October 27, 2014

An anonymous donor has committed $7 million to The University of North Carolina’s Gillings School of Global Public Health.

The gift directly benefits UNC Gillings’ Department of Maternal and Child Health, UNC Gillings’ Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute (CGBI), and the department’s World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center for Research Evidence for Sexual and Reproductive Health. Specifically, it will be used to establish a distinguished professorship, provide immediate-impact funds to expand the CGBI, and support the WHO Collaborating Center’s new initiatives in implementation science for global maternal and child health.

Dr. Bert Peterson

Dr. Bert Peterson

Dr. Miriam Labbok

Dr. Miriam Labbok

“This truly wonderful gift will make a huge difference in our ability to make meaningful and lasting change in the lives of mothers, babies and children in North Carolina and around the world,” said Herbert Peterson, MD, Kenan Distinguished Professor of maternal and child health at the Gillings School and of obstetrics and gynecology in the UNC School of Medicine. “We’re also so grateful for the support to our WHO Collaborating Center’s efforts to accelerate progress in the new and increasingly important field of implementation science.”

Peterson also directs the WHO collaborating center.

Established in 2006, the CGBI was the first public health breastfeeding entity of its kind. Its mission includes improving maternal and infant health across North Carolina, the U.S., and the world by increasing knowledge about and support for breastfeeding through a comprehensive program of research, service and education.

“The new professorship will enable us to recruit additional world-class expertise as we move forward in addressing inequities in breastfeeding support by strengthening evidence-based programs and policy change at the state, national and global levels,” said Miriam Labbok, MD, MPH, Professor of the Practice of Public Health in the Gillings School’s Department of Maternal and Child Health and CGBI director.

Barbara K. Rimer, DrPH, dean and Alumni Distinguished Professor at the Gillings School, said the gift targets vital public health issues and needs.

“Breastfeeding is one of the most life-saving, life-enhancing and health-promoting actions a mother can take for her children and herself,” Rimer said. “This generous gift will allow us to take our highly regarded and globally significant breastfeeding program to an even higher level of impact.”


Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: David Pesci, director of communications, (919) 962-2600 or dpesci@unc.edu.
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