4 from Gillings School honored for excellence in health equity research

December 16, 2024

The Gillings Research Office at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health has announced the four winners of this year’s Award for Excellence in Health Equity Research. The awardees are:

• Faculty: Sarah Mills, PhD, Department of Health Behavior
• Doctoral Student: Austin Waters, Department of Health Policy and Management
• Master of Public Health Student: Fred Tusabe, Climate, Environment and Health concentration
• Undergraduate Student: Emile Charles, Nutrition concentration

2024 marks the fifth consecutive year that the Gillings School has offered this award, which recognizes outstanding research that advances solutions to health inequities. This includes research focused on understanding and identifying factors that contribute to or sustain health inequities, with special interest shown to work that addresses structural racism.

Dr. Alexia Kelley

“We are thrilled to recognize the amazing health equity work being done across the career stages of Gillings researchers, from undergraduates through our faculty members,” says Alexis Kelley, PhD, assistant dean for research at the Gillings School. “The research being conducted by each of the awardees embodies the School’s mission to eliminate health inequities across North Carolina and around the world. We look forward to following their research careers and the positive impact they will have in the field of public health.”

In previous years, only faculty were eligible for the award, but it is now also open to postdoctoral researchers and students. The Gillings Research Office will host a seminar in the spring to highlight the work of all four awardees. Learn more about their accomplishments below:

Sarah Mills researches tobacco-related inequities.

Dr. Sarah Mills

Her groundbreaking studies highlight racial and socioeconomic disparities in tobacco use and the marketing of menthol cigarettes. The study findings have both influenced regulatory actions — like the Food and Drug Administration’s proposed menthol cigarette ban — and shaped the strategies of major tobacco prevention programs.

Mills regularly collaborates with organizations like the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council and, as a mixed-race Black individual who has been personally affected by tobacco-related diseases, she integrates her lived experience into her mentorship of diverse students and advocates for more inclusive research practices.

Austin Waters contributes to LGBTQ+ health equity.

Austin Waters

Waters’ research has significantly advanced the understanding of health care inequities faced by LGBTQ+ cancer survivors and caregivers. He boasts an unparalleled publication record for a doctoral student, with 54 publications (24 as the first author), and his dissertation on financial hardship among LGBTQ+ cancer survivors has already influenced broader cancer equity research.

As a queer researcher, Waters is a leader and advocate for underserved communities. He co-founded the LGBTQ+ Workgroup within UNC’s Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network, and he works to communicate his research findings to broader audiences through social media platforms.

Fred Tusabe advances WaSH and public health in vulnerable global communities.

Fred Tusabe

His work has addressed critical disparities in water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) practices, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries. His initiatives, including the locally led production of alcohol-based hand rubs and real-time WaSH monitoring in rural health care facilities, have significantly improved health outcomes in underserved areas — particularly during infectious disease outbreaks.

Tusabe also combines community-based participatory research with a human rights framework to advocate for resilient WaSH infrastructure, especially in flood-prone fishing communities. His academic achievements include publishing peer-reviewed articles, presenting at international conferences and co-developing innovative public health solutions tailored to local contexts.

Emile Charles address local and global diet disparities.

Emile Charles

Charles’ work runs the gamut from conducting hands-on labor to developing research best practices. Through his efforts with the Food, Fitness and Opportunity Research Collaborative, he helped community gardens in rural North Carolina harvest more than 38,000 pounds of fresh produce that was delivered to over 1,400 vulnerable community members. He also developed anti-racist participatory research methods that prioritize bi-directional relationships with community partners.

His research on food insecurity spans multiple critical areas, including: evaluating food assistance programs; assessing student food insecurity at UNC; investigating food purchasing patterns in dollar stores; analyzing the cost of healthy diets in low-resource settings like South Africa; and studying beverage consumption patterns among Caribbean youth. In each case, he aims to move beyond collecting data to create actionable insights that inform policy change and improve access to nutritious food for all.

Contact the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health communications team at sphcomm@unc.edu.