Gillings alumnus named president of Alamance Regional Medical Center
May 14, 2020 Mark Gordon, a Gillings School alumnus in health policy and administration, has been hired as president of Alamance Regional Medical Center. Gordon has also been named senior vice president with the Cone Health network of medical centers, of which Alamance Regional is a member.
Gillings researchers advance in the quest for a dengue vaccine
May 13, 2020 Dengue viruses are estimated to cause ~390 million infections and 100 million cases each year around the globe. Because infection with one of the four unique dengue strains does not provide lasting immunity to the other strains, it has been especially difficult to create an effective vaccine.
ITA, co-founded by a Gillings student, offers support to Spanish-speaking parents during COVID-19
May 12, 2020 The website papita.com is home to ITA, an artificial intelligence program that offers unique childcare tips to Spanish-speaking users based on their personal information. The site’s developers hope to promote healthy family habits while lowering parents’ stress — especially now that the COVID-19 pandemic has families on lock down at home.
Diabetes cases show signs of increase in American youth, according to CDC report
May 12, 2020 For years, the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study has been monitoring the increase in diabetes cases in young people across the United States. A new update in that data shows that this increase is continuing in five U.S. locations, particularly among racial and ethnic minorities.
The Gillings Community Responds to COVID-19: Keeping Communities Informed
May 11, 2020 The digital space has made information about COVID-19 more accessible than ever – but not more accurate. Students in maternal and child health, the Public Health Leadership Program and environmental sciences and engineering are generating solutions to communicate public health information factually and effectively to communities in need.
Adults in Mexico are consuming fewer soft drinks three years into a sugary-beverage tax
May 6, 2020 “These results show that the tax is lowering the consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks among an adult cohort over the first three-years of the tax implementation,” says Dr. Shu Wen Ng. “In particular, it lowered the proportion of medium and high consumers of the beverages, while increasing the share of adults who were low-consumers and non-consumers.”
Gillings team wins student data analysis competition to tackle North Carolina health challenges
May 6, 2020 An interdisciplinary team of doctoral and graduate students – including Mekhala Dissanayake, Erica Zeno, Kathryn Carpenter and Emily Newman – recently won first place in the North Carolina Well-Being Data Analysis Competition.
Carolina honors Katherine LeMasters for outstanding public service
May 6, 2020 Katherine LeMasters, a doctoral student of epidemiology at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, received an Office of the Provost Engaged Scholarship Award for her work on the partnership-driven research project “MI-PHOTOS: Mothers Informing Pregnancy and Postpartum Health Outcomes Through StOry Sharing.”
Three Gillings students awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellowships
May 5, 2020 Clara Eichler, Catherine McManus and Haley Plaas — all students in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering — were awarded 2020 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships.
UNC-based NC Policy Collaboratory to receive state funds to study and fight coronavirus
May 4, 2020 The N.C. Policy Collaboratory, based at UNC-Chapel Hill, will receive $29 million to study the treatment, community testing and prevention of COVID-19 under a $1.5 billion coronavirus relief package. The University has been on the forefront of national coronavirus research, thanks in large part to the efforts of researchers at the Gillings School.
