hand-washing and avoiding large crowds 鈥� as the pandemic unfolded, as well as concerns they have about COVID-19, their well-being and demographic information. The questionnaire is currently available in English and , with other languages planned, according to Errett.

The written description 鈥� which can be as short as a sentence or as long as a page 鈥� invites participants to describe in their own words the ways that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected them, and how they, their families and communities are adapting and coping.

鈥淭he story that we鈥檙e asking each participant to submit is actually the central piece of the study,鈥� said Errett. 鈥淲e鈥檙e inviting participants to use their own words to share how they鈥檙e being impacted by the pandemic, and how they鈥檙e adapting and coping.鈥�

鈥淲e鈥檙e also interested in learning about the experience of public health workers, healthcare workers, emergency managers and first responders,鈥� said Busch Isaksen.

The researchers plan to analyze the stories to see if common problems, issues and displays of resilience arise as public health restrictions were put into place.

Humanity has faced pandemics before, such as with influenza in 1918. But the COVID-19 pandemic is the largest such event in modern times. The social-distancing measures put in place are an opportunity to study their effects, according to Errett.

Though these restrictions are put in place to limit the spread of COVID-19, concerns have been raised about their unintended effects. For example, social-distancing measures may leave certain at-risk populations, such as the elderly, feeling isolated, which can negatively impact mental health and well-being. As businesses close, hourly workers are concerned about income and job security.

Few studies have measured how current public health restrictions impact well-being, or how communities could try to come together to help individuals adapt, according to Errett.

鈥淲hat we find will hopefully inform recommendations to public health officials going forward, so that we can remain safe 鈥� and also thrive,鈥� said Errett.

King County residents who would like to participate in the study should visit the KC3S site at .

For more information, contact Errett at nerrett@uw.edu.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee issued on Wednesday, March 11, an that limits large events to minimize risks to public health during the COVID-19 outbreak.

“Starting today, events that take place in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties with more than 250 people are prohibited by the state. This order applies to gatherings for social, spiritual and recreational activities. These include but are not limited to: community, civic, public, leisure, faith-based, or sporting events; parades; concerts; festivals; conventions; fundraisers and similar activities,” the proclamation states.

Here are how two 91探花experts responded to questions about the order:

, a lecturer in the School of Public Health and co-director of the听

Why reduce crowd size?

鈥淪ocial distancing is one of the strategies that we can take as a community to slow down the spread of COVID-19. Cancelling or postponing large gatherings is one way to promote social distancing.”

What is the ‘safest’ size?

鈥淭here is no ‘magic number’ for a ‘safe event.’ If a person with COVID-19 attends a public gathering, people who come into close contact with them may be at risk. Any time groups come together, individuals听should keep at least six feet apart, wash their hands frequently, cough or sneeze into their sleeve, and replace their handshake with a smile, wave, nod, or other non-contact greeting. It’s harder to implement these social distancing measures at larger events.鈥�

Dr. , chair of the 91探花 Department of Global Health and co-director of听:

Why reduce the number of people who can be at an event?

鈥淭he average number of new COVID-19 cases that each infected person generates is determined by three key things鈥� how much contact the infected person has with uninfected, susceptible people, how long a person remains infectious and how easily the virus can spread. If we reduce the number of people at an event and we can do two things that will help reduce contact听鈥� decrease the total number of people exposed, and for those who do attend, increase the distance between them. That can decrease risk of exposure, particularly if they are more than 6 feet apart.鈥�

Do crowd limits work?听

鈥淏y reducing crowding, we increase the space between people. For infections that are spread primarily by coughing and sneezing, helping people keep at least 6 feet between themselves and other people by limiting crowds can be a very important thing to do.鈥�

What is the optimal number? Is it 250?听

鈥淲e do not know what the right number is, but this is definitely a case of ‘less is more.’ The smaller the group is and the less crowding there is, the more likely it is that people will stay safe and healthy.鈥�

Dr. Wasserheit answers questions about the novel coronavirus pandemic in this video:

Quotes from Dr. Wasserheit in the video:

