Thinking Big Innovations to improve the public’s health
SPRING 2010 volume 1 · number 8 Public Health Foundation, Incorporated BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Susanne Glen Moulton, JD, MPH, Stacy-Ann Christian, JD, MPH Joan C. Huntley, PhD, MPH Jeffrey B. Smith, MHA, CPA President Senior Director Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology Partner Director Research Administration UNC Gillings School of Global Public Ernst & Young LLP New York City Health and Hospital Health Patient Assistance and Reimbursement Paula Brown Stafford, MPH Programs Corporation Mark H. Merrill, MSPH Executive Vice President GlaxoSmithKline Michael (Trey) A. Crabb III, MHA, President and Chief Executive Officer Integrated Clinical Services Jack E. Wilson, PE, MSENV, MBA Valley Health System Quintiles Transnational Corporation Vice President Managing Principal - Nashville Stephen A. Morse, MSPH, PhD Russell B. Toal, MPH Stroudwater Associates Board of Directors Associate Director for Environmental Clinical Associate Professor TEC Incorporated Leah Devlin, DDS, MPH Microbiology Health Policy and Management Delton Atkinson, MPH, MPH, PMP Gillings Visiting Professor National Center for the Prevention, Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Deputy Director UNC Gillings School of Global Public Detection, and Control of Infectious Health Division of Vital Statistics, National Health Diseases Georgia Southern University Centers for Disease Control and Center for Health Statistics Carolina Public Health Solutions John C. Triplett, MD, MPH Prevention Centers for Disease Control and Cynthia J. Girman, DrPH Regional Medical Officer Prevention Senior Director Douglas M. Owen, PE, BCEE Bethesda, Md. Vice President David J. Ballard, MD, MSPH, PhD, Department of Epidemiology G. Robert Weedon, DVM, MPH Merck Research Laboratories Malcolm Pirnie Incorporated FACP Veterinary Outreach Coordinator Senior Vice President and Chief Quality Sandra W. Green, MBA, MHA, Jonathan J. Pullin, MS Alliance for Rabies Control Officer BSPH President and Chief Executive Officer Adjunct Faculty Baylor Health Care System President, East Coast Customer The Environmental Group of the UNC-Wilmington Executive Director and BHCS Endowed Management Group Carolinas Inc. Veterinarian Chair New Hanover County (N.C.) Board MedAssets Incorporated Roy J. Ramthun, MSPH Institute for Health Care Research and of Health Improvement C. David Hardison, PhD President HSA Consulting Services LLC Alice D. White, PhD Andrea Bazán, MPH, MSW Corporate Vice President Life Sciences Vice President President Jacky Ann Rosati, PhD Science Applications International Worldwide Epidemiology Department Triangle Community Foundation Environmental Scientist and GlaxoSmithKline Corporation Containment Area Lead Fred T. Brown Jr., MPH, FACHE Deborah Parham Hopson, PhD, U.S. Environmental Protection Thomas K. Wong, PhD Managing Director RN Agency Vice President Business Development National Homeland Security Meganium Corporation Carolinas HealthCare System Assistant Surgeon General Associate Administrator Research Center Kelly B. Browning, MA HIV/AIDS Bureau Ilene C. Siegler, PhD, MPH Executive Vice President Health Resources and Services Professor of Medical Psychology American Institute for Cancer Research Administration Duke University Deniese M. Chaney, MPH Partner Accenture Health and Life Sciences
UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health ADVISORY COUNCIL
Dennis Gillings, CBE, PhD, Chair Andrew Conrad, PhD J. Douglas Holladay, MDiv Carmen Hooker Odom, MS Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Chief Scientific Officer Chairman and Chief Executive Officer President Quintiles National Genetics Institute PathNorth Milbank Memorial Fund Marcia A. Angle, MD, MPH Keith Crisco, MBA Donald A. Holzworth, MS Jane Smith Patterson Adjunct Professor Secretary of Commerce Chairman Executive Director Nicholas School of the Environment State of North Carolina Futures Group International The e-NC Authority Duke University Nancy A. Dreyer, PhD, MPH David P. King Joan Siefert Rose, MPH