Gillings alumna Felicia Browne receives 2019 Ward Cates Emerging Leader Award
May 14, 2019
Dr. Felicia Browne holds her award. (Photo credit: Dorothy Browne)
Felicia Browne, ScD, MPH, is an alumna of the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and a social epidemiologist at RTI International. She recently received the Triangle Global Health Consortium’s Ward Cates Emerging Leader Award, which is named in memory of Ward Cates, MD, President Emeritus and Distinguished Scientist of FHI 360.
Cates dedicated his life’s work to the fields of HIV/AIDS and women’s reproductive health, and his tireless efforts made a significant impact both in North Carolina and around the globe. Accordingly, the award recognizes young leaders in the state who have demonstrated a commitment to improving the health of the world’s communities.
At the Gillings School, Browne studied in the Substance Use, Gender and Applied Research Program. She has more than a decade of experience adapting and implementing HIV behavioral interventions locally and globally, thereby empowering adolescent girls and young women at risk for HIV. She is a multiple principal investigator of a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)-funded R01 study testing mHealth delivery of an HIV prevention intervention in North Carolina health departments. She is also the co-project director of a NIDA-funded R01 project in South Africa studying female adolescents who are out of school, and is a co-investigator on two National Institutes of Health-funded R01 projects in South Africa, including one for women living with HIV.
After earning a master of public health degree in health behavior and health education and a certificate in global health from the Gillings School in 2007, Browne went on to receive a doctoral degree in social epidemiology (with minors in quantitative methods, health inequalities and social justice) from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Browne serves on UNC’s community advisory board for HIV research, is a mentor for WomenNC’s leadership program for college students interested in eliminating gender inequities and volunteers for a Durham-based organization dedicated to addressing health disparities.
“We are excited to announce our 2019 award finalists and celebrate their leadership, innovation and spirit of collaboration,” wrote the Triangle Global Health Consortium on the official award webpage. The three finalists were chosen by an advisory panel of global health experts, and the local community voted for Browne as the overall winner. She was recognized for her achievement at the Triangle Global Health Consortium’s annual award celebration on May 7, with several top regional leaders in global health attending.
Contact the Gillings School of Global Public Health communications team at sphcomm@listserv.unc.edu.
