Dr. Ross Boyce challenges learners to see beyond the data, to understand the patient, the family, and the community at the heart of every research question. His latest study in the New England Journal of Medicine has captured the attention of students and colleagues alike, validating a simple intervention for malaria.
For many students arriving at the University of North Carolina, the journey into global health can feel vast and abstract. But for those who discover Dr. Ross Boyce and join his work, they quickly find a path with a clear and compelling purpose. His story, deeply interwoven with service to the people of North Carolina, is forged on battlefields in Iraq, with malaria tracking in rural Uganda. And he applies everything he learns to emerging threats of tick and mosquito-borne diseases in North Carolina.
Dr. Boyce is an infectious diseases physician with the Department of Medicine. He’s also a scientist with the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, securing multi-million-dollar grants to study malaria interventions following extreme weather events. As a faculty member, teaching epidemiology and infectious diseases through the Gillings School of Global Public Health, Dr. Boyce puts curriculum into practice for learners. His problem-solving spirit is contagious, inspiring learners at all levels to join his work, like Victoria Shelus, former doctoral student who studied antimalarial drug practices in private drug shops in rural Uganda. And it is through his mentorship, students learn how to be creative and resourceful, using everything from veterinary records to commercial lab data to inform public health surveillance, even employing techniques inspired by criminology to map and target mosquito breeding sites. Former undergraduate Alexis Siegler is an example. She analyzed tick-borne disease data at UNC Health and was so inspired, she went to Uganda to support Dr. Boyce’s study on severe malaria in pediatric patients.
In 2015, Dr. Boyce and his wife Dr. Raquel Reyes formed an NGO with the Mbarara University of Science and Technology known as PHealed, to focus on malaria research and broader issues related to healthcare access, particularly in the rural highlands of western Uganda, near the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. And every time he visits, he sees something else to do.
Simple Idea, Big Impact
Dr. Boyce wondered if the everyday baby carrier cloth, known locally as a “lesu,” could be transformed into a shield against malaria.
With his Uganda team he designed a study to test the idea, treating wraps with permethrin, to see if they could provide protection from malaria, especially during the hours when bed nets offered no defense.
In the end, the study was a testament to community spirit. Mothers with their babies traveled long distances to participate, supported by dedicated health workers who bridged the gaps of distance and communication. And over six months, the results were striking: children using the treated wraps had 65% fewer cases of clinical malaria than those with untreated wraps. The idea worked.
Published in Gold Standard
Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Boyce presented the study at a recent Friday Conference, where he met an outpouring of support. His lab team and students showed up in force, filling the auditorium. It was a testament to his impact at Carolina—not just through his research, but through the mentorship and research “practice” that he offers students.
After the presentation, questions were asked about other malaria prevention tools and how treated wraps might be integrated. Dr. Boyce quickly acknowledged that there was no single solution, but that bed nets, vaccines, treated wraps, and other interventions all have a role to play.
“It’s all of the above—bed nets and vaccines and more.” And he urged the global health community to move beyond competition and instead build a “Swiss cheese model” of layered protections, each filling the gaps left by the others.
“We think infants have some level of protection very early in life from the antibodies that are passed on from mom. Those probably start to wane beginning around 3 to 6 months,” Boyce explained.
“The first dose of the two approved malaria vaccines is usually given around 5-6 months of age. However, that’s the first of 4 doses needed to optimize immunity. In other words, the first dose doesn’t offer immediate protection. There’s also some evidence that getting malaria in between doses can make the vaccine less effective.”
To mitigate these issues, Dr. Boyce thinks using treated wraps for infants up to two years of age (culturally, how they are used), could help to bridge kids through a vulnerable timeframe so that they can emerge from the wraps with full vaccine-induced immunity.
Recognizing the need for long-lasting, factory-treated wraps, he suggested that treatment could potentially be expanded to school uniforms and maternity clothing.
A Broader Community Message
The cornerstone of his talk was about humility, recogizing the setbacks, rejections, and doubts that come with global health research. He reminded the community that success is often built on perseverance through failure, and that staying grounded in the needs and realities of the people served is what matters most.
“Don’t define yourself by the success or failure of your research,” he told the packed auditorium. “Stick to what matters to you. Celebrate the moments and remember why you started.”
Dr. Boyce closed the lecture by recognizing the importance of partnerships—between researchers, local leaders, and the communities themselves. His work was possible because of deep relationships with Ugandan colleagues, community health workers, and the mothers who trusted him with their children’s care.
The recorded lecture can be accessed here.