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ID Researchers Contribute to ID Week Conference

October 15, 2025
This year’s ID Week will take place October 19-22, 2025, in Atlanta, GA. ID Week is 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....

Infectious Diseases Society of America Honors Bramson and Parr

May 27, 2025
Brian Bramson, MD, and Jonathan Parr, MD, MPH, have been named Fellows by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Fellowship in IDSA is one of the highest honors in the field of infectious diseases, recognizing distinguished clinicians and scientists in the U.S. and around the world. Dr. Bramson cares for...

Parr Named Academy of Medicine Scholar

May 27, 2025
Jonathan Parr, MD, MPH, associate professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases and member of the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, has been selected to serve as a National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Emerging Leaders in Health and Medicine (ELHM) Scholar for a three-year term...

Assessment of Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests among Asymptomatic Children and Adults in Bagamoyo

May 12, 2025
Malaria rapid diagnostic tests (mRDTs) that detect histidine-rich protein 2 (HRP2) remain the mainstay of falciparum malaria diagnosis in Sub-Saharan Africa. Understanding their test characteristics when used for surveillance in asymptomatic populations is important. Jonathan Juliano, MD, MSPH, Jonathan B. Parr, MD, MPH, Jessica Lin, MD, MSCR, explored the rate of...

From Kinshasa to Chapel Hill: An Entomologist Is Working to Understand Transmission of Drug-Resistant Malaria Parasites

May 4, 2025
Fabien Vulu, MD, PhD, is a postdoctoral researcher from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) specializing in mosquito vectors of malaria parasites and viruses. He joined the IDEEL Lab at the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases to study under the mentorship of Dr. Jonathan Parr, MD, MPH, training in malaria parasite sequencing for the PaluSeq...

Institute, Gillings School Host 3rd Annual Global Health Scholars Symposium

February 17, 2025
(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...

2024 Review: Office of Fellowships & Training

December 3, 2024
The Office of Fellowships and Training at the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases ensures educational and mentored research training and field experience for eligible masters, doctoral or post-doctoral candidates. Managed by Kristin Reed, MPH; Marla Allen, MPH; Dzidzai Muyengwa, MPH; and Benjamin Chi, MD, MSc, following is...

Syphilis Researchers Receive $1.6M to Expand LMIC Genomic Data and Advance Vaccine Development

November 4, 2024
Syphilis vaccine development remains a high priority with a rising number of congenital syphilis cases worldwide. Unfortunately, vaccine development is still in a pre-clinical phase, and ongoing translational work is needed to identify vaccine candidates targeting highly conserved surface-exposed antigens expressed by geographically diverse strains of Treponema pallidum (TPA). But...

Searching for a Vaccine Against an Ancient Scourge

September 19, 2024
With data from one of the most extensive genomic surveys of the syphilis bacterium – correlated with clinical information from patients – an international team of researchers and doctors are on the hunt for proteins on the surface of the microbe that don’t vary and could be good targets for...

The Continued Rise in Syphilis Cases: An Increasing Priority For Global Public Health

April 25, 2024
April is sexually transmitted infections (STI) awareness month, and Arlene Seña, MD, MPH, a researcher with the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, is sounding the alarm about the importance of syphilis prevention, testing, and treatment. U.S. syphilis cases have increased nearly 80% since 2018,  a level not seen...

Hepatitis B Elimination in sub-Saharan Africa: Peyton Thompson Leads Kinshasa-based Research Team Paving the Way For Virus-Free Generations

March 25, 2024
As the World Health Organization pushes to eradicate the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) by 2030, preventing vertical transmission is key, says Peyton Thompson, MD, MSCR, Assistant Professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. But despite widespread availability of effective childhood vaccines, HBV remains endemic throughout sub-Saharan Africa, including the Democratic Republic of the...

Parr Elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation

December 21, 2023
Jonathan Parr, MD, MPH, assistant professor medicine and researcher with the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, has been elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), a nonprofit medical honor society that seeks to seeks to support the scientific efforts, educational needs, and clinical aspirations of physician-scientists...

2023 Year in Review: The Office of Fellowships and Training Programs

November 29, 2023
Nurturing future global health leaders is crucial to building resilient and sustainable health systems. The Office of Fellowship and Training Programs provides robust clinical and non-clinical experiences for professional and personal growth, led by Benjamin Chi, MD, MSc, the Institute’s Associate Director of Fellowship Programs. “Mentorship and training are pivotal parts...

Assefa, Parr Review a Novel Strategy for Eliminating Malaria, Published in The Lancet

November 15, 2023
Post-doctoral fellow Ashenafi Assefa, PhD, and Jonathan Parr, MD, MPH, assistant professor of medicine in infectious diseases, researchers with the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases (IGHID) working in the IDEEL (the Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Ecology) Lab assess the pros and cons of a new strategy to simplify malaria...

IAMIGHID: The Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Ecology Lab (IDEEL)

October 29, 2023
Researchers in the Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Ecology Lab (IDEEL) at UNC are process driven investigators with a unique comradery, working in 20+ countries to improve basic understandings of pathogens. The applied nature of their work has a direct impact on the health and well-being of millions of individuals around...

Malaria-Causing Parasites Resistant to Both Treatment and Detection Emerge in Ethiopia

October 17, 2023
Researchers with the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases (IGHID) through IDEEL (the Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Ecology Lab), have detected new strains of malaria-causing parasites in Ethiopia that are both resistant to current treatments and escape detection by common diagnostic tests. Jonathan Parr, MD, MPH, IGHID member and...

Why Specialize in Infectious Diseases? The Desire to Practice Has Always Been Infectious, But Perhaps More So Now

June 23, 2023
It’s a rare day when an infectious disease story is not in the news–particularly since COVID-19 turned the world upside down and showed the vulnerability of the human condition to emerging pathogens. The field of infectious diseases is dynamic, often characterized by innovation and heroism. Christopher Sellers, MD, MPH (UNC...

UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases Receives NIH R01 Grant to Study the Rise of Drug-Resistant Malaria in Ethiopia

June 9, 2023
Led by Jonathan Parr, MD, MPH, with Jon Juliano, MD, MSPH, and researchers in the Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Ecology Lab (IDEEL), the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases has been awarded a $3.6 million NIH R01 grant to study the rise of drug-resistant malaria in Ethiopia, with partners...

UNC School of Medicine’s Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases Receives $2.9 Million Capacity Building Grant for Malaria Surveillance in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

April 25, 2023
UNC School of Medicine’s Institute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases has been awarded a $2.9 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to establish malaria genomic surveillance capacity in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).  Dr. Jonathan Parr is the lead PI, with Dr. Jon Juliano and...

Ruthly François, Mentored by Jonathan Parr, Studies Drug Resistance to Malaria in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

February 21, 2023
Jonathan Parr, MD, MPH, a founding member of the UNC Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Ecology Lab (IDEEL) with the Institute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases is conducting studies in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), to understand the changing prevalence of drug resistance to malaria. Malaria...