North Carolina Policy Collaboratory distributes $29 million for COVID-19 research
July 22, 2020 The North Carolina Policy Collaboratory funded 85 projects across 14 UNC System schools, including $6.1 million for COVID-19 research at the Gillings School and $1 million allocated to each of the six historically minority-serving institutions.
Department of Nutrition receives new funding to advance research, service related to COVID-19
July 22, 2020 Funding from the North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute and Sanofi will allow the Department of Nutrition to continue research and service projects to study and address the effects of COVID-19 on several nutrition-related issues.
‘Missing Mayberry’: Graduate student explores how whiteness shapes perceptions of health in the rural South
July 21, 2020 Nationwide, communities are embroiled in conversations and protests around structural racism, including inequities in the qualities and outcomes of health care for people of color. Also mirroring the national situation, however, white people in rural North Carolina are experiencing increases in early death at greater levels than any other racial group in the state.
Gillings faculty urge World Health Organization to address potential airborne spread of COVID-19
July 14, 2020 Drs. Barbara Turpin, Glenn Morrison and Jason Surratt from the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering have joined more than two hundred scientists in signing an open letter to the World Health Organization expressing concern about the potential airborne spread of COVID-19.
New study supports remdesivir as COVID-19 treatment
July 9, 2020 Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Gilead Sciences report that remdesivir greatly inhibited SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in human lung cell cultures and also improved lung function in mice infected with the virus.
Groundbreaking study reveals genetic markers for Type 2 diabetes in East Asians
July 6, 2020 A recent study — the largest of its kind in any non-European population — demonstrates that while different populations of people share similar genetic predispositions for Type 2 diabetes, they also have some genetic variations that can alter their susceptibility to developing the disease.
Gillings researchers identify potential strategy for rapid scale-up of COVID-19 testing
June 29, 2020 Researchers at the Gillings School have identified a possible testing model for SARS-CoV-2 that could rapidly and efficiently screen 2 to 20 times as many people as an individual molecular-based test could.
North Carolina sees highest estimates to-date in prevalence of autism spectrum disorder in 8-year-olds
June 25, 2020 The 2020 Community Report on Autism from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which includes research from Dr. Julie Daniels, has found that the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder detected in 8-year-olds in North Carolina was significantly higher than the national average. It also found that the prevalence detected in 4-year-olds was lower.
Most medical home care practices provide comparable quality mental health care, regardless of setting
June 22, 2020 Medical home care has been proposed as a solution to help those with serious mental illness use primary care more often, and new research from UNC has revealed that most medical homes provide a similar quality of care to these patients regardless of practice type.
UNC-Chapel Hill researchers create new type of COVID-19 antibody test
June 15, 2020 Scientists have created a test that pinpoints human antibodies specific to a unique part of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. The test can help document COVID-19 infections, identify asymptomatic virus infection and measure the level of immunity in individuals.