History

The history of UNC Project-Uganda begins with Dr. Amal Murarka (1969-2003), a faculty physician at UNC-Chapel Hill who was killed in an automobile accident while driving home from the beach. Before joining the faculty at UNC, Dr. Murarka spent a year at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, where he conducted HIV research which ultimately led to the discovery of the first drug to successfully prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

Shortly after his death, several of Dr. Murarka’s UNC colleagues established the Amal Murarka International Pediatric Health Foundation. In 2004, the foundation sent a team to Kampala to establish the first pediatric intensive care unit in the country at Mulago Hospital at Makerere University.

Subsequent trips in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2011 focused on pediatric cardiac surgery. Teaming up with colleagues from Children’s National Medical Center (CNMC) in Washington, D.C., the foundation not only built a cardiac ICU at Mulago, but completed a total of 30 life-saving pediatric cardiac surgeries.

At the end of 2008, the Uganda team formed a partnership with the Institute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases to formally recognize these efforts and establish the UNC Project-Uganda. With support from IGHID, UNC Project-Uganda aims to build on its current programs in order to offer service and research opportunities for UNC faculty and students in service of the children of Uganda.

Mission

The UNC Project-Uganda was established to support sustainable delivery of compassionate and competent health care to infants, children, and adolescents in Uganda; to improve the medical knowledge of the Ugandan health care workforce through in-country training and a physician exchange program; and to provide advanced medical equipment, medications, and services necessary for the delivery of compassionate and competent pediatric care in Uganda.

People

Keith Kocis, MD
Founder and Director
Pediatric Cardiac Intensivist
kkocis@med.unc.edu

Michael Mill, MD
Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgeon
michael_mill@med.unc.edu

Karla Brown, RN, PNP
Surgical Pediatric Nurse Practitioner
kjbrown@med.unc.edu

Katherine Desrochers, RN
Pediatric Intensive Care Nurse
kdesroch@unch.unc.edu

Diane Yorke, MBA, PhD, RN, CPNP
Clinical Nurse Educator
dyorke@email.unc.edu

Helen Snow, MBA
Patient and Donor Relations
helen_snow@unc.edu