May 28, 2019

Alumni and current and former faculty from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health will receive three of the seven Society for Epidemiologic Research awards at the society’s annual meeting in June. The awards recognize members of the society for their outstanding achievements and contributions to the field.

Dr. Allison Aiello

Dr. Allison Aiello

Allison Aiello, PhD, graduated from Carolina with a master’s degree in 1998 and went on to earn a doctorate from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. She taught at the University of Michigan before returning to UNC-Chapel Hill as a full professor in the Department of Epidemiology. Her research investigates the influence of stressors on biomarkers of aging, the relationship between infection and chronic diseases, and the prevention of infection in the community setting.

Aiello will receive the Carol J. Rowland Hogue Mid-career Achievement award from the society, which recognizes a mid-career scientist who has made an exceptional contribution to the practice of epidemiology.

Dr. Sherman James

Dr. Sherman James

Sherman James, PhD, who became the first African-American tenure-track faculty member at the Gillings School in 1973, will receive the Kenneth Rothman Career Accomplishment Award. The award honors an outstanding scholar of epidemiology whose work has had a profound impact on the field and shifted the way epidemiology is practiced.

After serving as an associate and full professor in the Gillings School’s epidemiology department, James went on to become a professor, associate dean, distinguished professor and department chair at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health. Today he is the Susan B. King Emeritus Professor of Public Policy at Duke University.

James’ research focuses on the social determinants of racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care. He is the originator of the John Henryism Hypothesis, which posits that repetitive coping with difficult social and economic stressors is a major contributor to racial and socioeconomic disparities in hypertension and related cardiovascular diseases.

Dr. Lauren McCullough

Dr. Lauren McCullough

Lauren McCullough, PhD, received a doctorate in epidemiology from the Gillings School in 2013 and went on to become a faculty member at Emory University. McCullough’s overarching research interest is in the epidemiology of breast cancer and lymphoma. The ultimate goal of her research is to improve cancer outcomes among low-income and minority populations by identifying molecular targets for behavioral and therapeutic intervention.

McCullough will receive the Brian MacMahon Early Career Award, which recognizes the contributions of early career epidemiologists who are poised to become future leaders in the field.


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

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