Category: Research

T-cells are the immune system’s frontline defenders with a crucial role in controlling HIV. In a milestone clinical trial published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers with the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases (IGHID) at the UNC School of Medicine have demonstrated that new vaccines can...

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...

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...

Chapel Hill, NC – Less than half of people with HIV in the U.S. stay consistently connected to outpatient HIV care—a gap that limits access to lifesaving medications and increases the risk of HIV transmission. Hospitalizations are especially common among people who are already disconnected from care. Among the nearly...

A new study led by Guochun Jiang, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the UNC School of Medicine, and researcher with the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases and UNC HIV Cure Center, has found that a drug named citarinostat is effective at disrupting...

Chapel Hill, NC – A new project led by Thibaut Davy-Mendez, PhD, MSPH, at the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, funded by the Gilead Research Scholars Program, is taking aim at a longstanding gap in HIV care: accurately predicting who is at highest risk for cardiovascular disease. Backed by a two-year...

Ashley Wade is a medical student at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and is mentored by Ross Boyce, MD, MSc. In many parts of Sub‑Saharan Africa, malaria is still one of the main reasons children are hospitalized. In a recent study, Wade and Annika Gunderson, a UNC Epidemiology...

Lauryn Ursery is a PhD student in epidemiology studying at the Gillings School of Global Public Health, mentored by Dr. Ross Boyce. In rural Western Uganda, people living with HIV face unique health risks, including viral acute respiratory infections (ARIs) such as the flu. Ursery presented a study led by...

Omar Zepeda is a PhD student studying at the University of Costa Rica and a fellow of the Nicaraguan Emerging and Endemic Diseases (NEED) program. He is mentored by Filemon Bucardo, PhD. At the recent 4th Annual Global Health Symposium Zepeda presented his findings on the Zika and Dengue viruses...

At this year’s Global Health Scholars Symposium, students and early‑career researchers showcased a powerful range of studies addressing urgent neurological and health systems challenges in Zambia. The event was sponsored by the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases and the Gillings School of Global Public Health. Neurologist Monica Diaz,...

Claudia Gaither is a PhD student in Epidemiology studying at the Gillings School of Global Public Health, mentored by Michael Emch, PhD. At the 4th Annual Global Health Scholars Symposium, Gaither talked about the relationship between malaria prevalence and proximity to mineral processing pits in northwestern Tanzania, where gold mining...

A systematic review led by Dorian Ho (UNC BSPH-2025), and Joseph Tucker, co-director of UNC Project-China and a member of the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, found that givers leveraged altruism, agency, and relationality with recipients to improve distribution and use of health services in their social...