Category: News

Esther Kip, PhD, is a WARMHEART Fellow in Malawi, a postdoc training program named for the “warm heart of Malawi.” In the following interview, she explains her interest in adolescent mental health, how her research is building momentum, and a UNICEF experience remains a driving force behind her work.  What...

This year’s ID Week will take place October 19-22, 2025, in Atlanta, GA. ID Week is the joint annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, the HIV Medicine Association, the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, and the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists....

Briefly summarize your background and interests, and how you came to the Institute. I originally trained as a biomedical engineer and gained experience with in-host modeling of influenza during my Master’s degree at the University of Virginia. I was interested in continuing to work on infectious disease modeling, but wanted...

Dr. Luther Bartelt and Dr. Heather Henderson, members of the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases were interviewed as recipients of a new Seed Funding Program in the College of Arts and Science’s Office of Research and Innovation.  They are working on the project “Fishy Remedies: A Mixed-Methods Study...

In a recent podcast, The Lone Star Tick & One Patient’s Experience With Ehrlichiosis, Dr. Ron Falk speaks with Dr. Ross Boyce, an expert in tick-borne illnesses, and Dr. Katherine Huffman-Falk, a retired nephrologist who was recently bitten by a tick. This podcast talks about what a tick-borne disease is...

UNC at the STI & HIV 2025 World Congress in Montreal UNC Chapel Hill was well represented at the STI & HIV 2025 World Congress. Centered on the theme “Sexual Health for All,” the congress took place in Montreal, Canada, from July 27 to 30, 2025. This biannual congress, organized by...

The UNC IGHID Clinical Trials Unit (CTU) participated in the “Vision for Change: Empowering Communities in NC through Community Engagement” event on Saturday, August 30 at the Community Family Life & Recreation Center at Lyon Park in Durham. Our team (Miriam, Ann, and Tia) joined Alicia Diggs with UNC CFAR,...

Jonathan Juliano, MD, MSPH, has been awarded a $3.2 million R01 grant to use deep learning surrogates to predict the spread of antimalarial drug resistance. With co-PI Robert Verity, PhD, MSc at Imperial College London, the research team includes Jonathan Parr, MD, MPH, and partner Varun Goel, PhD, at the...

The competitive five-year renewal of Fogarty’s Malawian Program for Mental Health Research Training (WARMHEART), submitted by the Institute’s training partners at Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS), signals a bright outlook for mental health. Building on the strong track record of its first funding cycle, WARMHEART will continue to strengthen...

Talent and ambition are universal, but opportunity, not always. When eight youth from Ascent Soccer visited UNC Project Malawi’s Lab for a day of science, it wasn’t just about microscopes and lab coats—it was a reminder that sport can be a gateway to new opportunities. The event was also a...

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...

As a child, Jesus Viña Moreno spent countless hours at Hospital General Regional Dr. Marcelino Velez Santana in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. His mother completed her residency there, often bringing him along.  This past summer, Viña Moreno returned to those same halls, not as a visitor, but as a medical...

At UNC Project-Vietnam, Kim Ngan Nguyen, MSc, says her days are genuinely rewarding as she manages implementation studies for IGHID investigators. She describes this as taking proven concepts off the page and turning them into well-run interventions that lead to better health outcomes.  What is your role with UNC Project-Vietnam?...

Published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, this trial led by Ross Boyce, MD, MSc and colleagues highlights the potential impact of permethrin-treated textiles as a novel tool in the fight against malaria. Malaria remains a major cause of childhood mortality in sub-Saharan Africa, responsible for nearly 600,000...

Without access to subspecialty training, physicians in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are unequipped to treat the high volume of patients presenting with cancer, who need subspecialized care for the prevention and treatment of cervical cancer and other gynecologic malignancies. With rising rates of cancer in LMICs, there is a...

The Office of Global Health Education (OGHE) gave 14 medical students the opportunity to share their summer experiences on September 3. The program highlighted different opportunities for global health electives, typically arranged for the summer between MS1 and MS2 years. The recorded program can be found here. Altogether students visited...

Dr. David Weber, the Charles Addison and Elizabeth Ann Sanders Distinguished Professor of Medicine, received the Elaine Larson Distinguished Scientist Award from the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). This prestigious honor recognizes Dr. Weber’s exceptional contributions to the science and practice of infection prevention and control....

Africa faces a rapidly growing cancer burden, driven by both population growth and the high prevalence of HIV.  By 2030, cancer incidence in Africa is expected to double, and by 2040, low- and middle-income countries are expected to account for 70% of global cancer deaths. The number of people with...

The Institute offers global health experiences and training for all levels of learners. Meet Merlin, a Gillings student spending his summer practicum with UNC Project Zambia. As the data intern on the PIKABU (Piloting Integration, Knowledge And Acceptability of Baby Ultrasounds) project, he is helping to monitor the rollout of...

Higher drug levels and combination therapy with low-dose oral methotrexate (LD-MTX) may reduce anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) treatment failure in pediatric Crohn’s disease. David Wohl, MD, conducted a post hoc analysis of the COMBINE trial, which compared anti-TNF monotherapy to combination therapy with LD-MTX. The study concluded that the LD-MTX...