William K. Atkinson, PhD, MPH Chief of Scientific Affairs President and Chief Executive Officer President President and Chief Executive Officer OUTCOME Laboratory Corporation of America Council for Entrepreneurial WakeMed Development Ken Eudy A. Dennis McBride, MD, MPH Joseph Carsanaro, MBA, MSEE Chief Executive Officer Health Director Virginia B. Sall General Manager Capstrat City of Milford (Conn.) Co-Founder and Director Pinehurst Advisors LLC Sall Family Foundation Robert J. Greczyn Jr., MPH John McConnell Gail H. Cassell, PhD, DSc (hon) Chief Executive Officer Emeritus Chief Executive Officer Charles A. Sanders, MD Vice President, Scientific Affairs and BlueCross and BlueShield of North McConnell Golf Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Distinguished Lilly Research Scholar Carolina (Retired) Guy Miller, MD, PhD for Infectious Diseases Glaxo Incorporated James R. Hendricks Jr., MS Eli Lilly and Company Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Vice President of Environment, Health Edison Pharmaceuticals Incorporated Paul M. Wiles, MHA Willard Cates Jr., MD, MPH and Safety (Retired) President and Chief Executive Officer James Patrick O’Connell, PhD, MPH President, Research Duke Energy Novant Health Incorporated Family Health International Chief Executive Officer Acea Biosciences Incorporated contentsspring 2010
4 features & news
3 Innovation matters!
4 Bright ideas, right partners, insightful solutions 6 6 no sugar-coating the crusade against obesity 9 Flu viruses move fast — so do public health officials
10 Going Viral 11 11 Harnessing vast data to understand COPD 13 ‘Team Science’ advances technology
14 UNC and UAE partner to protect environment
16 Peers for Progress
17 17 Water power — bringing streams together to make a mighty river
18 How the World Learns
20 Tracking Tropical Disease 21 21 Converting hog waste into energy 23 Unraveling the mystery of arsenic’s modi operandi
continued 8
carolina public health | 1 Dean spring 2010 Barbara K. Rimer, DrPH director of communications managing editor Ramona DuBose
editor Linda Kastleman 24 25 29 Associate Dean for contents, continued External Affairs Peggy Dean Glenn
Design and Production Karen Hibbert UNC Design Services 24 Safety first on the job, especially for inexperienced teens Contributing Writers Jay Cartwright, Ramona DuBose, Natalie Gott, Linda Kastleman, 25 Putting new ideas where their mouths are Kathleen Kearns, Chris Perry, Susan Shackelford and Angela Spivey
26 school news illustrations Karen Hibbert
29 in memoriam Articles appearing in Carolina Public Health may be reprinted with permission from the editor. Send 30 awards and recognitions correspondence to Editor, Carolina Public Health, Gillings School of Global Public Health, Campus Box 7400, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7400, or our donors e-mail [email protected].
33 New cervical cancer initiative aims to save lives Subscribe to Carolina Public Health 33 Allison composes song to celebrate School www.sph.unc.edu/cph
17,000 copies of this document were 34 Senkomago selected for Tellus Educational printed at a cost of $11,397 or $0.67 foundation Scholarship program per copy.
Carolina Public Health (ISSN 1938- 35 Sanofi-aventis to sponsor new Department of 2790) is published twice yearly by the nutrition scholarship program UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, 135 Dauer Dr., Campus Box 35 biOS turns 60! 7400, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599- 7400. Vol. 1, No. 8, Spring 2010. 36 One generous turn inspires another
back page delton atkinson, mph: champion of diversity
2 | s p r i n g 2 0 1 0 from the Dean’s desk
Innovation Matters!
UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp wants Carolina to be an innovation hub. As lbert
A leader of a great public university and a scientist known for chemistry inventions, arie
M Thorp understands that innovations play a critical role in improving health and isa L society. In this issue of Carolina Public Health, we investigate innovation’s role in our School and its broader implications for public health.
