Top hits in 2019: The year’s most-read news stories

January 22, 2020

As the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health community launches into a new decade, many public health challenges remain in our back yards and around the world. From predicting catastrophic flooding to promoting health equity, from understanding the opioid epidemic to evaluating the dangers of vaping, our researchers are tackling urgent challenges — and we are sharing their findings.

A student cohort makes memories at the end of the academic year.

We published 276 news stories about research and School happenings in 2019. Which ones most interested our readers?

Above all, our followers seemed to care about members of our global community.

In 2019, we celebrated several new additions to School leadership, including Doug Urland as director of the North Carolina Institute for Public Health (#11), Dr. Aaron Salzberg as director of The Water Institute (#13), nine new members of our Alumni Board (#16) and Matthew Chamberlin as director of communications and marketing (#25).

We also mourned the loss of three public health heroes, including Dr. Bill Jenkins, an advocate for minority health and a witness against racism (#4); Dr. Paul Godley, a major force in medicine, epidemiology and health equity (#7); and Dr. Peggy Leatt, a visionary leader and consummate chair of health policy and management (#15). In addition, despite his death in November 2016, many readers revisited Dr. Steve Wing’s obituary and remembered his countless contributions to environmental justice (#17).

News about the Gillings School was of interest, especially the announcement that U.S. News and World Report again ranked us the No. 1 public school of public health in the United States (#2). U.S. News also ranked our Master of Healthcare Administration program third in the nation (#10). Visitors frequently viewed our news and events portal for all the latest School updates (#9).

Dr. Munguu Khuyag-Ochir greets a young patient in Zambia.

People cared deeply about mothers and newborns, both locally and globally. They read about faculty in our maternal and child health department who are using $13 million to fight rising deaths from pregnancy and childbirth in the U.S. (#6), and about how a $14 million gift from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is supporting a UNC-wide venture to improve pregnancy outcomes in the world’s poorest countries (#23).

Nine faculty members won Gillings School Teaching Innovation Awards after being nominated by their students (#18), and five faculty took home some of the School’s most prestigious awards for teaching, mentoring, research and service (#19). Additionally, three of our graduate students were chosen as Winston Policy Scholars (#22).

Articles about 2019 research activities highlighted several important studies, including one that found a connection between increased minimum wage and reduced suicide deaths (#12). Three studies by a doctoral student examined how health care providers’ attitudes relate to teen contraception use, how intimate partner violence affects women’s health and how practitioners can increase the uptake of long-acting contraceptive methods (#20). Yet another study reported on the controversial practice of sharing breast milk (#21).

Other popular research from before 2019 focused on important public health challenges and innovations in health behavior, epidemiology, nutrition and the environmental sciences.

Those articles described:

• Barber shops and beauty salons as effective health education venues (#1);
• The high risk for opioid misuse among formerly incarcerated people (#3);
• Graphic photos on cigarette packs that increase smokers’ quit attempts (#5);
• The impact of fast food upon childhood obesity rates (#8);
• How reducing carbon monoxide emissions improves air quality and combats climate change (#14); and
• The finding that only 12% of American adults are metabolically healthy (#24).

These were the 25 most-read articles in 2019:

1. Literature review finds barber shops, beauty salons to be effective venues for promoting health education (July 7, 2014)

2. US News ranks Gillings School top public health school in a public university; tied for #2 among all schools (March 12, 2019)

3. Former inmates at high risk for opioid overdose following prison release (July 19, 2018)

4. Gillings School mourns loss of Dr. Bill Jenkins, advocate for minority health and witness against racism (Feb. 19, 2019)

5. Pictures on cigarette packs, warning of smoking dangers, increased quit attempts among smokers (June 6, 2016)

6. Saving mothers more effectively: With $13M, UNC faculty will build a national learning network to prevent deaths from pregnancy and childbirth (Oct. 8, 2019)

7. Remembering Dr. Paul Godley, a major force in medicine, epidemiology and health equity (April 2, 2019)

8. Fast food not the major cause of rising childhood obesity rates, study finds (Dec. 16, 2013)

9. Gillings School news and events: What’s new and what’s next (landing page for all communications activities)

10. MHA program ranked #3 by US News and World Report (March 12, 2019)

11. Urland to lead NC Institute for Public Health (Sept. 12, 2019)

12. Minimum wage increases are associated with reduced numbers of suicide deaths (March 21, 2019)

13. Salzberg to direct UNC’s Water Institute (July 1, 2019)

14. Reducing carbon monoxide emissions: A win-win for air quality and climate change (Aug. 1, 2013)

15. UNC Gillings celebrates the legacy of Emeritus Professor and Chair Dr. Peggy Leatt (Nov. 6, 2019)

16. Gillings School’s Alumni Board announces new members (Sept. 13, 2019)

17. Steve Wing, beloved teacher and committed activist, dies at 64 (Nov. 10, 2016)

18. Nine faculty members win Teaching Innovation Awards (March 26, 2019)

19. Five Gillings School faculty win major awards for teaching, mentoring, research and service (May 10, 2019)

20. Doctoral student publishes three studies about women’s reproductive health (Jan. 1, 2019)

21. Sharing breast milk is increasingly common, but its impact on infant nutrition is understudied (Sept. 4, 2019)

22. Three Gillings School graduate students selected as 2019 Winston Policy Scholars (June 12, 2019)

23. UNC-Chapel Hill awarded $14 million to make childbirth safer for mothers and infants (May 2, 2019)

24. Only 12 percent of American adults are metabolically healthy, study finds (Nov. 28, 2018)

25. Chamberlin named Gillings School’s director of communications and marketing (May 16, 2019)

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