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How Global Health Impacts Health Care in North Carolina

February 7, 2025
Global health issues may seem geographically distant, but they directly impact our local community through travel, immigration, emerging infectious diseases, and interconnected global economies. The ‘global’ in global health refers to the scope of problems, not just their location, which can be infectious diseases with pandemic potention. UNC’s global and...

ID Faculty Members, Fellows Present Studies During ID Week

October 10, 2024
ID Week took place October 16-19 in Los Angeles, CA, the joint annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, the HIV Medicine Association, the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society and the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists. UNC’s Division of Infectious Diseases was...

IAMIGHID: Amy James Loftis

March 25, 2024
In November 2020, Amy James Loftis was hyper-focused on keeping the Carolina community safe, building UNC’s COVID Surveillance Lab in three short months before the return of students. But there were many years leading up to that moment. Often described as the Institute’s secret weapon in the fight against global...

William Fischer—Advancing Bedside Care During Outbreaks

October 18, 2023
The British medical journal The Lancet profiled William Fischer, MD, associate professor of medicine and director of emerging pathogens at the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, for his dedication to advancing bedside care during outbreaks. Some people have unique stories about how they met their partner, but...

‘Climate Change and Global Health’ During University Research Week

October 11, 2023
Climate change has been described as the single biggest health threat facing humanity. Physician-researchers through the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases (IGHID), UNC’s engine for global health research, are actively engaged in a variety of efforts to prepare and protect the health of the most vulnerable populations. Some...

Pathogens and Pop Culture: Part II of Dr. Billy Fischer’s Interview

July 28, 2023
This is part two of Dr. Billy Fischer’s interview with Lauren Sauer, MSc, director of the special pathogens research network at NETEC and associate professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), and Rachel Lookadoo, a public health lawyer and assistant professor at UNMC. Dr. Fischer, a pulmonary critical care...

Pathogens and Pop Culture: An Interview with Dr. Billy Fischer (Part I)

June 11, 2023
Dr. Billy Fischer talks about his experiences with Ebola and other viral hemorrhagic fevers in an interview with Lauren Sauer, MSc, director of the special pathogens research network at NETEC and associate professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), and Rachel Lookadoo, a public health lawyer and assistant professor...

UNC Launches Largest COVID-19 Observational Study of its Kind in North Carolina

November 8, 2022
This study led by the UNC Institute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases, will enroll 7,500 COVID-positive individuals to answer some of the biggest questions about COVID-19. Investigators explain the study in this video. Over two years into the COVID-19 pandemic and researchers still are looking to answer some of...

Could Science Be Synonymous With Courage? The News This Week Is Timely

October 28, 2022
As Fischer and Wohl Fight Disease in Sub-Saharan Africa, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) Selects UNC to be a Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Center (RESPTC). Read press announcement. Many courageous infectious disease specialists and other clinicians have not shied...

Wohl, Fischer Study Long Ebola Symptoms Which May Help Explain Long COVID

September 21, 2022
Survivors of the Ebola outbreak in 2014 report a wide range of lingering symptoms that include fatigue and muscle pain, as well as neurological issues. But not much has been known about the persistence and severity of the symptoms over time. Investigators from the Institute for Global Health & Infectious...

A Safe Space

December 17, 2020
A collaborative team, drawing in part on experience working with disease outbreaks in Africa, has remarkably transformed UNC’s Medical Intensive Care Unit to treat COVID-19 patients. They’ve demonstrated that it’s possible to provide critical care for patients while keeping providers safe. Like most of us during the pandemic, Billy Fischer,...

Faculty affiliates turn focus to COVID-19 treatments, prevention research

April 6, 2020
  Researchers within UNC’s School of Medicine are working tirelessly to provide knowledge to impact the current COVID-19 pandemic and future pandemics. “UNC SOM is home to many world-renowned experts on infectious disease and virology,” says Blossom Damania, Boshamer Distinguished Professor and Vice Dean for Research at the UNC School...