Innovation refers both to some new thing—a prod- • Noel Brewer, PhD, and Jennifer Smith, PhD, are uct, program or idea thought to be an improvement among the first to study how new vaccines to over what preceded it—and a process of getting the prevent HPV are being adopted. Dr. Barbara K. Rimer thing into practice. In public health, especially in our • The Safe Dates program, developed by Vangie School, we aim to solve some of the world’s greatest Foshee, PhD, and colleagues, is more effective problems—providing safe water to people who lack than previous programs; it now is being used it, helping to change unhealthy behaviors, such as around the country. smoking and poor diets, reducing errors in operating • Deborah Tate, PhD, was one of the first to take rooms and pharmacies, and developing better ways dietary counseling online. to conduct clinical trials. Too many interventions are • Marci Campbell, PhD, was awarded an NIH cumbersome, costly or culturally inappropriate. We Challenge Grant for her novel use of micro- need practical, practicable and scalable innovations finance and health behavior interventions to that are transformative. Some inspiring examples improve diets in eastern North Carolina. from our School include: • Sue Havala Hobbs, DrPH, and Ned Brooks, DrPH, created a new hybrid-model executive • Mark Sobsey, PhD, and colleagues designed a Doctor of Public Health program that allows stu- much improved ceramic water filter. A crucial dents to keep working while earning a doctorate. test is its adoption on a scale large enough to make a difference. We have funded 18 Gillings Innovation Labo- • Repellent-treated mosquito bed nets are an ratories to solve big public health problems and important innovation. Faculty members, accelerate solutions. The range of programs, from including Drs. Frieda Behets, Andrea Biddle, development of new laboratory tests to new ways of Steve Meshnick, Audrey Pettifor and Annelies encouraging use of local foods, is impressive. Van Rie, conduct field studies to ensure that Many innovations are worthy of adoption. Yet, nets are adopted in practice. we know that the process of adopting public health innovation is painfully slow; people die waiting. Sev- eral faculty members, including Alice Ammerman, To him who devotes his life to science, DrPH, Cathy Melvin, PhD, and Bryan Weiner, PhD, nothing can give more happiness than focus on speeding adoption of innovations. Our faculty, staff, students and partners are increasing the number of discoveries, but his creating ideas, programs, tests and tools to improve the public’s health and translate effective programs cup of joy is full when the results of his studies into practice. Together, we bring life to public health immediately find practical applications. “innovation.” It’s a matter of health! –Louis Pasteur
Note: Rimer also participates in a roundtable discussion about innovation on pages 4–5.
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Bright ideas, right partners, insightful solutions
accines for diseases such as polio and smallpox, Vfluoridation of drinking water, prenatal care and use of vitamin A to prevent blindness all are public the visit, Caudill said he and other circle health innovations. So are seat belt laws, clean drink- members were impressed with research being done at the School. ing water, modern sanitation requirements and cam- “Chancellor Thorp’s vision is to transform new knowledge in the university for maxi- paigns against abuse of drugs, alcohol and tobacco. mum societal benefit,” Caudill said. “The (Gillings) School of (Global) Public Health is In this century, public health researchers effective vaccines for tougher diseases (see doing this already and doing it really, really could discover more advances—preventives page 10), finding better ways to provide well. I made the point later in the afternoon for cancers, new ways to heal and protect clean water throughout the world (see page to the whole group that as we look for best the environment, effective means to prevent 17), waging war against obesity (see page 6), practices at other schools like Stanford and obesity and more efficient ways to provide and fighting pollution, cancer and infectious MIT, we need to look in our own backyard health care for all. diseases. at the School of Public Health.” “Innovation in public health brings hope In January 2010, members of the UNC- So what is innovation? to all humankind—hope that our children Chapel Hill Chancellor’s Innovation Circle “Innovation is all about creating things,” and our children's children will live healthier, visited the School to hear about some of our said Don Holzworth, chair of Futures Group higher-quality lives without much of the suf- researchers’ innovative solutions to water International and the School’s Gillings fering that seems so prevalent in our world problems facing the world. The circle is an Executive in Residence. “It’s about joining today,” says Dennis Gillings, CBE, PhD, chair advisory council of respected UNC alumni ideas that haven’t been joined before, which and chief executive officer of Quintiles and and friends charged with helping to develop chair of the School’s Advisory Council. a roadmap for a culture of systematic Innovation is fundamental at the UNC innovation and entrepreneurship Gillings School of Global Public Health. This at Carolina. It is chaired by issue of Carolina Public Health is dedicated to Lowry Caudill, PhD, a 1979 the outstanding efforts of faculty, students, UNC graduate and co-founder staff and alumni who are searching for more of Magellan Laboratories Inc. After
