Awards and recognitions (Spring, 2011)

May 27, 2011

SCHOOL

First in our hearts, second in the nation

In its 2012 “best graduate schools” issue, U.S. News and World Report ranked the Gillings School of Global Public Health the top public school of public health and second in the nation among all schools of public health.

In additional rankings, the School’s health policy and management department was rated #3 for its master’s degree program in health care management, and the environmental sciences and engineering department tied for #11 for environment/environmental health. The Public Health Leadership Program’s community/public health clinical nurse specialty was ranked #3, and its public health nursing program tied for #11.

Dennis Gillings, PhD

Gillings honored with Davie Award

In November 2010, UNC-Chapel Hill’s board of trustees honored Dennis Gillings, PhD, CBE, as one of four recipients of the William Richardson Davie Award, the board’s highest honor.

Established by the trustees in 1984, the Davie Award is named for the Revolutionary War hero who is considered the father of the University. It recognizes extraordinary service to the University or society.

In 2007, Dennis and Joan Gillings made the largest single commitment from an individual in University history — $50 million to the School of Public Health, which was renamed the Gillings School of Global Public Health in their honor.

FACULTY

Dr. Rebecca Fry

Fry honored for outstanding research

Rebecca Fry, PhD, assistant professor of environmental sciences and engineering, was selected for two prestigious awards recognizing her potential to advance science. Fry received the Outstanding New Environmental Scientist (ONES) Award from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) of the National Institutes of Health, which includes a $2.2 million grant to study health effects of prenatal arsenic exposure in Mexico.

She also was named a PopTech Science and Public Leadership Fellow. PopTech, an interdisciplinary group of cutting-edge leaders, each year trains as many as 20 scientists to become articulate spokespersons for public health issues.

Bob Greczyn, MPH

Greczyn named GVP

Robert J. Greczyn Jr., retired chief executive officer of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, was named a Gillings Visiting Professor, effective Oct. 1, 2010. In this role, he provides guest lectures on insurance, health care and health care reform and serves as a policy adviser and resource for faculty members and students.

Greczyn earned a Master of Public Health degree in health policy and administration from UNC’s public health school in 1981.
Dr. Steven Zeisel

Zeisel receives NIEHS award

Steven Zeisel, MD, PhD, director of the University of North Carolina’s Nutrition Research Institute in Kannapolis and Kenan Distinguished Professor of nutrition, has received the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences’ Falk Award.
Zeisel received the award Oct. 4, 2010, at an event in Research Triangle Park, N.C., where he presented the Hans L. Falk Memorial Lecture, “Nutrigenomics, Estrogen and Environmental Chemicals Influence the Dietary Requirement for Choline.”

Dr. Mayer-Davis

Mayer-Davis selected for ADA post

Elizabeth Mayer-Davis, PhD, was named president of health care and education for the American Diabetes Association in January 2011. In this role, she will serve as primary spokesperson and advocate for the association regarding clinical management of diabetes care principles.

Mayer-Davis’ research has focused upon diabetes prevention and management and diabetes among minority and under-served populations.

Dr. Bryce Reeve

Reeve to lead ISOQOL

Bryce Reeve, PhD, associate professor of health policy and management, was elected president of the International Society for Quality of Life Research for a two-year term.
The Society aims to advance the scientific study of patient-centered outcomes to identify effective interventions and enhance quality of health care.

Dr. Jamie Bartram

Bartram elected to international council

Jamie Bartram, PhD, was elected to serve on NSF International’s Council of Public Health Consultants, which advises NSF on the development of public health and environmental health initiatives.
Bartram, professor of environmental sciences and engineering and director of The Water Institute at UNC, has 28 years’ environmental and water sanitation experience working in more than 50 countries. Read more about Bartram (PDF).

Dr. Bert Peterson

Peterson honored by UK’s RCOG

Herbert Peterson, MD, Kenan Distinguished Professor and chair of the maternal and child health department, was selected as an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ (RCOG) Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare. He accepted the fellowship in London on Nov. 18, 2010.
Peterson chairs the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ (ACOG) Global Women’s Health Committee. ACOG, RCOG’s American counterpart, awarded Peterson its Distinguished Service Award in 2004.

Dr. William Gray

Gray selected for AGU’s Langbein Lecture

William G. Gray, PhD, professor of environmental sciences and engineering, presented the 2010 Langbein Lecture at the American Geophysical Union’s fall meeting in San Francisco on Dec. 14, 2010.

The Walter B. Langbein Lectureship is awarded for lifetime contributions to the basic science of hydrology and/ or unselfish service promoting cooperation in hydrologic research.

Gray’s lecture described “Opportunities for Impacting the Trajectory of Hydrologic Model Development.”

Dr. John Paul

Paul wins UNC teaching award

John E. Paul, PhD, clinical associate professor of health policy and management, was recognized with UNC’s distinguished teaching award for post-baccalaureate instruction.
The award, first given in 1995 to acknowledge the importance of graduate- level teaching, includes a cash stipend and framed citation. Paul’s citation praises his strong commitment as an educator, “evident in his innovative use of technology in the classroom, his continual efforts to adapt and improve his teaching, and his active advising and ongoing mentoring of students.”

Dr. Greg Characklis

Characklis receives Leopold fellowship

Greg Characklis, PhD, associate professor of environmental sciences and engineering, was named one of 20 Leopold Leadership Fellows for 2011.
Based at Stanford University’s Woods Institute for the Environment, the Leopold Leadership Program annually selects 20 mid-career academic environmental researchers as fellows. Awardees receive intensive leadership and communications training to help them engage effectively with policymakers, journalists, business leaders and communities confronting complex decisions about sustainability and the environment.

