Environmental Sciences and Engineering News
MacDonald Gibson named to NC Science Advisory Board to study emerging chemicals
December 6, 2017 Dr. Jackie MacDonald Gibson has been named to the North Carolina Science Advisory Board to study emerging chemicals, such as GenX, and advise state leaders about ways to protect the environment and the health of North Carolinians. MacDonald Gibson joins fellow environmental sciences and engineering faculty member Dr. Jamie Bartram, who serves as chair of the state board.
UNC launches innovative Center on Financial Risk in Environmental Systems
December 4, 2017 UNC has launched the Center on Financial Risk, a partnership between the Gillings School's Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering and the UNC Institute for the Environment. Dr. Greg Characklis, Philip C. Singer Distinguished Professor, is the center's director.
Thirteen public health undergraduates inducted into Phi Beta Kappa
November 14, 2017 Thirteen Gillings School undergraduates were inducted recently into Phi Beta Kappa, the United States’ oldest and most honored college honorary society.
Simulations show that slowing climate change globally would improve US air quality, save thousands of lives
November 14, 2017 Actions to significantly slow climate change would improve air quality in the United States, avoiding roughly 24,000 premature deaths associated with air pollution in the year 2050.
Nicotine alters gut microbiome differently in women, study finds
November 7, 2017 Studies have shown that women have greater difficulty in quitting smoking than do men, and a new study of mice by researchers at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health explores why that may be the case. Led by Dr. Kun Lu, the study finds that nicotine has a different impact upon the relationship of the brain and gut in women.
Commentary calls for protecting public health by improving resiliency of water services
November 1, 2017 Drs. Jamie Bartram and Jason West are co-authors of a BMJ commentary that urges the public health sector to lobby for investment in resilient infrastructure for water services.
NIH grant to examine human health costs of economic development in Galápagos Islands
October 17, 2017 Dr. Amanda Thompson, recently was awarded a two-year National Institutes of Health grant to examine the effects of changing environments on human health in the Galápagos, Ecuador. Her co-investigators are Drs. Peggy Bentley and Jill Stewart. Photo by Mary Lide Parker.
Bartram named chair of NC Science Advisory Board
October 12, 2017 Dr. Jamie Bartram has been appointed to lead the newly expanded Secretaries' Science Advisory Board, overseen by the secretaries of North Carolina's state environmental quality and health agencies. The board is tasked with studying ways to better protect public health and the environment from new or emerging chemicals of concern, including GenX and hexavalent chromium.
Five new Gillings Innovation Labs awarded
October 5, 2017 Five teams of Gillings School researchers and their collaborators have been awarded new funding for Gillings Innovation Laboratory awards (GILs), beginning this fall. The teams are led by Drs. Orlando Coronell, Stephanie Engel, Emily Gower, Stephen Marshall and Kristen Hassmiller-Lynch, and Steven Meshnick. The awards are administered by Research, Innovation and Global Solutions, the Gillings School unit that manages programs funded by the $50 million Gillings gift.
UNC researchers receive $61M grant to identify effective treatments for asthma
October 2, 2017 Dr. Anastasia Ivanova will lead a five-year, $61 million study to identify more effective treatments for asthma attacks and will do so by combining two important tools -- precision medicine and 'big data' analysis. The work is funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
