Research
Division of Infectious Diseases
Within UNC’s School of Medicine and as a key element of the Institute, the Division of Infectious Diseases is an internationally recognized leader. Our division chief is Joseph Eron, MD, professor of medicine and clinical core director of UNC’s Center for AIDS Research.
Working to solve critical global health challenges
The Institute manages more than $75 million in research revenue for long- and short-term studies on four continents by investigators from the Infectious Diseases division and other divisions of the School of Medicine along with UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health, Eshelman School of Pharmacy and other health science schools and divisions.
The strength of our investigators is matched by the deep relationships we have built in sites on four continents. UNC faculty have been working in Africa for more than two decades, partnering with local universities and ministries of health in Malawi, Zambia, Nigeria and South Africa. We continue to grow our work in China, Vietnam, and Nicaragua as well as other emerging sites.
As a top-ranked HIV/AIDS research site, our campus-wide effort of scientists, researchers and clinicians collaborate on all aspects of the epidemic. The institute has been at the forefront of many of the advances in prevention and treatment that have turned AIDS from a death sentence to a manageable, chronic illness with a normal lifespan.
Our investigators also work on:
- Tuberculosis
- Malaria, Zika, other vector-borne diseases
- Women’s health and child survival
- Cancer
“A lot of our research over time has been adopted at the country level, and to see it being incorporated and really reducing HIV transmission is very satisfying. That’s been a high point for so many of us [at Carolina].”
Mina Hosseinipour, MD, MPH, UNC Project-Malawi
- Burns, trauma, and surgery
- Water and nutrition
- Emerging infectious diseases
Latest findings and funding news
-
Wohl launches clinical trial, one of 25 sites nationally testing COVID-19 treatments
UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases researchers have begun phase 2 and phase 3 evaluations of promising treatments for COVID-19. The UNC School of Medicine joins more than 25 initial sites participating in the clinical trials through ACTIV-2, a public-private partnership sponsored by the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases … Continued
-
UNC-led consortium to study HIV-related cancers in sub-Saharan Africa
A team of UNC researchers are partnering with colleagues at four institutions in Africa to study HIV-associated malignancies. With a five-year, $6 million grant from the NIH’s National Cancer Institute, the research consortium will look at screening and diagnosing innovations for three cancers common to people with HIV: Kaposi sarcoma, cervical cancer and lymphoma. Leading … Continued
-
Gay leading phase 3 trial of COVID-19 vaccine
In February 2020, as bits of data about the SARS-CoV-2 virus started to emerge, Cindy Gay, MD, MPH, and UNC infectious diseases colleagues began meeting to formulate a local response to the virus. They’ve met weekly ever since, resorting to Zoom calls once the university sent employees home in March. They’ve shared data, compared notes … Continued