Professorship supports Fry's work toward healthier N.C.

March 16, 2023
Rebecca Fry’s lab is one of the first to study the effects of prenatal exposure to toxic metals as it relates to the epigenome — she has shown how behaviors and the environment can cause changes that affect the way genes function. She launched the Institute for Environmental Health Solutions and is using funds from the Angle Professorship and the UNC Superfund Research Program, which she directs, to work with North Carolina communities that have contaminated drinking water and provide them with cost-effective filters.

Staying involved and giving back

January 31, 2023
Dr. Todd A. Durham and his wife, Dr. Heidi P. Durham, are planning for the future. They’re not just thinking of themselves but also about family, their state and public health. They recently made a planned gift by donating an independent retirement account to the Gillings School, Todd's alma mater to support priority initiatives under the discretion of the dean. Read about why he views this as a good investment in the future.

Humanitarian Health Initiative supports frontline response to improve maternal and child health in Sierra Leone

October 17, 2022
The Humanitarian Health Initiative worked with Sierra Leone nongovernmental organization Rural Health Care Initiative to increase the impact of its response to the country’s maternal mortality crisis.

Gillings faculty complete innovative Round 6, COVID-19 GILs

August 12, 2022
Gillings faculty have recently completed four GILs, including two from Round 6 of GIL funding and two from the special COVID-19 round of funding. The results of their work have furthered our understanding of energy storage, brain health, environmental exposures, viral transmission, pandemic response and more.

Dasgupta develops warnings for tainted street drugs

March 3, 2022
With new grant funding, Dr. Nabarun Dasgupta, will work with colleagues across Carolina to develop systems to detect and issue public warnings about dangerous adulterants in street drugs.

Endowment honors Aitken’s commitment to innovation during Environmental Science and Engineering centennial

February 7, 2022
As part of a series of events to mark its centennial, the UNC Gillings Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering held a symposium in early November that included a special dedication to the late Dr. Michael Aitken and the announcement of an endowment established in his name.

Woods brings science to N.C. communities’ fight against environmental hazards

January 31, 2022
For more than a decade, Dr. Courtney Woods has focused on participatory research – a method that allows her to tap local expertise to support communities experiencing environmental racism. With funding from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, she created the Environmental Justice Action Research Clinic. It will function like a legal clinic to provide timely technical support to local responses to critical environmental health concerns.

Produce prescriptions can save money. New project asks how much?

December 13, 2021
Food prescription programs provide monthly benefits to help people buy fresh fruits and vegetables, and these programs have already been shown to improve health outcomes. A $765,000 grant from The Duke Endowment will fund research by Dr. Shu Wen Ng, Distinguished Scholar in Public Health Nutrition, to produce evidence related to a new facet of these programs: return on investment in the form of improved health and lower health care costs for individuals and communities.

Annual Water and Health Conference convenes global experts to learn and share the latest on water

December 2, 2021
The Water and Health Conference hosted by the Water Institute at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health has become the world’s largest annual international conference on water and health. This year’s conference, which was held virtually for the second time ever, brought together stakeholders from 122 countries around the world to advance their shared goal of increased access to water, sanitation and hygiene worldwide.

UNC awarded $5M for READDI collaboration to prevent future pandemics

November 11, 2021
RTI International, a nonprofit research institute, announced the winner of its Forethought Research Collaboration Challenge. The group of researchers working to combat the next pandemic, led by experts at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will receive $5 million in seed funding to produce antiviral drugs for the future.