Promote Healthy People, Healthy Planet and Improve Care for All
UNC faculty support new public campaign urging North Carolinians to “Get Behind the Mask”
September 11, 2020 The “Whatever Your Reason” campaign, a new statewide public effort to encourage every North Carolinian to wear a mask in the collective fight against COVID-19, was launched recently by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. Two Gillings School researchers advised on the campaign.
Building early warning systems against pandemic threats
August 31, 2020 The nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance has announced its latest program: The Emerging Infectious Diseases Southeast Asia Research Collaboration Hub. This is one of a new group of research centers supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and faculty at the UNC Gillings School are key collaborators.
Gillings School to lead multi-year evaluation of NC’s Medicaid transformation
August 28, 2020 Faculty at the UNC Gillings School have entered into a $2.5 million contract for the current year with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. The School will serve as the official evaluation center for the state’s landmark Medicaid transformation — a partnership that will have an incredible impact on public health in the state.
Obesity is a major risk factor for COVID-19 complications
August 26, 2020 A new analysis, led by the Gillings School's Dr. Barry Popkin, shows that obesity plays a major role in the severity of consequences experienced by people who become infected with the novel coronavirus.
Public health education needs a human rights focus
August 19, 2020 Three Gillings School students — representing the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels — and a faculty member co-authored a commentary in The Lancet Public Health on the future of human rights education within the field of public health.
Single-shot COVID-19 vaccine protects non-human primates
August 10, 2020 The development of a safe and effective vaccine is a key step in ending the COVID-19 pandemic. A group of scientists now report that a leading candidate COVID-19 vaccine raises neutralizing antibodies and robustly protects non-human primates against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
NSF funds UNC scientists to explore potential COVID-19 aerosol transmission
August 3, 2020 In an effort to further our understanding of how COVID-19 is spread, the National Science Foundation has funded a team of researchers at the Gillings School, led by Dr. Barbara Turpin, to study the SARS-CoV-2 virus' potential for aerosol transmission.
Primary care providers have a role to play in the treatment of opioid use disorder
August 3, 2020 Policies have recently been expanded to encourage primary care providers to administer buprenorphine in the treatment of opioid use disorder – a strategy that appears to be effective according to a new study from researchers in the Department of Health Policy and Management.
Americans are consuming less sugar but more nonnutritive sweeteners
July 29, 2020 A new study in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics shows that United States household purchases of foods and beverages containing caloric sweeteners declined between 2002 and 2018. However, purchases of products containing both caloric sweeteners and nonnutritive sweeteners increased.
Antibody research shows promise in fight against COVID-19
July 23, 2020 Based on positive results published as a preclinical study, potently neutralizing antibodies show promise as a therapy for preventing and treating COVID-19. The monoclonal antibodies were isolated from the blood of a couple from Wuhan, China, who were diagnosed with COVID-19.