Dr. Laura Linnan

Linnan selected for UNC’s Bryan Award

Laura Linnan, ScD, associate professor of health behavior and health education, was awarded the 2011 Robert E. Bryan Public Service Award in April 2011.

A graduate of Harvard University, Linnan has been on the faculty of the UNC public health school and a member of UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center since 1999. Her 25-year career in public health has focused on the promotion of health in the workplace, including programs that help low-income workers lose weight and become healthier and that address health disparities among African- Americans and Latinos.

Dr. William Zelman

Zelman wins School’s Greenberg Award

Professor William Zelman, PhD, was honored with the School’s Bernard G. Greenberg Alumni Endowment Award, presented March 31, 2011, at the School’s Fred T. Foard Jr. Memorial Lecture.

A member of the health policy and management faculty since 1978, Zelman was recognized for excellence in teaching, research and service.

Dr. Alice Ammerman

Ammerman receives Brooks Award

Alice Ammerman, DrPH, nutrition professor and director of the UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, received the 2011 Ned Brooks Award for Public Service.

A public health faculty member since 1991, Ammerman was honored for creating lasting and collaborative relationships that result in broad service to the community. According to nominators, she “embodies excellence in public service through her sustained dedication to ensuring improved health for all North Carolinians.”

STUDENTS

Gillings Merit Scholarships awarded

Ten graduate students have received the inaugural Gillings Student Merit Scholarships. They are Pratyaydipta Rudra (biostatistics); Maura C. Allaire (environmental sciences and engineering); Kapuaola Gellert (epidemiology); Jennifer Moore Moss (health behavior and health education); Sarah B. Lesesne and Vann R. Newkirk (health policy and management); Alane Murdock Kasrawi (maternal and child health); Eva Erber (nutrition); and Heidi A. Harkins and Fiona A. Hahn (Public Health Leadership Program).

Student chosen as Phillips Ambassador

William K. “Keith” Funkhouser III, a double major in biology and biostatistics at the School, is one of eight UNC undergraduates who studied in Asia as Phillips Ambassadors in spring 2011.

Funkhouser was based at the National University of Singapore with the Honors-University Scholars Exchange Program.

Yu Zhou

Zhou wins Projects for Peace award

Yu Zhou, a UNC sophomore accepted into the School’s Bachelor of Science in Public Health (BSPH) program next fall, was named a winner in the 2011 Davis Projects for Peace initiative.

Zhou, who will study biostatistics, developed Young Scholars International, a program that will allow UNC undergraduates studying abroad to enrich their experience by leading high school seminars in the countries they visit. Shuaiqing Liu, admitted into the BSPH program next fall in health policy and management, will work with Zhou.

Five win UNC’s Impact Awards

Five public health students received the UNC Graduate School’s Impact Award, established to recognize student research that improves the lives of North Carolinians. The students are

• Heather Beil, PhD (health policy and management), for “Effects of Early Preventive Dental Care on Treatment Use, Expenditures and Dental Disease”;
• Zulfiya Chariyeva (health behavior and health education), for “Safer Sex Counseling and Risky Sexual Behavior Among People Living with HIV in North Carolina”;
• Ruchika Goel (epidemiology), for “Studying Moms’ Medical Radiation Exposure and Possible Links to Disease”;
• Virginia Guidry (epidemiology), for “Student Respiratory Health in Schools Near Industrial Hog Operations”; and
• Alison Sanders (environmental sciences and engineering), for “Raising Awareness of Contaminated Well Water in North Carolina.”

STAFF

Dr. Rachel Stevens

Stevens receives Levine service award

Rachel H. Stevens, EdD, RN, received the Ronald H. Levine Legacy Award on Jan. 28, 2011, at the annual N.C. State Health Director’s Conference in Raleigh, N.C.

Stevens, former clinical professor and senior adviser to the director of the School’s North Carolina Institute for Public Health, retired in 2008 after 20 years of service.

Janet Place, MPH

Place receives Ervin service award

Janet Place, MPH, director of the N.C. Institute for Public Health’s Southeast Public Health Training Center, received the Theodore R. Ervin Award for Outstanding Service at the American Public Health Association’s annual meeting in Denver on Nov. 9, 2011.

The award, presented by the national Public Health Foundation, recognizes creative vision, commitment and leadership in public health practice.

ALUMNI

Dr. Jean Orelien

Orelien rated top entrepreneur

Jean Orelien, DrPH, president and chief executive officer of SciMetrika LLC in Durham, N.C., and UNC biostatistics alumnus, has been selected as one of 2010’s “Top 10 Black Entrepreneurs” by Inc. magazine. The magazine delivers advice, tools and services to help business owners start, run and grow their businesses more successfully.

Orelien founded SciMetrika in 2001 to support projects that improve public health. Inc. magazine also featured Orelien for philanthropic efforts in his native Haiti in its September 2010 issue.

Dr. Peter Kolsky

Kolsky receives Barr Award

Peter J. Kolsky, PhD, senior water and sanitation specialist with the World Bank, received the Harriet Hylton Barr Distinguished Alumni Award for leadership, collaboration and innovation in public health, impact in practice and outstanding service.

The award was announced at the School’s Fred T. Foard Jr. Memorial Lecture on Yu Zhou March 31, 2011.

Carolina Public Health is a publication of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health. To view previous issues, please visit www.sph.unc.edu/cph.