Coronavirus Information Portal

Our Faculty Experts

• Anatomy of a New Virus (Medscape)
• How many are now eligible to get COVID vaccine in NC? There’s now a dashboard for that (The News & Observer)
• North Carolina Policy Collaboratory distributes $29 million for COVID-19 research
• Coronavirus Affects Everyone: The Gillings School Responds

Select a faculty expert below to read articles related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ralph Baric, PhD, William R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Epidemiology

Dr. Baric

Dr. Baric conducts research in emerging infections, virus pathogenesis, drug and vaccine development. He has presented at numerous National Academy of Science meetings as well as various institutes under the National Institutes of Health organization. With more than thirty patents addressing critical advances in coronavirus research and other drug development, he has represented United States researchers at the Royal Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Baric in the news:

• Two more coronaviruses can infect people, studies suggest (Science)
• Science in Action [starts at 9:37] (BBC Sounds)
• Coronavirus family now a prime suspect in previous pandemics (The Irish Times)
• Evidence Builds That an Early Mutation Made the Pandemic Harder to Stop (The New York Times)

Twitter: @Baric_Lab

Timothy Sheahan, PhD, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology

Dr. Sheahan

Dr. Sheahan examines the host-pathogen interface in order to discover new methods for viral control. For the past 12 years, Dr. Sheahan has been studying the molecular mechanisms of viral pathogenesis in hopes of discovering viral and/or host proteins to target for antiviral therapy. Dr. Sheahan works closely with Dr. Ralph Baric on coronavirus.

Dr. Sheahan in the news:

• How the New Antiviral Pills Help Thwart COVID (Scientific American)
• Merck’s experimental pill to treat covid-19 cuts risk of hospitalization and death in half, the pharmaceutical company reports (The Washington Post)
• Trials for a COVID-19 pill said to be promising (BBC Newshour)
• Drug companies working on pill treatments for COVID-19 (CNN Newsroom with Rosemary Church)
• A daily pill to treat Covid could be just months away, scientists say (NBC News)

Twitter: @timothysheahan

Lisa Gralinski, PhD, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology

Dr. Gralinksi

Dr. Gralinski studies coronavirus pathogenesis. Her work focuses on identifying susceptibility alleles that regulate SARS coronavirus disease mechanisms and immunity. She is particularly interested in the role of human genetics in shaping the immune response following infection and leading to complications, like acute respiratory distress. Dr. Gralinski works closely with Dr. Ralph Baric on coronavirus.

Dr. Gralinski in the news:

• How Long Does Omicron Take to Make You Sick? (The Atlantic)
• 7 Things to Know About the Delta Variant (AARP)
• New data shows young, healthy adults dying more often from COVID in Mecklenburg (The Charlotte Observer)
• UNC expert answers questions about new strain of coronavirus (WRAL)
• How Science Beat the Virus. And what it lost in the process (The Atlantic)

Twitter: @LisaGralinski

David R. Martinez, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Epidemiology

Dr. Martinez

Dr. Martinez is a viral immunologist with an expertise in immunity to viral pathogens of global importance including HIV, dengue, and SARS-CoV-2. As a postdoctoral scholar in Dr. Ralph Baric’s lab, he focus on studying host antibody responses to dengue virus and SARS-CoV-2. As a result of the explosive SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in Wuhan China, Dr. Martinez immediately shifted his focus to studying host immune responses to coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2. In addition to being involved in the pre-clinical development of the Johnson and Johnson and Moderna SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, as well as the Eli Lilly and AstraZeneca monoclonal antibody therapies, his postdoctoral work focused on characterizing neutralizing antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination.

Dr. Martinez in the news:

• The world won’t be able to boost its way out of the coronavirus pandemic (Politico)
• Our Relationship With COVID Vaccines Is Just Getting Started (The Atlantic)
• First lab results show omicron has ‘much more extensive escape’ from antibodies than previous variants (The Washington Post)
• What J&J Can Still Teach Us (The Atlantic)
• Health Team Scientists at UNC, Duke identify new antibody for COVID-19 and other variants (WRAL)

Dr. Pettifor

Audrey Pettifor, PhD, Professor of Epidemiology

Dr. Audrey Pettifor is an epidemiologist whose research focuses on sexual behavior and determinants of HIV/STI infection in sub-Saharan Africa. Her goal is to identify modifiable risk factors and develop novel interventions to prevent new HIV infections—particularly among adolescents and young women. Since spring 2020, Dr. Pettifor has been advising the UNC administration on various aspects of COVID-19 and the return to campus.

