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IAMIGHID: Spotlighting the AMR Collaborators

April 29, 2023

IGHID has a new hub of collaborative work focused on combating antimicrobial resistance (AMR).  Leveraging the Institute’s pan-university framework, the program brings together expertise in basic science, pharmacology, epidemiology, clinical research and environmental studies from schools and departments all across UNC. Led by David van Duin, MD, PhD, Gauri Rao, PharmD, MS, and Brian Conlon, … Read more

‘Global Health’ at Home: ID Fellow Eli Arant Works With David Rosen to Study HIV Care For the Criminally Charged

April 27, 2023

Research capacity building is intrinsic to the work of the Institute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases (IGHID), nurturing trainees here and around the world. Eli Arant, MD, a third-year infectious diseases fellow in the T-32 training program, represents this training at its best, moving the literature forward in an area with limited research. UNC … Read more

La Crosse Encephalitis Virus: Understanding a Rare Mosquito-Borne Disease That Affects Children in the Appalachian Region

April 26, 2023

Ross Boyce MD, MSc, partners with Western Carolina University and Mission Hospital to lay the foundation for effective patient care, prevention and public health awareness–funded by the State of North Carolina through the N.C. Collaboratory. In September of 2022, a 10-year-old in Brevard, North Carolina, complained of intense headaches, chills, fever, and extreme fatigue. Her mother … Read more

UNC School of Medicine’s Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases Receives $2.9 Million Capacity Building Grant for Malaria Surveillance in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

April 25, 2023

UNC School of Medicine’s Institute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases has been awarded a $2.9 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to establish malaria genomic surveillance capacity in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).  Dr. Jonathan Parr is the lead PI, with Dr. Jon Juliano and researchers in the Infectious Disease … Read more

Becker-Dreps Named Office of Global Health Education Director

April 13, 2023

Sylvia Becker-Dreps, MD, MPH, has been named director of the Office of Global Health Education at the Institute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases (IGHID) and will begin her work in the role on June 1. Becker-Dreps has served as the office’s associate director since 2012. She conducts NIH-funded research in Central America, directs the … Read more

Fogarty Fellow Camille Morgan Studies Hepatitis B Transmission: Learnings Will Inform Prevention Programs to Meet WHO Elimination Goals

March 30, 2023

UJMT Fogarty Global Health Fellow Camille Morgan is an MD-PhD candidate working on her PhD in epidemiology. Currently in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), her project applies epidemiological, spatial, and genomic approaches to the largest-known household study of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in Kinshasa, to understand HBV transmission dynamics and drivers … Read more

UNC Project-China’s Visiting Scholars Share Experiences as the Program Prepares for Fourth Cohort

March 28, 2023

The entire global health community—faculty and students alike—benefit from the exceptional diversity and wealth of experiences and perspectives brought by international scholars. And they all share one common goal—enriching the lives of others through learning. Collaborative research between Southern Medical University (SMU) and UNC Chapel Hill remains resilient, despite complex relations between the U.S. and … Read more

I AM IGHID: Dana Giandomenico

March 28, 2023

Dana Giandomenico, MPH, CPH, REHS, is the program manager for vector-borne diseases. She joined the Institute in June 2021, to support Drs. Ross Boyce, Emily Ciccone, and others working in Uganda. Her office is currently in the Carolina Population Center, off Franklin Street, where Dr. Boyce has an appointment. In her free time, Dana enjoys being with … Read more

Mellor Completes Specialist Training Through the National Research Administrators Certification Council

March 25, 2023

Cherie Mellor, CRA, CPRA, a business officer with the Institute’s grants administration team, recently completed new research specialist training through the National Research Administrators Certification Council (RACC). The RACC represents the global standards for the research administration profession, promoting a culture of integrity and competency in research excellence. It is committed to the continuing improvement … Read more

Mvalo Appointed Commissioner for Oxygen Security for Lancet Global Health

March 24, 2023

Tisu Mvalo, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics and in-country pediatric director of UNC Project Malawi, has been appointed Lancet Global Health Commissioner for Oxygen Security. Medical oxygen security refers broadly to all the policy, economic, infrastructure, technology, supply chain, logistics, clinical guidelines and health workforce required to ensure that pulse oximetry and medical oxygen therapy are routinely … Read more

