Team Epi-Aid collects data on HIV risk behaviors

Volunteers (l-r): Porter, Yaemsiri, O’Brien, Frantz, Lund, Anderson

Epidemiology doctoral students Sirin Yaemsiri, Kim Porter, Katie O’Brien and Jenny Lund, along with North Carolina Center for Public Health Preparedness (NCCPHP) employees Meredith Anderson and Rachel Frantz and undergraduate environmental sciences major Emily Cohn, took part in the event.

The HIV/STD Prevention and Care branch of the North Carolina Division of Public Health enlisted Team Epi-Aid to survey festival attendees about sexual behavior, drug use and their use of preventive health services. Along with other volunteers, the seven from UNC-Chapel Hill completed 355 interviews during the day-long festival, which celebrates gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities.

Team Epi-Aid provides students with the opportunity to gain applied public health experience by assisting with outbreak investigations and other public health emergencies. North Carolina’s local and state health departments benefit from having extra staff to help handle health crises. Since Team Epi-Aid was established in 2003, School of Public Health students have contributed more than 3,500 volunteer hours to the organization. About 200 students currently are in its network.

Among the investigations and public health emergencies in which Team Epi-Aid volunteers have been involved are:

• Oubreaks of E. coli, influenza B, norovirus, Legionnaires’ Disease, shigella, hepatitis A and B
• Analysis of data on cryptosporidium (a parasite causing diarrheal disease), foodborne disease, and smallpox vaccine
• Bioterrorism exercises and drills
• Rapid needs assessments following Hurricanes Isabel, Charley, Rita, Wilma and Katrina
• Community health assessments in six N.C. counties

Pia MacDonald, PhD, research assistant professor of epidemiology and NCCPHP director, started Team Epi-Aid four years ago because so few graduate students were exposed to applied public health in the course of their studies.

“In 2007,” MacDonald says, “84% of student volunteers reported that experience with Team Epi-Aid piqued their interest in an applied public health career.” She is proud of the students’ work and believes the public health workforce is stronger because of their involvement.

Team Epi-Aid is overseen by NCCPHP, a program of the North Carolina Institute for Public Health, the service and outreach arm of the School of Public Health.

The mission of NCCPHP is to improve the capacity of the public health workforce to prepare for and respond to terrorism and other emerging public health threats by assessing the competency of the public health workforce, facilitating training to meet the assessed needs and conducting applied research on emerging health issues.

NCCPHP is part of a national network of Centers for Public Health Preparedness funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

School of Public Health contact: Ramona DuBose, director of communications, (919) 966-7467 or ramona_dubose@unc.edu.