Category: News

“I wish I could show you, when you are lonely or in darkness, the astonishing light of your own being” (Hafiz). These were the words that Jonah Pierce, UNC ID Clinic’s HIV Nurse Coordinator, texted Mykal McCoy after he learned his diagnosis. Jonah’s words helped Mykal remember his own light–one...

A team of researchers with the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases has quantified the link between vision impairment and academic performance in a new study of primary school students in Tanzania. Led by Joy Noel Baumgartner, PhD, MSSW, professor of social work, with Emily Gower, PhD, associate...

The Infectious Diseases Society of America recognized Asher Schranz, MD, MPH, and Ross Boyce, MD, MSc, in this year’s class of Fellows of IDSA — distinguished clinicians and scientists from across the U.S. and around the world — whose contributions continue to move the field forward. Fellowship in IDSA (FIDSA)...

Dr. Ross Boyce, a member of the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases at the UNC School of Medicine, has been honored with the “Distinguished Clinical Research Achievement Award” by the Clinical Research Forum. The award recognizes his groundbreaking project in Uganda, “Treated Baby Wraps for Malaria Prevention,”...

As headlines focus on a Hantavirus cluster linked to a cruise ship, UNC Health is part of the small national network now coordinating the response. In a WRAL interview, Dr. David Wohl with the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases recognized that UNC is one of only 13 federally...

Michael Maizel, finishing his first-year of medical school, describes how his undergraduate research in global eye‑health began with Dr. Emily Gower, expanded to studies about vision impairment among adolescents in Tanzania with Dr. Joy Noel Baumgartner, and continued with “Unite for Sight” in Ghana. He hopes to become an ophthalmologist who advocates...

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced April 27 the launch of a new World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center on Social Innovation in Health—recognizing global leadership in research, partnership, and community-engaged approaches to improving health. The WHO designation is anchored by the work of the Institute for...

Jessica Lin, MD, MSCR, a researcher with the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, was invited to participate in the National Academy of Medicine’s Emerging Leaders Forum in April, bringing one of the world’s most persistent health challenges into sharp focus—malaria as a critical issue of global equity. In...

The UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases contributed to the 2026 Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) Conference in Washington, D.C., April 9.  Two global health fellowships were highlighted for their impact on global health research training, ethical leadership, and international collaboration. The UJMT D43 Program and...

Myron (Mike) Cohen is a physician-scientist and founding director of the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases (IGHID). Barbara Stephenson, Director of UNC Global Affairs recognized Cohen “because of his decades of remarkable international work leading to scientific breakthroughs which have enhanced Carolina’s global reputation and made the world safer and...

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — UNC Health now offers kidney transplants from donors with HIV to recipients with HIV, dramatically shortening wait times for carefully selected patients living with HIV. This progress builds on more than a decade of experience under the federal HIV Organ Policy Equity (HOPE) Act and UNC’s...

Malaria remains a threat to young children in refugee settlements, where displacement, temporary housing, and limited access to healthcare reduce the effectiveness of conventional prevention tools. There are an estimated 35 million refugees in Africa alone with women and children comprising more than 80% of those displaced. New arrivals lack...