Category: UNC Project-Zambia

Chapel Hill, NC – New research published in JAMA Network Open highlights a critical challenge facing people living with HIV as they re-enter the community after incarceration. A Zambia study led by Michael Herce, MD, MPH, MSCR, an investigator at the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases—in collaboration with colleagues...

Nzia Hall has felt drawn to adult neurology for quite some time. As president of the Student Interest Group in Neurology, she helped revive the organization’s UNC chapter and now finds herself in the midst of applying to multiple neurology residency programs.  During her neurology acting internship, Hall met Dr. Deanna...

Deanna Saylor, MD, MHS, received the Osuntokun Award, a prestigious honor named for Professor Benjamin Oluwakayode Osuntokun, an influential African neuroepidemiologist known for his pioneering stroke research in Africa. This annual award established by the African Stroke Organization (ASO) recognizes a scientist’s lifetime contributions to stroke research on the continent. Saylor delivered...

Katelyn Rittenhouse, a global health fellow in the department of obstetrics and gynecology received the EQT Foundation’s Breakthrough Science Women’s Health Grant for “Fetal Age and Machine Learning Initiative: Improving Pregnancy Evaluation in Low-Resource Settings (FAMLI).” Rittenhouse conducts research through UNC Project-Zambia. The award recognizes bold, transformative ideas with the...

The Institute offers global health experiences and training for all levels of learners. Meet Merlin, a Gillings student spending his summer practicum with UNC Project Zambia. As the data intern on the PIKABU (Piloting Integration, Knowledge And Acceptability of Baby Ultrasounds) project, he is helping to monitor the rollout of...

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,...

(Following is a look back at the 3rd Annual Global Health Scholars Symposium. Links to recordings are provided throughout.)   Myron Cohen, MD, director of the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases welcomed faculty, students and fellows to the 3rd Annual Global Health Scholars Symposium Friday, Feb. 14, recognizing...

The Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases (IGHID) and UNC Global Women’s Health announce the first two PhD graduates of the UNC-UNZA-Wits Partnership for HIV and Women’s Reproductive Health Training Program, led by co-principal investigators Carla Chibwesha, MD, MSc, and Benjamin Chi, MD, MSc, in Global Women’s Health. Funded by the Fogarty International Center, part of the...

Children who are HIV-exposed and uninfected experience poor growth and development compared to children who are HIV-unexposed and uninfected. Exclusive breastfeeding with adherence to anti-retroviral therapy is a recommended practice for preventing mother-to-child transmission, but there are barriers to adherence.   A pilot study led by Stephanie Martin, PhD, an...

A groundbreaking study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) demonstrates that artificial intelligence (AI) can enable novice users to estimate gestational age as accurately as expert sonographers, potentially transforming pregnancy care in low-resource settings. Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Institute for...

The UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases welcomed the N.C. National Guard, with Malawian and Zambian military delegates and civilians to UNC-Chapel Hill on July 23 for a global health program, recognizing long-standing country partnerships that have advanced vital research and improved the health and wellbeing of African citizens....

The UNC Institute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases (IGHID) at the UNC School of Medicine will host 80+ delegates and civilians from Malawi, Zambia, and Botswana on Tuesday, July 23, recognizing long-standing country partnerships that have advanced vital research and improved the health and wellbeing of African citizens. The...

Ramya Kumar‘s face lights up when she talks about her work in Zambia, and her chosen family in the Lusaka community. For nearly a decade, she has lived and worked as an epidemiologist in Zambia, investigating and responding to urgent outbreaks of disease. “I loved Zambia so much that I...

An innovative AI tool developed at the University of North Carolina (UNC) and deployed on the Butterfly IQ+ handheld ultrasound probe can measure gestational age as accurately as a trained expert using an expensive, full-sized ultrasound machine. Chapel Hill, NC (October 9, 2023) — A groundbreaking study presented today by University...

The First Annual Global Health Scholars Symposium took place November 11, sponsored by the Institute of Global Health & Infectious Diseases (IGHID) and the Gillings School of Global Public Health (GSGPH). The symposium showcased over 30 investigators from UNC and global sites around the world, featuring MD/PhD students, doctoral candidates, postdoctoral...

UNC-Chapel Hill has received a $17 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to continue groundbreaking work in artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled obstetric ultrasound. CHAPEL HILL, NC – The new award will support an interdisciplinary team from the UNC School of Medicine and Gillings School of Global Public Health,...

Establishing accurate gestational age with ultrasound early in pregnancy is essential to delivering high-quality care.Yet, the high cost for equipment and the need for trained sonographers limits its use in low-resource settings. A new study published in NEJM Evidence introduces a novel opportunity to democratize obstetric ultrasound. UNC investigators from...

UNC Global Women’s Health has received two new grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for work on pregnancy outcomes in Zambia. The first grant funds the “Multi-omics for Mother and Infants (MOMI) Consortium,” which seeks to identify new predictive biomarkers for preterm birth, preeclampsia, stillbirth and fetal growth...

A team led by Jeff Stringer, MD, associate director of research for the Institute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases, has received $14 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to conduct two studies aimed at improving pregnancy outcomes in the world’s poorest countries. The interdisciplinary group from departments...