Dr. Karr was awarded the UG3/UH3 ECHO Agricultural Washington and Rural Environments (AWARE) grant. The focus is developing a new pregnancy cohort in the Yakima Valley and bringing a UW multidisciplinary team to provide national leadership on air pollution science, addressing child health implications of commonly regulated pollutants, wildfire smoke, and ultra-fine particulate matter. Rural health is another emphasis area and builds on longstanding partnerships with lower Yakima Valley organizations, including the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic and Heritage University.
Additionally, Dr. Karr collaborated with pediatric partners Brian Johnson, Mersine Bryan, and Amanda Wang to secure the Best Start for Kids B Able Kids Better Access to Blood Lead Testing for Kids grant. The project will launch a new learning collaborative involving 5 UW Medicine Pediatric Clinics (Roosevelt, Harborview, Shoreline, Woodinville, Kent-DesMoines) to facilitate improved lead screening practice. In addition, the team will work with community partners (Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, Somali Health Board) to implement community events that offer point-of-care lead testing for young children. The project leverages pediatric environmental health clinical and programmatic expertise affiliated with the Northwest Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (NW PEHSU) at the University of Washington.