Dr. Pettifor in the news:

• On the Record: What’s next in the coronavirus pandemic? (WRAL)
• Carolina to lead $15 million statewide COVID-19 surveillance program funded by NC Policy Collaboratory (SPH News)
• UNC researcher looking for college students hesitant about coronavirus vaccine for nationwide study (WRAL)
• What colleges should know about herd immunity (Higher Ed Dive)
• ReCCAP: Return to Campus COVID-19 Assessment for UNC Research Personnel (UNC Friday Morning Conference)
• Plans for UNC student vaccinations commence, though rollout seems months away (The Daily Tar Heel)
• As the Pandemic Worsens, Colleges Prepare to Test Their Spring Plans (The Chronicle of Higher Education)

Allison Aiello, PhD, Professor of Epidemiology

Dr. Aiello

Dr. Aiello’s research examines social, behavioral and biological factors that have an impact on infectious diseases and health conditions throughout life. She explores the role of social determinants – e.g., education, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, neighborhood-level stressors, and workplace or school policies – on health outcomes. In particular, Dr. Aiello’s research examines antibiotic use, vaccination rates, infectious disease transmission, diagnostic testing, and infectious disease prevention.

Dr. Aiello in the news:

• UNC researchers discuss pitfalls of convenience samples for COVID-19 antibody testing (UNC)
• UNC Gillings School partners with state, local agencies to study COVID-19 cases with mild or no symptoms (UNC)
• Are Antibacterial Soaps More Effective Than Regular Soap? (Medium)
• Should Healthy People Wear Masks to Prevent Coronavirus? The Answer May Be Changing (Time Magazine)

Dr. Planey

Arrianna Planey, PhD, Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Management

Dr. Planey is a Faculty Fellow in the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research. She is a health/medical geographer whose expertise includes conceptualizing and measuring health care access, health workforce issues, and chronic illnesses. Her research and teaching focuses include the application of spatial analytic/statistical/epidemiologic methods to study interactions between health(care) policies, healthcare access and utilization, and underlying, population-level health inequities. Her goal is to identify points of intervention at structural- and system-levels. Dr. Planey’s ongoing research includes collaborative studies of birth outcomes (preterm birth and low birth weight) among Black immigrants in segregated neighborhoods, travel burdens borne by rural cancer patients, and the racially disparate effects of rural hospital closures on acute care access.

Dr. Planey in the news and research publications:

• Planey pinpoints health disparities in COVID-19 testing and workers with disabilities (SPH News)
• Racial, Ethnic, and Geographic Disparities in Novel Coronavirus (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2) Test Positivity in North Carolina (Open Forum Infectious Diseases)

Dr. Palmquist

Aunchalee Palmquist, PhD, Assistant Professor of Maternal and Child Health

Dr. Palmquist studies infant and young child feeding in emergencies and other situations of extreme adversity. She is the lead for the Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute’s (CGBI) Lactation and Infant Feeding in Emergencies (L.I.F.E.)™ Initiative. She serves as a CGBI representative on the WHO/UNICEF Global Breastfeeding Collective, the Emergency Nutrition Network IFE Core Group, and the CORE group Humanitarian-Development Task Force. Dr. Palmquist is spearheading efforts to strengthen the implementation of recommended infant feeding practices and COVID-19 through the new United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) COVID-19 Infant & Young Child Feeding Constellation.

