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How Global Health Impacts Health Care in North Carolina

February 7, 2025
Global health issues may seem geographically distant, but they directly impact our local community through travel, immigration, emerging infectious diseases, and interconnected global economies. The ‘global’ in global health refers to the scope of problems, not just their location, which can be infectious diseases with pandemic potention. UNC’s global and...

Reflections on Women in Leadership, Global Health Workforce

February 3, 2025
Ujunwa Onyeama, MPH, a research assistant at the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, supports the project “Sustaining Innovative Tools to Expand Youth-Friendly HIV Self-Testing (S-ITEST).” Onyeama recently participated in the 20th Annual Women’s Leadership Weekend at the Fuqua School of Business. In the following, she reflects on this experience...

Study Provides Evidence For Updates to WHO Guidelines: Treatable Infections Are Major Drivers of Mortality in Young Children With Severe Acute Malnutrition

February 3, 2025
Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) affects over 14 million children under the age of five worldwide and is a leading cause of mortality in low-resource settings with infections being the major drivers. With a lack of rigorous studies, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended broad-spectrum antibiotics for infections in this...

Dennis Begins Implementation Phase of the RESPOND Carolinas Study

January 13, 2025
Ann Dennis, MD, MS, a member of the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Disease (IGHID) and associate professor of medicine, focuses on the clinical and epidemiologic aspects of HIV/AIDS, particularly among minority and immigrant populations. Dennis will soon be starting the implementation phase of the RESPOND Carolinas study, to improve...

Undergraduate Student Evaluates Malawi Educational Development Program

January 11, 2025
Junior Hallie Stallings is a public policy major with minors in education and African Studies. Last spring, she took one of her favorite classes to date, Public Health 420: The HIV/AIDS Course, led by Ronald Strauss, DMD, PhD, a medical sociologist and dentist. Offered through the Gillings School of Global...

Global Palliative Care: Assessment and Evidence Building

January 11, 2025
Palliative care improves the quality of life for patients (adults and children) with life-threatening illness. It prevents and relieves suffering through the early identification and correct assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, whether physical, psychosocial or spiritual. Early delivery of palliative care can also reduce unnecessary hospital admissions...

David Weber Named Incoming President of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America

January 7, 2025
Dr. David Weber is a member of the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases. He is the Charles Addison and Elizabeth Ann Sanders Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics, Professor of Epidemiology, Associate Chief Medical Officer, UNC Medical Center, and Medical Director, Department of Infection Prevention, UNC Medical Center. The...

Recent Changes to Testing Methods and Case Definitions Impact Our Knowledge of Lyme Disease in NC.

December 12, 2024
Many cases of Lyme disease are under-recognized because early symptoms – typically fever, fatigue and achiness, are common in many other illnesses. At the same time, testing is fraught with pitfalls, including poor sensitivity early in the course of disease and complicated algorithms that often are misinterpreted. While historically considered...

ID Fellows Match

December 4, 2024
The Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases and Division of Infectious Diseases are pleased to introduce six fellows who will join the ID Fellowship Program in July 2025.                                              ...

A Systematic Review: HIV Interventions Across the Care Continuum for Adolescents in High-Burden Countries

December 4, 2024
HIV is a daunting public health problem for adolescents worldwide. An estimated 2.4 million adolescents (10-19 years old) are living with HIV, and new infections are increasing in many countries. Adolescents generally have poorer HIV outcomes compared to adults, leading to increased death and disability. The HIV epidemic is changing...

Juliano Receives 2024 Bailey K. Ashford Medal

December 3, 2024
Jonathan Juliano, MD, MSPH, DTM&H, professor of medicine in infectious diseases and epidemiology was honored with the Bailey K. Ashford Medal at the annual meeting of the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH), held last month in New Orleans, Louisiana. The prestigious Bailey K. Ashford Medal is awarded...

ASMTH Showcases IDEEL Lab Investigators and Their Research

December 3, 2024
Investigators and trainees in the Infectious Diseases Epidemiology and Ecology Lab (IDEEL) at the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases participated in the annual meeting of the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH), Nov. 13-17 in New Orleans. From molecular surveillance of malaria and new genomic sequencing...

2024 Review: Office of Fellowships & Training

December 3, 2024
The Office of Fellowships and Training at the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases ensures educational and mentored research training and field experience for eligible masters, doctoral or post-doctoral candidates. Managed by Kristin Reed, MPH; Marla Allen, MPH; Dzidzai Muyengwa, MPH; and Benjamin Chi, MD, MSc, following is...

RuSH Clinic: Revolutionizing Reproductive and Sexual Health Care in Lilongwe, Malawi

November 21, 2024
It’s a sweltering November morning, and the Bwaila Hospital complex is abuzz with activity. Amidst the bustle, a newly constructed building stands out – the Reproductive and Sexual Health (RuSH) Clinic, a beacon of hope for reproductive and sexual healthcare. As the clinic opens its doors at 8 a.m., clients...

Healing at High Altitudes, a UNC Med Student’s Himalayan Adventure

November 6, 2024
What’s it like to provide medical assistance in locations only accessible by foot? Harini Sridhar, a fourth-year medical student at UNC School of Medicine, discovered the answer firsthand this summer. With the support of the Office of Global Health Education, through the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, she joined...

Applying Army Skills to Public Health Challenges

November 6, 2024
In his Carolina office, above a collage of drawings by his three young children, Dr. Ross Boyce displays a 20-year-old photo of himself with 29 other soldiers. The photo captures a proud memory of U.S. Army service for the man who is now a leading epidemiologist and a research expert...

IDEEL Lab Student Applies Public Health Learnings to Pediatric Care in the DRC

November 5, 2024
The applied nature of the Infectious Disease Epidemiology Ecology Lab (IDEEL), at the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, has a direct impact on the health and well-being of millions of individuals around the globe, while also having an immediate effect on health policies at all levels. Jessica Lin,...

A Quest to Save Sight

November 5, 2024
Globally, the World Health Organization reports at least 2.2 billion people have a vision impairment. Many of those affected live in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), but they also live in rural areas of the U.S. and North Carolina. Encouragingly, more than 90% of people with vision impairment have a...

M-CORP Fellow Looks For Genetic Markers Associated With Cervical Cancer in Malawi Population

November 5, 2024
Cervical cancer is a preventable disease, yet one of the most common causes of death among women globally, despite screening measures proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO). In Malawi, efforts have focused on scaling up cervical cancer screening programs, as well as vaccination against the human papillomavirus (HPV). Still,...

Syphilis Researchers Receive $1.6M to Expand LMIC Genomic Data and Advance Vaccine Development

November 4, 2024
Syphilis vaccine development remains a high priority with a rising number of congenital syphilis cases worldwide. Unfortunately, vaccine development is still in a pre-clinical phase, and ongoing translational work is needed to identify vaccine candidates targeting highly conserved surface-exposed antigens expressed by geographically diverse strains of Treponema pallidum (TPA). But...