Sarah Hicks

Sarah Hicks is a PhD student in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Washington. She graduated with an MPH in Epidemiology from UW in 2022, and cum laude from the UW with a BS in Public Health in 2018. Sarah joins the START Center with a diverse research background, including collaborating on the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation’s Global Burden of Disease project, evaluating support tools for adolescents living with type 1 diabetes at Seattle Children's Hospital, and investigating road injuries at the Harborview Injury and Prevention Research Center. Most recently, Sarah has worked on a study investigating PrEP implementation strategies among maternal and child health clinics in Kenya. She has had the opportunity to develop data visualization tools, lead trainings with international stakeholders, and identify PrEP delivery strategies for future implementation and testing. Through the START Center, she hopes to apply her quantitative research skills to positively impact evidence-based public health decision making. Her research interests include HIV and STI prevention, improving maternal and child health outcomes, and implementation science.

Sarah worked on seven projects during her two-year engagement at START, acting as Project Manager for four of them. Below are highlights from two of the projects Sarah worked on:

• MNCH & Climate Change: The START team explored the true cost of publishing academic research and purpose potential transformative models for ways to effectively execute a sustainable open access model of publishing.
• Sex- and Gender- Considerations in Global Health R&D: The START team was engaged to provide a summary of evidence and existing frameworks of the current state of sex- and gender- integration in health R&D, with a particular lens on (1) LMIC contexts and (2) Foundation health priorities. The guiding questions for this project centered on (1) what frameworks, policies, guidelines, and approaches are in place? (2) what is the impact of integrating sex & gender into upstream product development? and, (3) where are there opportunities for innovation?

Sarah had this to say about her time with START, “The START Center has been a pivotal part of my experience as a graduate student. As a STARTer, I was afforded the unique opportunity to play a role in large-scale, global health decision making and develop leadership skills that are not often taught explicitly in formal coursework. As a result of joining START, I am a more confident, capable researcher with the ability to effectively lead teams, communicate complex topics with both expert and lay audiences, and quickly build proficiency across a wide range of public health topic areas. I am so thankful for the amazing community that START has provided as well as the mentorship I received from the START leadership, Operations Team, faculty leads, content experts, and fellow research assistants. It has been a truly rewarding experience that has helped shape the trajectory of my personal development and career path.”