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ultimately leads to a breakthrough or a more efficient way of delivering something we already know about.” Innovation often comes when people with different perspectives join forces to solve a problem. “The ‘outsider’s perspective’ can stimulate new ideas,” Holzworth said. “It’s disruptive thinking, but it’s constructive disruption.” The UNC Gillings School of Global Public former North Carolina state health director. better than their predecessors, cost more and Health is partnering with different depart- Devlin lauds the School’s efforts, espe- caused more side effects,” she said. ments, universities, government agencies cially through the N.C. Institute for Public “This comparative effectiveness research (domestic and foreign), nongovernmental Health (NCIPH), to work with the state’s is essential. We must know when newer is organizations, companies and individuals. Department of Health and Human Services not better.” For example, UNC biostatistics researchers and with local health departments through- Innovations are more than inventions, now work with researchers at Duke and N.C. out North Carolina. Rimer said. State universities to find ways to design more “We are the only state in the country that “We care about innovations because in powerful clinical trials for cancer treatments. requires accreditation of our health depart- public health, and especially in our School, Their work is funded through a $12.5 million ments to establish consistent standards,” we aim to solve some of the world’s greatest grant from the National Cancer Institute she said. problems. We must be willing to look at how (see page 26). UNC public health research- Jane Smith Patterson, executive director of we have done things before and ask whether ers also have teamed up with officials and e-NC Authority and member of the School’s there are other, better ways to do a thing. We academicians in the United Arab Emirates Advisory Council, echoes Devlin’s enthusi- want to create the ideas, programs, tests and and with Rand Corporation and others to asm for how the state and the university can tools that make the world better. Those are assess environmental and public health risks enhance each other’s work. public health products, and they are happen- accelerated by development and to establish “By matching public health needs with ing right here, at our School.” a national strategy for addressing those risks the knowledge of university public health And they’re making a difference. (see page 14). researchers and public health practitioners, “Public health investment and dedication “Because everyone’s resources are so lim- ited, it’s more important now than ever before to be creative and work with partners Innovation is all about creating things … we’ve never worked with before,” said Leah Devlin, DDS, Gillings Visiting Professor and It’s about joining ideas that haven’t been joined before, which ultimately leads to a breakthrough or a more efficient way of delivering something we already know about. –Don Holzworth
there is an amazing opportunity to develop by our university are making the difference innovative programs and practices that can and will continue to do so,” Gillings said. be…taken to scale in close to real time,” “Moreover, prevention promises huge she said. breakthroughs, particularly if we can impact But not every innovation is an improve- selective behavior patterns in cost-effective ment, cautions Barbara K. Rimer, DrPH, ways. I am excited about our opportunity and dean and Alumni Distinguished Professor applaud our dedicated researchers for their at the School. motivation and devotion to improving the “In 2005, for example, biostatistics profes- health of us all.” sor Ed Davis, PhD, and others found that new –Ramona DuBose medicines to treat schizophrenia were not
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No sugar-coating the crusade against obesity