Dr. Palmquist in the news and research publications:

• Sorting Through the Science on Breast Milk and Covid-19 (Undark)
• COVID-19 human milk studies should continue without stopping breastfeeding, researchers say (theSource)
• Black Breastfeeding Is a Racial Equity Issue (Healthline Parenthood)
• Palmquist responds to COVID-19, advocates and supports best practices for infant and young child feeding during pandemic (UNC)

Dr. Palmquist, as a CGBI representative on the ENN IFE Core Group Steering Committee, helped draft:

• UNICEF Infant and Young Child Feeding in the Context of COVID-19 brief, No.2 (v1) (March 30, 2020)
• Global Nutrition Cluster (GNC) Template for Joint Statement on Infant and Young Child Feeding in the Context of COVID (April 1, 2020) to be adapted by countries or nutrition clusters and to be issued at the national level.

Twitter: @AunPalmquist

David Jay Weber, MD, Professor of Epidemiology and Medicine

Dr. Weber

Dr. Weber serves as the medical director of hospital epidemiology (infection control), Associate Chief Medical Officer, UNC Hospitals, and as director of the UNC Health Care Anti – Infective Stewardship. Dr. Weber’s research focuses on hospital-associated (nosocomial) infections especially antibiotic-resistant pathogens, surveillance, disinfection and sterilization, nosocomial pneumonia, hand hygiene, and outbreak investigations. He is particularly interested in new and emerging diseases, and vaccine implementation.

Dr. Weber in the news:

• For the first time, most COVID deaths in Charlotte aren’t in nursing homes (The Charlotte Observer)
• Have I Been Cleaning All Wrong? (New York Times)
• ‘A very unusual time’: Board of Governors discussed system response to COVID-19 (The Daily Tar Heel)
• Coronavirus preparedness starts at the clinic level – expert urges clinicians to have proper equipment, masks available (MedPage Today)
• New and emerging infectious diseases (Ebola, Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome coronavirus, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, Candida auris): Focus on environmental survival and germicide susceptibility (American Journal of Infection Control)

Rachel Graham, PhD, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology

Dr. Graham

Dr. Graham examines emerging infectious diseases, specifically SARS and coronavirus. She uses basic science techniques to examine host receptors and disease transmission to identify potential candidates for epidemic surveillance and preventive measures against these deadly infectious diseases. Dr. Graham works closely with Dr. Ralph Baric on coronavirus.

Dr. Graham in the news:

• No, You Probably Shouldn’t Swab Your Own Throat for COVID Tests (Vice)
• Omicron vs. T cells: Why scientists are banking on the immune system’s ‘memory’ (NBC News)
• Do school fountains spread COVID? Why one NC district is giving students water bottles (The News & Observer)
• ‘Going to be joyful.’ Charlotte houses of worship ready spring COVID-style holidays. (The Charlotte Observer)
• Negative Test To Fly (WSOCTV.COM)

Kimberly Powers, PhD, Associate Professor of Epidemiology

Dr. Powers

Dr. Powers uses epidemiological, statistical and mathematical modeling methods to study infectious disease transmission. Watch the seminar on Coronavirus Outbreak: Biology, Epidemiology and Public Health Response held on March 3 below (begin at 23:00 mark) to see her summary of current mathematical modeling efforts to understand novel coronavirus spread.

Dr. Powers in the news:

• UNC study: Teachers want more — testing, training, support, safety — before return to the classroom (WRAL)
• The Health 202: When will 2021 feel normal again? Here’s what eight experts predict. (The Washington Post)
• 10 Epidemiologists and Infectious Disease Experts On Whether They Are Sending Their Kids Back to School (TIME)
• Predicting a Pandemic (WUNC)

Twitter: @kim_powers

Noel Brewer, PhD, Professor of Health Behavior

Dr. Brewer

Dr. Brewer’s research explores why people engage in vaccination and other health behaviors. He currently serves on WHO committees on vaccine acceptance and COVID-19 vaccine risk communication. Dr. Brewer has advised on vaccination for the National Academies of Science, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, President’s Cancer Panel under two presidents, and National Vaccine Advisory Committee. Dr. Brewer was the inaugural chair of the National HPV Vaccination Roundtable. Dr. Brewer co-edited the FDA’s book, Communicating Risks and Benefits: An Evidence-Based User’s Guide.

