Health

Health: Conquering Physical, Mental, and Public Challenges

Sing Wai Wong

March 31, 2021

Sing Wai Wong is a third-year periodontology resident in the UNC Adams School of Dentistry. He studies how autophagy — the process by which the body cleans out damaged cells to regenerate new, healthy cells — affects bone loss in the mouth.

Tracking SARS-CoV-2 Variants

March 18, 2021

SARS-CoV-2 variants may seem like a scary new chapter in the pandemic, but coronavirus experts expected their arrival. Scientists in the UNC School of Medicine and Gillings School of Global Public Health are tracking the variants to learn how they differ and affect the world’s chance of ending this pandemic.

A Public Health Prognosis

March 11, 2021

Graduate student Rachel Woodul spent two years researching what might happen to hospital capacity when the next pandemic strikes. When it arrived, she compared what her model — and others’ — got wrong to improve how we react to public health crises in the future.

In It for the Long Haul

March 9, 2021

For some COVID-19 patients, the initial infection is just the start of the battle. Post-COVID syndrome occurs when a person's symptoms continue long after their infection ends. A new clinic at UNC hopes to not only help these patients, but also provide researchers with valuable data about this strange syndrome.

Anthony Charles

March 3, 2021

Anthony Charles is the director of global surgery for the Institute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases and the Oliver Rowe Distinguished Professor of Surgery in the UNC School of Medicine. He works to reduce barriers to surgical access and improve surgical quality and outcomes in low- and middle-income countries.

Building Resilience for Storm-Battered N.C.

January 21, 2021

The record-breaking 2020 Atlantic hurricane season included 30 storms, and while North Carolina managed to dodge the 12 hurricanes that made landfall, that won’t always be the case in the future. A team of interdisciplinary researchers at UNC is combining their expertise in areas like human health, ecology, and urban planning to create a long-term holistic plan helping vulnerable communities prepare for the next generation of extreme weather events.

Ashleigh Henry

January 20, 2021

Ashleigh Henry is a junior and Chancellor’s Science Scholar majoring in environmental health sciences within the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. She studies how body mass index can lead to adverse birth outcomes, such as preterm birth and preeclampsia, and the correlation between consuming water infused with heavy metals and cancer rates.

READDI, Not Reactive

January 19, 2021

For decades, scientists warned of the potential for a global coronavirus outbreak. But when SARS-CoV-2 emerged, no therapeutics, drugs, or vaccines were readily available. The Rapidly Emerging Antiviral Drug Development Initiative (READDI) — founded by researchers at UNC and the Structural Genomics Consortium — is not only finding solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic, but also drugs and therapeutics for future viral outbreaks.

Saif Khairat

January 6, 2021

Saif Khairat is an assistant professor within the UNC School of Nursing and the Carolina Health Informatics Program. He researches how to use robust technologies, such as electronic health records and telehealth, to deliver safe and effective healthcare while expanding health access and equity to all people, including critically ill patients and vulnerable populations.

Research UNCovered, 2019-2020

December 17, 2020

Since Fall 2019, Research UNCovered has showcased the many faces of research at Carolina, from undergraduate students to faculty, across all disciplines. So far, the series has featured 54 researchers from 10 schools, three centers and institutes, the North Carolina Botanical Garden, and UNC's research offices.