April 12, 2012
 
Projects to support breastfeeding at hospitals in North Carolina, HIV-positive youth in Uganda, and the participation of Latino men in reproductive health were among those honored March 28 at an annual awards ceremony conducted by the Carolina Center for Public Service.

Kathy Parry (left) and Emily Taylor accept Bryan Awards for CGBI projects.

Kathy Parry (left) and Emily Taylor accept Bryan Awards for CGBI projects.

The Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute (CGBI), based within the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, received the Robert E. Bryan Public Service Award for its Breastfeeding-Friendly Healthcare initiative and for its student group, Carolina Birth and Breastfeeding: Evidence Based Education and Support (BEBES). Other public health students received additional awards.

“We are certainly honored to receive the Bryan award,” said Herbert Peterson, MD, Kenan Distinguished professor and chair of the School’s Department of Maternal and Child Health where CGBI resides. “The department, including the Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute, has considered community outreach and service to be a core part of our mission from the beginning.”

CGBI’s Breastfeeding-Friendly Healthcare initiative supports nine North Carolina hospitals that seek to implement the “Ten steps to successful breastfeeding,” a series of evidence-based best practices to support breastfeeding. Provider training is a key element of the project.

Hospitals who achieve all ten steps are designated “Baby-Friendly” hospitals by Baby-Friendly® USA, the nonprofit organization that implements the program in the United States. The global Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative is sponsored by UNICEF and the World Health Organization.

The N.C. Women’s Hospital recently earned its Baby-Friendly® distinction with the help of CGBI. “The Baby-Friendly® designation reinforces our commitment to our mothers and their babies,” said Gary Park, president of UNC Hospitals, in a UNC Health Care news release.

Dr. Miriam Labbok

Dr. Miriam Labbok

Miriam Labbok, MD, professor of the practice of public health, directs the Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute.

“Dr. Labbok, along with Emily Taylor as director of the Baby-Friendly Health Care project and our dedicated students through Carolina BEBES, has done a wonderful job of reaching across the community and across campus to further the quality of care for birth and breastfeeding,” Peterson said.

Carolina BEBES provides opportunities for interested students to learn more about breastfeeding and advocate for supportive breastfeeding practices locally and globally.

Other UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health students also were recognized:

  • Alecia Westphalen, a health policy and management undergraduate, and the rest of her team received a Ronald W. Hyatt Rotary Public Service Award for their work with Ugandan HIV-positive youth via their initiative Empowerment Through Technology.
  • Paul Fleming and Laura Villa-Torres, doctoral students, and Chelly Richards, a master’s student, all in health behavior and health education, received a Community Engagement Graduate Student Fellowship for their community-based project to understand Latino men’s roles in sexual and reproductive health issues.
  • Kristina Alnajjar, a master’s student in nutrition, received a Community Engagement Graduate Student Fellowship with her team for their work to support best practice implementation for community and school gardens.
  • Alison Doernberg, a master’s student in maternal and child health and social work, received a Community Engagement Graduate Student Fellowship for her project in four North Carolina counties that supports children and families affected by a parent or primary caregiver’s cancer diagnosis.
  • Camille McGirt, health policy and management undergraduate, along with her team, received a Robert E. Bryan Social Innovation Fellowship for their focus on reducing childhood obesity by promoting healthy bodies, healthy minds and healthy relationships for girls ages 8-15 in North Carolina’s fourth district.
  • Jessica Richardson, environmental sciences and engineering undergraduate, and her team received a Robert E. Bryan Social Innovation Fellowship for HOPE Cooks, a project that brings together students, women and children at a Chapel Hill shelter to educate them about nutrition, exercise and staying healthy on a budget.

“The students, faculty, staff and University units being honored with these awards exemplify Carolina’s commitment to service and engagement across North Carolina and far beyond,” said Lynn Blanchard, PhD, director of the Carolina Center for Public Service. “Their efforts demonstrate the interconnectedness of the University’s three-part mission of teaching, research and service. We are pleased to have such outstanding examples of public service and engaged scholarship to celebrate at UNC.”


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UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: Linda Kastleman, communications editor, (919) 966-8317 or linda_kastleman@unc.edu.

 

 

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