hen Barry Popkin, PhD, advocates for a “The Beverage Guidance Panel that Barry national tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, convened produced a first of its kind—a W guide for the kinds of beverages that have the soft-drink makers and food-industry groups attack. best value for your health,” says George Bray, MD, Boyd Professor and chief of the division “Everybody comes after me,” he says. of clinical obesity and metabolism at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in But Popkin, an internationally recognized He says sugar-sweetened beverages are to Baton Rouge, La., and a member of the panel. expert in nutrition and obesity, is unfazed. blame for much of the weight gain. “You are Now, Popkin works with governments Savvy, passionate and eager to speak out, what you drink,” he says. In 1960, the aver- around the world to establish beverage guide- he says, “I want to have an impact.” age American consumed 100 to 200 calories line policies. The Carla Smith Chamblee Distinguished a day in beverages. Today, the figure is 500 “France and the U.K. have banned caloric Professor of Global Nutrition in the Uni- calories. beverages in schools,” he says. “Mexico has versity of North Carolina’s Gillings School In 2005, Popkin assembled leading nutri- created beverage guidelines, and now I am of Global Public Health and director of tion experts from Johns Hopkins, Harvard, working with the U.K. and China on this topic.” the UNC interdisciplinary obesity program Louisiana State and Oregon State universi- In the U.S., he advocates a tax on sugar- makes an impact often. ties, and other institutions, to study available sweetened beverages to discourage people You may have seen his comments in The literature and provide guidance on risks and from drinking them, he says. He and six New York Times or Time magazine or heard benefits of various beverage categories. Their other scholars wrote a 2009 report in The him on National Public Radio or Al Jazeera. results were published in The American Jour- New England Journal of Medicine that advo- He’s such a seasoned media source that he nal of Clinical Nutrition in 2006. cated a consumer tax of one percent per might show up for a satellite inter- view at the UNC television stu- dios in a shirt and tie—and shorts Percentage of daily caloric intake from beverage, by age group and sandals. He knows he’ll be visible only from the waist up. % 25 Now 66, Popkin was among Other milk beverages the first researchers to start track- 20 Coffee and tea ing the effects of diet and activ- Alcohol ity. His data are based on four 15 Fruit juice decades of observation of indi- Milk viduals, households and com- 10 munities, from Russia to Mexico Fruit drinks and China to Brazil. The worst 5 problems used to be hunger and Soft drinks malnourishment. Now, obesity is epidemic in both developed and 0 Age 2-18 19-39 40-59 60+ All Ages developing countries.
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ounce on sugar-sweetened beverages both to reduce consumption and bring in money Popkin says sugar-sweetened beverages are to support health programs, as tobacco taxes have done. His latest study, published March to blame for much of the weight gain. 9, 2010, in Archives of Internal Medicine, shows that people eat less fast food, such as “You are what you drink.” pizza and burgers, when the prices go up, supporting his proposal to tax these foods ists in the first nine months of 2009 to fight a Medicine, Journal of the American Medical in addition to sugar-sweetened beverages. potential national tax and other regulations, Association, Science, Obesity, Circulation and Not surprisingly, soft-drink makers, according to The Huffington Post. the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. supermarket companies, the fast-food indus- Popkin’s recent book, The World is Fat: His research covers the whole spectrum of try and other groups poured more than $24 The Fads, Trends, Policies and Products that life —for example, he’s published articles million into the coffers of Washington lobby- are Fattening the Human Race, draws on what in both Pediatrics and the Journal of Nutri- he’s learned throughout his tion of the Elderly. His work has appeared career. He makes a strong in renowned peer-reviewed publications in case that lifestyle changes, Europe, China, the Philippines and the Asia- including eating more sug- Pacific region. ary and fatty foods, as well His most innovative work, say colleagues,
linda kastleman as government policies and has been developing the concept of “Nutri- globalized food marketing, tion Transition,” a way of understanding are fueling the weight gain. long-term nutritional status changes by look- “How we eat, drink and ing at shifts in the stages of eating, drinking move has changed so drasti- and activity, underlying societal shifts and cally in the last 60 years,” he resulting effects on body composition. says. “Our biology clashes He also has pioneered large longitudinal with modern marketing and studies around the world, including ones in technology.” China, Russia and the Philippines. He’s led His research exam- related studies in Brazil, Mexico and other ines health implications of countries, studying some populations for those policies and lifestyle four decades. “When I came into the field, changes, and his findings such studies were not a focus,” he says. have been published in more His work has played a major role in estab- than 300 articles in peer- lishing databases for scholars to study diet reviewed journals, including and activity. More than 10,000 researchers The New England Journal of have downloaded his longitudinal studies. 8
Dr. Barry Popkin takes personally his professional campaign for good health, regularly biking to campus for exercise. (Note: Popkin removed his helmet to pose for the photo, but he never bikes without it.)
