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 … Continued

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 … Continued

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 … Continued

“We indeed made history,” said Tran Viet Ha, MD, MSc. “UNC Vietnam is one of 30 foreign organizations among nearly 500 foreign organizations in Vietnam honored to be awarded certificates of merit by the president of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations, recognizing our significant contributions to the economic development, social security and welfare of … Continued

A student research team led by Victor Arahirwa, a 2024 MD Candidate, received the Harold C. Pillsbury, MD Student Research Award for Excellent Poster Presentation (Clinical Science) during the recent John B. Graham Medical Student Research Society’s Annual Student Research Day. From 2004 to 2016, the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) reported nearly 500,000 … Continued

Cecilia Kanyama, MB, BS, is a physician-scientist with UNC-Project Malawi who teaches at the University of Malawi College of Medicine, and her work is changing world health guidelines and policy. She completed her first years of medical school in Australia and her postgraduate training with the University of Cape Town in South Africa, supported by UNC-Project. It … Continued

HIV virus eradication is a complex health challenge due to its long-lived persistence and how it hides in latently infected cells that escape the body’s immune system. Effective HIV treatments have decreased the likelihood of someone developing AIDS, while helping individuals live long and healthy lives without transmission to sexual partners. But for individuals with long-standing … Continued

Jonathan Juliano, MD, MSPH, DTM&H, has been inducted as a Fellow of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (FASTMH).  Fellow member status is an honor recognizing sustained professional excellence in tropical medicine, hygiene, global health, and related disciplines. Requirements include a minimum 10 years of active, life or emeritus membership (preferably continuous) in … Continued

The NIAID has awarded Arlene Seña, MD, MPH, a member of the Institute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases and professor of infectious diseases, $1.9 million to initiate a longitudinal clinical study over 16 months that will advance diagnostic product development for syphilis, with the potential for additional funding over another 3 years. The number … Continued

Almost 40 years after the discovery of HIV, a new NOVA program “Ending HIV in America” reflects on the history of one of the most elusive and deadly viruses to ever infect humans. Dr. Myron “Mike” Cohen, director of the UNC Institute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases is the architect and principal investigator of … Continued

The National Cancer Institute has awarded a team of UNC researchers a five-year, $3 million grant to help develop studies to assess approaches to scalable, cost-effective screening and treatment strategies to prevent invasive cervical cancer among women living with HIV in low- and middle-income countries and in underserved communities in the United States. Co-principal investigators … Continued

Dr. Bongani Kaimila of Lilongwe, Malawi, tragically and unexpectedly passed away at the age of 36 on November 4, 2022. The accident also claimed the life of his father. He is survived by his wife Eunice Kaimila, principal of the Adziwa Christian School, and their four young children. A GoFundMe account will help Bogani’s wife … Continued

Weiming Tang, PhD, promotes social innovations in health, using crowdsourcing that inspires the creation of equitable and effective health services, as well as pay-it-forward approaches that show how kindness can be contagious in healthcare. As co-director of Project China, Weiming has co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications. And when it comes to success, he says “patience” … Continued

The First Annual Global Health Scholars Symposium took place November 11, sponsored by the Institute of Global Health & Infectious Diseases (IGHID) and the Gillings School of Global Public Health (GSGPH). The symposium showcased over 30 investigators from UNC and global sites around the world, featuring MD/PhD students, doctoral candidates, postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty. A … Continued

This study led by the UNC Institute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases, will enroll 7,500 COVID-positive individuals to answer some of the biggest questions about COVID-19. Investigators explain the study in this video. Over two years into the COVID-19 pandemic and researchers still are looking to answer some of most COVID-19 burning questions such … Continued

As Fischer and Wohl Fight Disease in Sub-Saharan Africa, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) Selects UNC to be a Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Center (RESPTC). Read press announcement. Many courageous infectious disease specialists and other clinicians have not shied away from caring for those … Continued

If the Institute is the engine that drives global health research at UNC, the Grant Administration team might just be the drivetrain, bringing all the structural components that deliver energy and create momentum. This is a spotlight on a team of rock stars who feel pride in their mission, who say the best part of … Continued

Following is a list of presentations and posters by UNC faculty researchers during IDWeek 2022. The event is scheduled for Oct. 19-23 in Washington D.C. Presentations Posters

A two-hour flight from Miami to Nicaragua takes UNC students to the closest of all IGHID country sites, a land of lakes and volcanoes, scenic coastlines and highlands. Minutes from central León, UNC Program in Nicaragua operates through the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua León (UNAN-León) and its Center for Infectious Disease Research. Here, UNC … Continued

The Institute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases and the Gillings School of Global Public Health will collaborate to showcase scholars at the 1st Annual Global Health Scholars Symposium on Friday, Nov 11 from 8:30-11 am. This hybrid event will begin in Bioinformatics Room 1131 (Zoom links are noted in the schedule below).  The Institute for … Continued