鈥淭he reason that we鈥檙e so concerned about this virus and this epidemic is 鈥� first of all 鈥� this virus is easily transmitted, it鈥檚 a respiratory virus. So if I鈥檓 infected and I sneeze or cough, it鈥檚 very easy for me to give it to somebody else. The second reason is that it鈥檚 a new virus. So we don鈥檛 have, as a population, immunity already to this virus. We haven鈥檛 seen it before.鈥�

鈥淭he three most important things you can do to protect yourself, if you are currently healthy, are the things your mother would have told you. First of all, wash your hands regularly with soap for at least 20 seconds. Secondly, if you haven鈥檛 gotten your flu vaccine already, get it because this is the season for colds and flu, and the last thing you want to do is to be going in to the doctor or the ER where other people may be coming in who have this infection, and you鈥檙e exposed to them, but you could have prevented getting the flu. And the third thing is that if you do actually develop a cough or a respiratory infection, then stay home during that time. If you get really sick, see your doctor. And, for the people around you, cover your nose when you cough or sneeze!鈥�

鈥淭here鈥檚 tremendous expertise across the 91探花 in pandemic disease and global health security, from basic research all the way to public health interventions. And we have actually brought that together in a 91探花 MetaCenter for Pandemic Disease Preparedness and Global Health Security.鈥�

鈥淭his epidemic of the coronavirus will definitely not be the last time that this country and the world faces the outbreak of a pathogen with pandemic potential. We are seeing this more and more frequently, and these outbreaks have greater severity and magnitude. And so we definitely need to be better prepared in the future. That鈥檚 one of the most important lessons from the coronavirus outbreak.鈥�

Because of the quick and deadly outbreak in late December of a novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China, now known as COVID-19 鈥� infecting tens of thousands and killing hundreds within weeks, while spreading to at least 24 other countries 鈥� many governments, including the United States, have banned or significantly restricted travel to and from China.

And while travel bans are frequently used to stop the spread of an emerging infectious disease, a new 91探花 and Johns Hopkins University of published research found that the effectiveness of travel bans is mostly unknown.

However, said lead author , a lecturer in the 91探花Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences in the School of Public Health, that鈥檚 largely due to the fact that very little research into the effectiveness of travel bans exists.

鈥淪ome of the evidence suggests that a travel ban may delay the arrival of an infectious disease in a country by days or weeks. However, there is very little evidence to suggest that a travel ban eliminates the risk of the disease crossing borders in the long term,鈥� said Errett, co-director of the , a research lab focused on addressing real-world issues relevant to community resilience.

The researchers combed through thousands of published articles in an effort to identify those that directly addressed travel bans used to reduce the geographic impact of the Ebola virus, SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) and the Zika virus. They did not include studies of influenza viruses, for which travel bans have already been shown to be .

In the end, the researchers were able to identify just six studies that fit their criteria. Those six were based on models or simulations, not data from actual bans after they were implemented, to assess the effectiveness of travel bans in controlling outbreaks. Consequently, to improve research in this area, the study authors recommend that research questions, partnerships and study protocols be established ahead of the next outbreak so empirical data can be collected and assessed quickly.

鈥淭ravel bans are one of several legal options that governments have drawn on to mitigate a pandemic,鈥� said co-author , a professor of health policy and management at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. 鈥淎s coronavirus spreads, our study raises the importance of understanding the effectiveness of legal and policy responses intended to protect and promote the public鈥檚 health.鈥�

鈥淲hen assessing the need for, and validity of, a travel ban, given the limited evidence, it鈥檚 important to ask if it is the least restrictive measure that still protects the public鈥檚 health, and even if it is, we should be asking that question repeatedly, and often,鈥� said co-author , an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Medicine and director of operations with the university’s Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response.

Consequently, the authors write, additional research is 鈥渦rgently needed鈥� to inform policy decisions, especially in light of the tremendous social, economic and political impacts of their implementation.

Learn more about the 鲍奥鈥檚 Population Health Initiative: a 25-year, interdisciplinary effort to bring understanding and solutions to the biggest challenges facing communities.