Category: non-communicable disease

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 award from Gilead, the study will...

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,...

Chapel Hill, NC — Researchers with the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases (IGHID), in collaboration with the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, and UNC Project-Malawi, found adults receiving rituximab as part of cancer treatment face a significantly higher risk of developing symptomatic malaria in an endemic region....

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

In Sub-Saharan Africa, deaths occur in 5-10% of people living with HIV during the first year after initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART), and the causes for these early deaths are not clear. Matthew Painschab, MD, member of the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, and an assistant professor of hematology,...

The Malawi Government has a strong commitment to caring for its citizens, often sending patients abroad, to countries such as India, for cardiac procedures that aren’t available at home. But these opportunities are limited, compared to the needs of the country’s population of 21 million, and follow a process much...