The Gillings Community Responds to COVID-19: Mental Health, Environmental Guidance and Health Education
April 9, 2020 Health behavior alumnae participated in a hackathon to design a web platform to help people cope with the stress of managing COVID-19 information streams. Environmental scientists Dr. Mark Sobsey and Dr. Lisa Casanova have contributed to WHO guidelines on water and sanitation. Alumna Dr. Jennifer Platt is leading a health education initiative for people with alpha-gal syndrome who have COVID-19 questions.
Prevalence of pregnancy UTIs underscores need for better screening, treatment in low- and middle-income countries
April 7, 2020 Prenatal screening for urinary tract infections (UTIs) is standard practice in high-income countries because of the risk that untreated UTIs pose during pregnancy. But women in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) are still in need of screening and treatment that is accessible and accurate due to social and environmental risk factors that may contribute to the high prevalence of UTIs in pregnancy.
A new antiviral drug heading into clinical trials offers hope for COVID-19 treatment — in part because it can be taken as a pill
April 6, 2020 Scientists are hopeful that a new drug — called EIDD-2801 — could change the way doctors treat COVID-19. The antiviral shows promise in reducing lung damage, has finished testing in mice and will soon move to human clinical trials.
Who gets admitted to medical education in low- and middle-income countries — and why does it matter?
March 31, 2020 Recent studies have found that doctors and nurses in low- and middle-income countries are often absent from work, sometimes seek unauthorized payments for services, and may treat patients in disrespectful or abusive ways. UNC researchers suggest a solution: reforming medical education practices to focus on admitting students who are motivated by a strong desire to serve the needs of their community, rather than by receiving external rewards.
These basic public health measures can slow the spread of COVID-19
March 30, 2020 Since the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 was identified in December 2019, it has been transmitted around the globe. Currently, the World Health Organization reports 634,835 confirmed cases and 29,891 deaths worldwide.
Coronavirus affects everyone: The Gillings School responds
March 16, 2020 As countries around the globe work to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 — which causes the illness COVID-19 — researchers and practitioners in every discipline at the Gillings School are turning their expertise into action to support the pandemic response.
When Chinese parents have to migrate for work, what happens to the children left behind?
March 13, 2020 Over the last several decades in China, millions of rural residents have migrated to urban areas for work. As parents migrate, they’ve left their young children behind with other family members in the countryside. A new study co-led by Dr. Sean Sylvia evaluates the effects of maternal migration on early childhood development outcomes.
Gower honored in Abu Dhabi as finalist for REACH award
March 9, 2020 Dr. Emily Gower was recently honored at the Recognizing Excellence Around Champions of Health (REACH) awards during the Reaching the Last Mile Forum in Abu Dhabi for her innovative work on trichiasis treatments.
Governments need rigorous and consistent standards to address environmental health for people who are displaced
March 6, 2020 Forcibly displaced people face a number of environmental health challenges that can vastly differ depending on the response by the countries that host them. New research from the Gillings School calls for a consistent and thorough set of standards that can address these challenges holistically.
Chilean policies reduce purchases of unhealthy beverages by 24%: the first national evaluation of the impact of a front-of-the-package food label law
February 11, 2020 Chile’s Law of Food Labeling and Advertising, implemented in 2016, was the first national regulation to jointly mandate front-of-package warning labels, restrict child-directed marketing, and ban the sale in schools of all foods and beverages containing added sugars, sodium or saturated fats exceeding set thresholds (also called “high-in” food and beverages).
