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.
Skinner serves as dean of new school of public health at UT Southwestern
December 21, 2021 Dr. Celette Sugg Skinner — alum and adjunct professor of health behavior at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and member of the Gillings School’s Public Health Foundation board — has been selected to serve as the first dean of a new school of public health to be launched at the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas.
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.
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.
Marcia Herman-Giddens establishes fund to prevent child abuse homicides
September 14, 2021 Dr. Marcia E. Herman-Giddens created a fund to continue her work to recognize and prevent the deaths of children at the hands of caregivers. In this interview, Herman-Giddens shares more about her work — which led to statewide laws requiring review of child deaths and inquiries in to what could prevent them — and her reasons for giving. The fund honors the memory of her son, William D. Popper.
Innovative programs awarded $40 million to advance gender equality
September 2, 2021 The Equality Can’t Wait Challenge awarded $40 million to projects with bold ideas to expand women’s power and influence in the United States. Dr. Nicole Bates, an alumna of the Gillings School, is director of strategic partnerships and initiatives at Pivotal Ventures.
Santana inducted into The Bahia Academy of Medicine
August 13, 2021 Dr. Vilma S. Santana, alumna of the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, was inducted into Brazil's Academia de Medicine da Bahia (Bahia Academy of Medicine) in late May 2021.
New program will aid family, friends who provide crucial support for patients with cancer
July 30, 2021 Caring for patients with cancer is not just the domain of doctors and nurses; they rely on an informal network that includes family and friends. With funding from The Duke Endowment, Drs. Erin Kent and Eliza (Leeza) Park are co-directing a project to help alleviate the burden this informal care places on caregivers, especially those in rural areas.
