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.
$1 million gift furthers landmark study focused on reducing breast cancer disparities, barriers to high-quality care
October 5, 2021 Rich Preyer and Marilyn Jacobs Preyer have donated $1 million to support the latest phase of the Carolina Breast Cancer Study at the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Led by Dr. Melissa Troester, professor of epidemiology at the UNC Gillings School, the study investigates how the causes, treatments and long-term outcomes of breast cancer differ between Black women and white women.