Dr. Brewer in the news

•  The Big Question This Thanksgiving: Are You Vaccinated? (New York Times)
• Vaccination in America Might Have Only One Tragic Path Forward (The Atlantic)
• As pandemic shifts, so does some Americans’ view of it (The Christian Science Monitor)
• Million-dollar lotteries fail to cut through vaccine apathy (Politico)
• The million-dollar jab and other giveaways reveal a desperate push to vaccinate America (The Washington Post)

Twitter: @noelTbrewer

Leah Devlin, DDS, Professor of the Practice

Dr. Devlin

Dr. Devlin has more than 30 years in public health practice in North Carolina including 10 years as the Wake County Health Director and 10 years as the State Health Director for North Carolina. She is helping the Office of NC Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen with the public pandemic response.

Dr. Devlin in the news:

• COVID Uncovered: Explaining COVID-19 vaccine shortages (PBS)
• As a third COVID-19 vaccine shows promise, NC’s distribution plan takes shape (NC Policy Watch)
• NCDHHS Submits COVID-19 Vaccination Plan to CDC (NCDHHS)
• Pandemic Summit and NC Preparedness (WGHP Fox)

• EXPERT ADVICE: Three steps we all can take to slow COVID-19’s spread (WRAL)

Dr. Turpin

Barbara J. Turpin, PhD, Professor and Chair of Environmental Sciences and Engineering

Dr. Turpin is an aerosol scientist who conducts research linking human exposures via airborne fine particles (aerosols) back to their sources in the indoor and outdoor environment, often through chemical and physical transformations. She is conducting research to understand the airborne spread of COVID-19 and is one of 239 signatories on a letter to the World Health Organization about the potential for airborne transmission of COVID-19. Dr. Turpin is a Past President of the American Association for Aerosol Research, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Geophysical Union and the American Association for Aerosol Research.  She is a Professor and Chair of the UNC Gillings Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering.

Dr. Turpin in the news:

• UNC Chapel Hill professors back new theory of COVID-19 spread (CBS17)
• COVID-19 may be airborne. Here’s what that could mean (The News & Observer)

Dr. Fisher

Michael Fisher, PhD, Assistant Professor of Environmental Sciences and Engineering

Dr. Fisher develops, evaluates, and applies technologies and methods for addressing under-recognized health concerns in water and sanitation, both in the US and internationally. His research contributes to a greater understanding of the determinants of effective and beneficial water and sanitation service delivery, and to innovations and evidence that can be used to improve these services.

Dr. Fisher in the news:

• WaSH and Coronavirus – knowns, unknowns, and implications for monitoring and management (RWSN)

Mr. Gentry

Bill Gentry, MPA, Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management

Mr. Gentry, a disaster management expert, worked for the North Carolina Division of Emergency Management for more than 15 years before coming to UNC. He has joined both UNC and the Gillings School’s COVID-19 working groups and is supporting the University’s emergency operations center.

Mr. Gentry in the news:

• Stocking Up for the Coronavirus: What You Need (U.S. News & World Report)

Dr. Meier

Benjamin Mason Meier, JD, LLM, PhD, Adjunct Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management

Dr. Meier is an Associate Professor in the Department of Public Policy and an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management. His interdisciplinary research—at the intersection of international law, public policy, and global health—examines human rights frameworks for global health policy. Advancing legal frameworks for public health, he is working closely as a consultant to international organizations, national governments, and non-governmental organizations in the COVID-19 response.

Dr. Meier articles and chapters related to the pandemic:

• Populist Nationalism Threatens Health and Human Rights in the COVID-19 Response (American Journal of Public Health)
• Fact-Checking And Assessing Trump’s Letter Of Rebuke To WHO (NPR)
• During a Pandemic, Strong Public Policy Can Save Lives (UNC Research)
• Human rights play a critical role in the development of COVID-19 health policies (Gillings School News)

