Category: Research

Dr. Scott Commins, a member of the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, commented on the death of a 47-year-old man from Alpha-Gal Syndrome in an NBC News story. Dr. Commins studies the tick-bite induced red meat allergy that affects a growing population and describes the biggest risk factors for severe reactions, such as...

Chemtai Mungo, MD, MPH, FACOG, a member of the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases and assistant professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology has been selected for the “Robert A. Winn Excellence in Clinical Trials: Career Development Award” (Winn CDA), a prestigious two-year national program that trains early-career physicians to...

In a commentary published by Nature Medicine, Dr. Myron Cohen and Dr. Joe Eron, leaders of the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, identify numerous medical advances originating from U.S. federally funded HIV research. They say the future of HIV research and the U.S.’s scientific leadership depends on...

CHAPEL HILL, NC — (November 24, 2025) A multi-disciplinary team of researchers led by Jonathan Parr, MD, MPH, at UNC Chapel Hill’s Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, with partners at North Carolina State University, Emory University, Accelint’s SoarTech, and a network of international collaborators has received  $2.2 million...

High neighborhood deprivation is linked to both greater antimicrobial resistance and higher short‑term mortality in Enterobacterales infections. For North Carolina, the implications are clear. Tackling AMR requires not only new drugs and diagnostics but also addressing healthcare disparities that leave vulnerable populations at greater risk. Chapel Hill, NC — A...

Landmark research led by William Fischer II, MD, director of emerging pathogens for the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, describes the successful delivery of advanced care to patients with Marburg virus disease during Rwanda’s third largest outbreak on record, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseasesand The New...

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...

Artemisinin partial resistance, driven by Plasmodium falciparum K13 mutations, threatens malaria control. Zanzibar is vulnerable to the spread of artemisinin partial resistance but lacks molecular surveillance. Sean Connelly, an MD-PhD candidate, led a study with the IDEEL Lab team that sequenced samples in Zanzibar and mainland Tanzania, collected from 2022 to...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Zika virus (ZIKV) caused unprecedented outbreaks in South America and the Caribbean in 2015–2016, leading primarily to a series of abnormalities in neonates termed congenital Zika syndrome. The threat of ZIKV reemergence has seen the development of multiple ZIKV vaccines that are at the preclinical stage or in early-stage clinical...