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Malawi Cancer Program Develops Diagnostic Breakthrough

February 21, 2025
In the U.S., cancer diagnosis often involves costly biopsies and tests. In the south African country of Malawi, where the average annual income is around $300, patients can rarely afford such procedures — yet accurate diagnoses remain essential. To help, staff of the long-standing UNC Project Malawi Cancer Program are...

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...

RuSH Clinic: Revolutionizing Reproductive and Sexual Health Care in Lilongwe, Malawi

November 21, 2024
It’s a sweltering November morning, and the Bwaila Hospital complex is abuzz with activity. Amidst the bustle, a newly constructed building stands out – the Reproductive and Sexual Health (RuSH) Clinic, a beacon of hope for reproductive and sexual healthcare. As the clinic opens its doors at 8 a.m., clients...

M-CORP Fellow Looks For Genetic Markers Associated With Cervical Cancer in Malawi Population

November 5, 2024
Cervical cancer is a preventable disease, yet one of the most common causes of death among women globally, despite screening measures proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO). In Malawi, efforts have focused on scaling up cervical cancer screening programs, as well as vaccination against the human papillomavirus (HPV). Still,...

Dr. Tisu Mvalo: A ‘Homegrown’ Investigator Who Trains Learners, Cares for Young Malawians

October 30, 2023
The analogy “give a man a fish or teach a man to fish,” demonstrates the essential role training can play in global health. When a doctor takes care of one child, that care is for one child only. But when a doctor can train other doctors to care for young...

UNC Project Malawi, Baylor Global Hope and Kamuzu Central Hospital Form Hematological Malignancy Board

March 7, 2023
Hematological malignancies, including leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma, are cancers that affect the blood, bone marrow, and lymphatic system. In Malawi, these cancers account for a significant proportion of cancer cases, and their treatment requires a multidisciplinary approach. To answer this need, UNC Project Malawi, Baylor Global Hope and Kamuzu Central...

HIV Research in the Time of COVID: Chunyan Li Studies Barriers to PrEP in Guangdong and a Unique Intervention

January 29, 2023
Chunyan Li is a social and behavioral researcher in the Department of Health Behavior at the Gillings School of Global Public Health applying socially innovative and community-engaged approaches to promote public health in global settings. For her dissertation, she worked with UNC Project-China to assess barriers to PrEP in the province...

Friday Saidi Receives Scientific Achievement Awards

January 28, 2023
Friday Saidi, MBBS, MMED, is first author of two papers published in 2021, that received Scientific Achievement Awards at UNC Malawi. The papers include: Term gravid uterus in a congenital umbilical hernia: a case report, published in the Journal of Medical Case Reports. Contributing IGHID authors include: Maganizo Chagomerana, PhD, Lameck Chinula, MD,...

NIH grant expands capacity to train emerging cancer researchers in Malawi

September 28, 2021
  A five-year training grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute expands the capacity of UNC’s Institute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases and Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center to train the next generation of cancer researchers in Malawi, Africa. The Malawi Cancer Outcomes Research Program, or M-CORP,...

UNC-led consortium to study HIV-related cancers in sub-Saharan Africa

August 24, 2020
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,...

In memoriam: UNC Project-Malawi colleagues pay tribute to Dr. Peter Kazembe

August 20, 2020
Our dear friend, Dr. Peter Kazembe, a Malawian colleague, pediatrician and adjunct professor of medicine with the University of North Carolina’s Institute for Global Health and Infection Diseases, died on August 11, 2020 at the age of 65 while receiving treatment for cancer in South Africa. He is survived by...

Remembering Steve Meshnick: Colleague, mentor and friend

August 6, 2020
“There are few people like him,” as a long-term collaborator and friend said. “Steve was so humble and generous that I don’t think he really understood the impact he had on the people around him. He profoundly changed for the better the lives of so many people he worked with...

‘A global effort’: Report from Malawi

April 7, 2020
Irving Hoffman, international director of the Institute’s UNC Project-Malawi, offers this report as the country recorded its first death from COVID-19. As of April 8, 2020, despite limited testing, Malawi has recorded 10 COVID-19 cases with one death and some evidence of community spread. UNC Project-Malawi is taking a leading...

Pediatric lab opens in Malawi’s Kamuzu Central Hospital

November 15, 2019
Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe, Malawi, celebrated the opening of its pediatric laboratory with a November 14, 2019 ceremony. The collaborative project was led by Elizabeth Fitzgerald, MD, a pediatric emergency medicine specialist, with support from UNC Project-Malawi and funding from the Malawi Children’s Initiative. Rob Krysiak, MS, co-director of...