Twitter: @BenjaminMMeier

Dr. Noble

Rachel Noble, PhD, Professor of Environmental Sciences and Engineering

Dr. Noble is the Mary and Watts Hill Jr. Distinguished Faculty member at the Institute of Marine Sciences, and she holds joint faculty appointments in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering within Gillings, as well as the Department of Marine Sciences and the Institute for the Environment. Dr Noble’s research program is focused on viral and bacterial pathogens in water, wastewater, stormwater, and food (including shellfish). Dr. Noble is currently working on multiple aspects of COVID-19 research.  She is working with a national team to quantify SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater, including rural systems such as package treatment plants and septic systems. Through this collaborative work, it is hoped that the project team can work to identify ways that viral pathogen concentrations in sewage can serve as tracers for community transmission and infections, as well as to identify times where risk exists to the public from failing infrastructure. The second area of research is to advance the technology for quantifying SARS-CoV-2 in a range of different areas including wastewater, stormwater, through developing accurate diagnostic tools, we will be able to demonstrate the disappearance of the pathogens as we hope, over time, transition back to normal activities. A third, very exciting area of her work is to collaborate with faculty in the Carolina Population Center in the area of rural disease transmission to use spatial and demographic information to better predict the dynamics of disease transmission in rural systems.

Dr. Noble in the news:

• Doing COVID-19 Dirty Work (Endeavors)
• Do’s and don’ts for wearing and cleaning masks (Good Morning America)
• Beach and pool water safety from COVID-19 (WITN)
• Professor’s Graphic Simplifies Disinfecting (Coastal Review Online)
• The best ways to clean fabric face masks (Popular Science)

Our Students and Alumni Respond

UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health students and alumni from across disciplines are working tirelessly to put learning into action in the face of a global health crisis.

Read more about what they are doing below:

• Valverde hunts for COVID-19 hotspots (November 16, 2020)
• Adams records experiences from the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic (November 2, 2020)
• Clement helps coordinate health care and emergency response to COVID-19 across North Carolina (October 12, 2020)
• Mercado builds systems to make care more affordable and confront the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines (September 28, 2020)
• Sidibe relies on collaboration, flexibility and speed to direct CDC Foundation’s COVID-19 response (September 18, 2020)
• Students’ winning policy proposal calls for COVID-19 care navigation in NC prisons, jails (September 15, 2020)
• Puertas marshals resources to combat pandemic in 26 countries (July 28, 2020)
• Haddad’s pandemic preparation pays off in Laos (July 14, 2020)
• The Gillings Community Responds to COVID-19: Protection for Rural Farmworkers (June 22, 2020)
• The Gillings Community Responds to COVID-19: Public Health Advocacy Amidst a Pandemic (June 15, 2020)
• The Gillings Community Responds to COVID-19: Global Outreach (June 1, 2020)
• The Gillings Community Responds to COVID-19: Tracking the Spread (May 18, 2020)
• The Gillings Community Responds to COVID-19: Keeping Communities Informed (May 11, 2020)
• The Gillings Community Responds to COVID-19: Voices from the Front Lines (May 4, 2020)
• M.D./Ph.D. candidate Alex Gertner values team approach to vital COVID-19 response effort (Carolina Graduate School Magazine)
• The Untold Story of the Birth of Social Distancing – Story featuring Lisa M. Koonin, DrPH, MN, MPH (April 22, 2020)
• The Gillings Community Responds to COVID-19: Outreach to Vulnerable Communities (April 17, 2020)
• The Gillings Community Responds to COVID-19: Mental Health, Environmental Guidance and Health Education (April 9, 2020)
• A year preparing for crisis: A look inside Laos’s Public Health Emergency Operations Center, with Samuel Haddad ’18 (April 7, 2020)
• The Gillings Community Responds to COVID-19: Equipment, Emergency Response and Water Surveillance (April 3, 2020)

Seminars and Webinars

Jump To: Emergency Preparedeness, Ethics and Equity Series | Building COVID-19 Research Collaborations Webinar Series | Ethics Webinars | Gillings School Coronavirus Seminars | COVID-19 Conversations

Emergency Preparedness, Ethics and Equity Series:

Building COVID-19 Research Collaborations Webinar Series:

Ethics Webinars:

Coronavirus Seminar:

Watch UNC Gillings School of Public Health’s Seminar on Coronavirus Outbreak: Biology, Epidemiology and Public Health Response held on March 3, 2020.