Promote Healthy People, Healthy Planet and Improve Care for All

COVID-19 vaccination higher in LGBT communities, CDC reports

February 4, 2022
Gay and lesbian adults are more likely to be vaccinated for COVID-19 and have confidence in the safety of vaccines than heterosexuals, according to a CDC report that features research from Dr. Noel Brewer. The data can help public health officials tailor education and outreach to further overcome barriers that prevent LGBT people from getting vaccinated.

Picture warnings on sodas? A promising tool to fight childhood obesity

February 1, 2022
A study in PLOS Medicine is the first to examine in a realistic setting whether pictorial health warnings on sugary drinks influence which beverages parents buy for their children. The findings are promising: The warnings reduced parental purchases of sugary drinks for their kids by 17 percentage points.

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.

UNC researchers to lead 2 centers for $170M NIH Nutrition for Precision Health Consortium

January 31, 2022
Understanding how people differ in both their metabolism and their bodily response to what they eat and drink is critical to tailoring diets for an individual’s optimal health. To that end, Gillings School researchers will direct both a $13 million Nutrition Precision Health Clinical Center and a $19 million Metabolomics and Clinical Assay Center.

COVID-19’s indirect effects are claiming more lives than we realize

January 26, 2022
Social isolation, economic insecurity, barriers to health care access – Gillings epidemiologists have found that these indirect consequences of the pandemic are claiming lives that are not being reported in COVID-19 surveillance data, especially among populations of color and young people.

Energy inequity is an urgent public health issue, as Bronx fire illustrates

January 19, 2022
A new national analysis of United States household energy spending found that 16% of the country lives in energy poverty — defined as spending more than 6% of household income on energy bills. More than 5.2 million households living above the Federal Poverty Line still face energy poverty, and this struggle disproportionately burdens Black, Hispanic and Native American communities.

Provider recommendations boost likelihood of COVID-19 vaccination

January 14, 2022
People who receive COVID-19 vaccine recommendations from their doctor or health care provider are more likely to get vaccinated, according to a report from the CDC that includes research from Dr. Noel Brewer.

Mental health may impact how quickly men connect to HIV care, study in Cameroon finds

January 10, 2022
Research conducted in Cameroon demonstrates that people living with HIV who are initiating care commonly exhibit symptoms of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. Among men, screening positive for a mental health disorder was associated with entering care with more advanced HIV symptoms — meaning men who are struggling with their mental health may wait longer to get tested for HIV or begin treatment.

Survival probability is deciding factor in American perceptions of COVID-19 triage

January 4, 2021
Americans believe that scarce beds in hospital intensive care units should be given to COVID-19 patients who have the highest chances of survival, according to new research led by UNC-Chapel Hill.

Mental health crisis among public health professionals requires urgent action

December 21, 2021
Public health workers are facing a mounting mental health crisis as they encounter prolonged challenges in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Responding to this crisis should be a top priority for public health leaders, according to a new article by Drs. John Wiesman and Ed Baker.