We are proud to share that, for the seventh year in a row, the recipient of the School of Public Health Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Award is affiliated with the Department of Global Health (DGH). Congratulations to this year's awardee, the International Student Success Program and thank you for the valuable service you provide for our students and community.
The International Student Success Program (ISSP), a group that provides community and support for international students in the University of Washington School of Public Health (UW SPH), is the 2025 recipient of the Martin Luther King Jr Community Service Award.
Each year the University of Washington's (UW) Department of Global Health is able to provide partial to full funding to recruit top applicants. In addition to financial support, some recipients also receive mentorship and real-world experience through research assistant positions. For the 2024-25 academic year, 19 outstanding graduate students received funding to support their studies, 15 of whom are highlighted here. Learn more about this impressive cohort, including their journeys to arrive at the UW and the impact they hope to have on the field of global health.
In 2024 Department of Global Health (DGH) students, staff, faculty, alumni, and community partners collaborated with the goal of improving health for all. Through community-centered research, our faculty and students investigated the causes of HIV/STI prevention, examined the resilience of healthcare systems, and highlighted the importance of rural health equity. 2024 was also a year of recognition as we thanked Dr. Carey Farquhar for her two years of service as interim chair, and welcomed Heidi van Rooyen as department chair.
Shubham Bansal and other students founded Narcare in 2023 as an independent nonprofit organization based in Washington. It has since expanded nationwide with various chapters advocating for increased accessibility to naloxone in communities.
Heidi van Rooyen didn’t pursue a degree in public health, but it came knocking on her door all the same. “In a way, public health found me,” she said. It found her growing up in South Africa. From a young age, van Rooyen had a sharp awareness of health inequities that resulted from apartheid.
The Department of Global Health (DGH) is honored to welcome 45 new students to our community. Of the 45 students, six are joining the Pathobiology PhD program, nine are beginning their studies in the PhD in Global Health Metrics and Implementation Science program, and 30 are entering the Master of Global Health program.
On October 1, Heidi van Rooyen began her appointment as the Chair of the Department of Global Health (DGH). Van Rooyen is an internationally recognized and accomplished South African scholar.
America’s homeless services system relies on a massive amount of data, and at first glance, that data is exacting. Federal reports describe the country’s unhoused population in granular detail, listing precisely how many people are experiencing homelessness in each city along with detailed demographic data.
Patience Komba, a Doctor of Global Health (DrGH) candidate in the Department of Global Health, describes her experience navigating Hurricane Beryl in Jamaica this summer.