Jada Brooks is an assistant professor in the UNC School of Nursing. Her research focuses on the health of American Indian women, specifically linking exposure to environmental pollutants and psychosocial factors to cardiovascular disease.

The revitalization of Old East Durham has resulted in a dramatic increase in property values over the last 10 years. What does this growth mean for housing affordability, equity, and environmental quality in one of North Carolina’s fastest growing areas?

To find out, the UNC Department of City and Regional Planning is listening (and lending resources) to long-term residents of Durham.

Molly De Marco is a research assistant professor of nutrition within the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, as well as a research scientist at the UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. Her community-based research focuses on improving access to healthy food for low-income and historically marginalized populations in the rural South.

A Robeson County tortilla manufacturer is ready to increase his production from 25,000 pounds of tortillas a week to 120,000 pounds. UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA student Ben Holmes is helping him do just that — through NCGrowth, an affiliate of the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute for Private Enterprise.

UNC undergraduate Patrick Seelinger and professor Steven King are developing a facial recognition app that will provide information on people just by looking at them.

Sophomore Victoria Miller is an undergraduate researcher studying computer science within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences. Her research focuses on a Chrome extension that helps Facebook users with physical disabilities.

North Carolina’s barrier islands are dynamic landforms in a state of constant change. UNC researchers want to better understand how those changes happen and what they mean for the future of our coast.

Why do some neighborhoods lack access to municipal services? And how does this affect families? UNC public health researchers delve into this topic by testing well water in Wake County communities located on the outskirts of cities.

Banu Gökarıksel is an associate professor and director of graduate studies in the Department of Geography within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences. Her research focuses on the politics of everyday life and questions of gender, religion, and living together across differences.

Senior Srihita Bongu is an undergraduate researcher within the Maness Lab, studying chemistry and economics in the College of Arts & Sciences. She is also the co-founder of the Women in Economics club on campus. Her research focuses on the changes in expression of the Neurocan gene in the adolescent brain and the implications that has for mental disorders and disabilities.

Noelle Romero is the program coordinator for the Chancellor’s Science Scholars and UNC-PROPS. In August 2016, she successfully defended her thesis within the Curriculum in Genetics & Molecular Biology. Her research focuses on how to prevent problems that arise from damaged DNA, such as cancer, through studying Fancm, a protein that helps repair it.

In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re highlighting Elizabeth L. Kemble, founding dean of the UNC School of Nursing. After becoming dean in 1950, she recruited faculty, oversaw construction of a building and dormitories, and even handpicked the first class of students. She spent the next 18 years dedicating her life to this school, making it the first in the state to offer a bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD in nursing.