Save the Date: Info Session for Mental Health Research Fellowships–in the “Warm Heart of Africa”

March 8, 2023

The Malawian Program for Mental Health Research Training (WARMHEART) is accepting applications for two-year postdoctoral fellowship positions in Malawi, funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health Fogarty International Center. Administered by the UNC Institute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases, interested applicants are invited to attend an information session on March 24, from 4-5 … Read more

UNC Project Malawi, Baylor Global Hope and Kamuzu Central Hospital Form Hematological Malignancy Board

March 7, 2023

Hematological malignancies, including leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma, are cancers that affect the blood, bone marrow, and lymphatic system. In Malawi, these cancers account for a significant proportion of cancer cases, and their treatment requires a multidisciplinary approach. To answer this need, UNC Project Malawi, Baylor Global Hope and Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) have collaborated to … Read more

Study Shows Standardizing National Treatment Guidelines Could Prevent Health Disparities in Care

March 2, 2023

Dissertations build on multiple disciplinary perspectives with new contributions to global health knowledge and practice. Lauren Zalla’s project, guided by infectious disease professors Ada Adimora, MD, MPH, and Joe Eron, MD, is a good example. Bringing clinical expertise to Zalla’s dissertation committee, they helped her design a study that explored racial disparities in the prescription … Read more

Program Director Named for DR Congo Research Collaboration and Development

February 22, 2023

Linda James has been appointed Research Program Manager and Director of DRC Research Collaboration and Development with the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases. With a family history rooted in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Linda spent six years in Kinshasa, DR Congo, where she implemented and directed multiple infectious disease research projects in … Read more

I AM IGHID: Tran Viet Ha, MD, MSc

February 21, 2023

Tran Viet Ha, MD, MSc, is the in-country director of UNC Vietnam and an assistant professor in the Gillings School of Global Public Health. She’s also coordinator for the Institute’s Clinical Research Site (CRS) in Hanoi. The CRS started as a site for HIV prevention studies but has more recently been funded as a HIV … Read more

Ruthly François, Mentored by Jonathan Parr, Studies Drug Resistance to Malaria in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

February 21, 2023

Jonathan Parr, MD, MPH, a founding member of the UNC Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Ecology Lab (IDEEL) with the Institute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases is conducting studies in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), to understand the changing prevalence of drug resistance to malaria. Malaria remains one of the most … Read more

Alumni Gift Will Fund New Clinic in Malawi, Enhancing Research and Care for Reproductive Health and Sexually Transmitted Infections

February 20, 2023

A generous gift from Hyman and Marietta Bielsky will fund a new clinic in Malawi for reproductive health and sexually transmitted infections. The new clinic will replace a 50-year-old infrastructure for sexually transmitted disease research and care, the place where UNC’s global health work began.   Long-lived friendships are special connections with those who knew you back when. But even … Read more

I AM IGHID: Erin Hoffman

January 31, 2023

Erin Hoffman is the Operations Manager for the Institute’s Chapel Hill Clinical Research Site (CRS), one of four research sites supporting IGHID’s Clinical Trials Unit. She learned about HIV from two people who were living openly with the disease, and it was their inspiring stories that would later influence her career path. In her free time, Erin … Read more

HIV Research in the Time of COVID: Chunyan Li Studies Barriers to PrEP in Guangdong and a Unique Intervention

January 29, 2023

Chunyan Li is a social and behavioral researcher in the Department of Health Behavior at the Gillings School of Global Public Health applying socially innovative and community-engaged approaches to promote public health in global settings. For her dissertation, she worked with UNC Project-China to assess barriers to PrEP in the province of Guangdong. She also tested … Read more

Friday Saidi Receives Scientific Achievement Awards

January 28, 2023

Friday Saidi, MBBS, MMED, is first author of two papers published in 2021, that received Scientific Achievement Awards at UNC Malawi. The papers include: Term gravid uterus in a congenital umbilical hernia: a case report, published in the Journal of Medical Case Reports. Contributing IGHID authors include: Maganizo Chagomerana, PhD, Lameck Chinula, MD, and Jennifer Tang, MD, MSCR … Read more