Inaugural ‘GlobaLocal’ Lunch Series hosted by Gillings Global Gateway

September 21, 2015

“My career in global health actually began when I was taking care of AIDS patients in the mid-1980s, though I didn’t know it at the time,” said Carol Hamilton, MD, who currently directs scientific affairs in global health, population and nutrition at Durham-based nonprofit FHI 360.

Dr. Carol Hamilton (center) speaks with students at the inaugural GlobaLocal Lunch.

On Sept. 16, Hamilton shared her story at the inaugural event of the “GlobaLocal” Lunch Series sponsored by the Gillings Global Gateway^TM at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. The series offers bi-monthly lunches with experts in global and local public health who translate their career experiences into lessons learned for students and faculty members.

Hamilton comes from humble Texas roots. As the first in her family to attend college, she did not always expect her passions to lead her on a 25-year career journey through medicine and public health. Now, she is considered an expert in tuberculosis (TB) care and treatment as well as clinical research of both TB and HIV drugs; she also conducts programmatic work in Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Mozambique, Myanmar and Nigeria.

At the first GlobaLocal Lunch, Hamilton spoke with a group of 30 graduate students from UNC’s Gillings School, School of Nursing and School of Social Work.

“I really valued this lunch, because it allowed students from various fields to engage with a public health leader in an informal, intimate setting,” said Samantha Croffut, a student in the nutrition department at the Gillings School. “Hearing about Dr. Hamilton’s path to success and her insights for us as future public health leaders was informative and inspiring. She gave honest and open answers to all our questions, and I especially appreciated that.”

As listeners enjoyed healthy Mediterranean food, Hamilton discussed her life history. She started out promoting immunization initiatives at the Utah State Health Department, which led to interesting engagements with both traditional and non-traditional (i.e., polygamist) members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

After attending medical school at the University of Utah, she went on to complete a residency at Duke University in internal medicine and subsequently trained in infectious diseases. That was when her interactions with AIDS patients focused Hamilton’s passion on global health, a choice that ultimately led her to FHI 360 and new opportunities to lead public health projects on an international scale.

“Carol exemplifies the richness of global health experience in the Triangle region,” noted Jim Herrington, executive director of the Gillings Global Gateway^TM. “Her advice to students to be persistent, to be passionate about their area of public health and to be enthusiastic and continue dreaming was both practical and uplifting.”

Visit the Gillings Global Gateway^TM news and events page to find information about future GlobaLocal Lunch Series events.