Skip to main content

Vertical Transmission of Hepatitis B Virus in the WHO African Region

April 28, 2025
Peyton Thompson, MD, MSCR, is a member of the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases working to improve maternal and infant health through quality preventive measures against HBV and other vaccine-preventable infectious diseases. In a systematic review estimating the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in pregnant women...

IDEEL Lab Student Applies Public Health Learnings to Pediatric Care in the DRC

November 5, 2024
The applied nature of the Infectious Disease Epidemiology Ecology Lab (IDEEL), at the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, has a direct impact on the health and well-being of millions of individuals around the globe, while also having an immediate effect on health policies at all levels. Jessica Lin,...

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...

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...

Sciaudone awarded BWF-ASTMH postdoctoral fellowship to continue diagnostics research in Peru

October 22, 2021
Michael Sciaudone, MD, an infectious diseases specialist at UNC, has won a 2021 postdoctoral fellowship in tropical infectious diseases from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund-American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (ASTMH). Three of the coveted fellowships are awarded nationally each year, funding research focused on low and low-middle income countries....

Study from DRC shows mother-infant HBV treatment, prevention feasible

August 23, 2021
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) remains endemic throughout sub-Saharan Africa despite the widespread availability of effective childhood vaccines. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, HBV treatment and birth-dose vaccination programs are not established. UNC School of Medicine researchers led a study to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of HBV testing...