STAT Madness is on
March 2, 2022 Two discoveries from Carolina are competing in this bracket-style national tournament to find the best innovations in science and medicine. Start voting!
Secret pacts between tobacco companies and retailers are a bad bargain for public health
February 22, 2022 Clandestine agreements between tobacco companies and retailers around the world are heavily incentivizing the sale and promotion of tobacco products and undermining public health efforts to decrease tobacco use.
Experiences of racism in adolescence raise risk of depression for Black women
February 22, 2022 Black women who frequently experience racism before age 20 are at higher risk of reporting depressive symptoms in adulthood than those who had fewer experiences of racism in early life, according to research from Gillings School epidemiologists.
Women in urban Senegal seek less biased contraceptive access
February 21, 2022 Women in urban Senegal seeking family planning services tend to avoid providers with a bias that would prevent them from acquiring their preferred method of contraception, according to new research from Dr. Ilene Speizer.
NIH funds $2.8M Gillings research on personalized messaging for weight management app
February 17, 2022 A new grant from the National Institutes of Health will help researchers at the Gillings School develop personalized messaging strategies that nutrition apps can use to nudge users toward modifying behavior to meet their goals.
Evidence suggests COVID-19 is not transmitted through wastewater
Feburary 16, 2022 There is no proof that people can contract COVID-19 from wastewater, according to a report by Dr. Mark Sobsey published in the Journal of Water & Health.
Gillings students tackle maternal mental health in two equity-focused publications
February 15, 2022 Developing equitable policies to support mental health during the perinatal period — the months/years before and after birth — requires addressing the intersecting effects of racism, poverty, lack of childcare and inadequate postpartum support.
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.
