Category: Research

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) for viral suppression in people living with HIV (PWH) improves life expectancy and interrupts transmission. And new long-acting ART injectables have become a convenient treatment, helping overcome the burden of pills and the stigma associated with taking daily medication. But while there has been a 68% reduction...

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...

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...

Monica Diaz, MD, assistant professor of neurology, and Eran Dayan, PhD, associate professor of radiology, received an NIH (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) grant to study: Brain structure and function and the CNS HIV reservoir in older people living with HIV. People living with HIV (PWH) often exhibit...

Dr. Edward Browne, associate professor of medicine leading the Browne Lab within the HIV CURE Center, focuses on developing methods for studying and eliminating the latent HIV reservoir from infected patients. Latently infected cells are resistant to current HIV therapies and can persist in infected patients for decades. He recently...

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...

Members of the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases have an important role to play in sharing evidence-based research that can educate policymakers and support public health initiatives. Advocating for legislation can improve healthcare systems and public health, as well as advance the field of infectious diseases. Dr. Ross...

North Carolina directly benefits from the work of global health researchers working in other countries, monitoring disease and containing outbreaks. For years, Fischer and David Wohl, MD, have contained diseases like Ebola virus, Marburg virus, Lassa virus, in West Africa, setting up field treatment units during outbreak settings to isolate and effectively care...

HIV cure strategies that aim to induce viral reactivation for immune clearance leverage latency reversal agents to modulate host pathways, which directly or indirectly facilitate viral reactivation. Inhibition of BET (bromo and extra-terminal domain) family member BRD4 reverses HIV latency, but enthusiasm for the use of BET inhibitors in HIV...

Two UNC neurologists are making significant strides in understanding neurological disorders across diverse global populations, from Latin America to Sub-Saharan Africa.  Monica Diaz, MD, MS, and Deanna Saylor, MD, MHS, are neuro-infectious diseases and neuro-immunology specialists. They are the newest members of the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases,...

Fabien Vulu, MD, PhD, is a postdoctoral researcher from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) specializing in mosquito vectors of malaria parasites and viruses. He joined the IDEEL Lab at the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases to study under the mentorship of Dr. Jonathan Parr, MD, MPH, training in malaria parasite sequencing for the PaluSeq...

Anti-microbial resistance (AMR) is one of the greatest global health threats. Countries with limited resources, such as Malawi, are particularly vulnerable to its impact, with resistant infections threatening to undo decades of medical progress.  While antibiotics are a cornerstone of modern medicine, less than 2% of the 50,000 medical laboratories...

Dr. Jennifer Morgan, under the mentorship of Dr. Katie Reeder Hayes, Associate Professor of Oncology and Dr. Tamiwe Tomoka, UNC Project-Malawi Cancer Program Co-Director, describes breast cancer treatment patterns by stage and curative-intent guideline-concordant treatment (GCT) receipt among Malawian women in BMC Women’s Health. A prospective cohort of breast cancer patients was enrolled...

Aravinda de Silva, PhD, MPH, a member of the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, has designed a new blood test to accurately diagnose dengue and Zika Viruses, to improve surveillance and advance vaccine development. The dengue virus (DENV), which infects several hundred million people worldwide each year, is responsible...

In the U.S., cancer diagnosis often involves costly biopsies and tests. In the south African country of Malawi, where the average annual income is around $300, patients can rarely afford such procedures — yet accurate diagnoses remain essential. To help, staff of the long-standing UNC Project Malawi Cancer Program are...

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...

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...

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...

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...