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“Barry has made many important con- tributions to nutrition research,” says Penny Gordon-Larsen, PhD, UNC associate profes- sor of nutrition, who has published several articles with Popkin. “He is probably most well known for his work on the nutrition transi- tion and global obesity. Yet he also has made major contributions in investigations on the role of dietary fat in obesity, sugar-sweetened FLUID OUNCES beverages and obesity, health disparities, and Total = 104 economic determinants of diet and obesity.” Popkin —tall, wiry and agile —attacks obesity many different ways. On a personal level, he rides his bike to work and around SWEETENED BEVERAGES town. He is part of an international board [20 oz.]
of scientists helping to develop simple front- SWEETENED BEVERAGES WITH of-the-package labels in European countries, NUTRIENTS [15 oz.] SWEETENED Israel and India. He’s working with the BEVERAGES WITH NO CALORIES [5 oz.] Mexican Ministry of Health and Finance to TEA/COFFEE LOW FAT develop a similar program in that country. UNSWEETENED [15 oz.] MILK [3 oz.] linda kastleman He also has waded into the U.S. Food and Dr. Barry Popkin is a frequent guest at Carolina News Studio, giving interviews that are Drug Administration’s review of nutrition broadcast around the world. labeling guidelines. In the Feb. 8 issue of The WATER [46 oz.] New York Times, he wrote: “Placing compli- “We also need to remove all false advertis- No wonder he’s a target. cated labeling on the back of the package simply ing that says ‘contains antioxidants’ and tries However, he also tries to reach out to the does not work. Studies from the Netherlands, to connote that a product is ‘heart healthy’ food and beverage industry, encouraging the U.S. and elsewhere have found that system when there is no reality to that claim,” he them to be part of the solution to obesity. In to be confusing and that it does little to affect writes. “We need ways to stop food manufac- 2007, he started an annual “Global Obesity consumer decisions. Front-of-the-package turers from making misleading claims, and Business Forum” with senior executives labeling, which has emerged in the past three we need scientists independent of the food from food, beverage and infant formula to four years, promises to be more effective.” industry to set healthy guidelines for various companies. The meetings are private, Popkin But he doesn’t stop there. food categories.” says, so the executives can be frank and open about their concerns and processes. FLUID OUNCES CALORIES As a college student in the 1960s, Popkin Total = 104 Total = 464 was active in the civil rights movement nation- ally and in his home state of Wisconsin. Those experiences, he said, taught him to take the slings and arrows of criticism in stride. “There
SWEETENED were people who loved you, and people who BEVERAGES hated you,” Popkin says. “That’s the way it is [20 oz.] when you’re fighting for a cause.” n SWEETENED SWEETENED BEVERAGES WITH BEVERAGES –Susan Shackelford NUTRIENTS [15 oz.] SWEETENED [211 calories] BEVERAGES WITH NO CALORIES [5 oz.] Americans drink too much and drink unhealthily. TEA/COFFEE LOW FAT UNSWEETENED [15 oz.] MILK [3 oz.] These figures show the beverage intake pattern of adults in the U.S., in volume and calories. SWEETENED Drinking 35 oz. of sweetened beverages in a BEVERAGES WITH day (out of a total 104 oz.) accounts for about WATER SOME NUTRIENTS [46 oz.] SWEETENED [213 calories] half of the calories consumed from beverages. BEVERAGES WITH NO CALORIES [1 cal.] Popkin’s Beverage Panel suggests the average adult might best consume 98 oz. in beverage TEA/COFFEE LOW FAT MILK [29 calories] each day, including up to 50 oz. of water and no UNSWEETENED [11 cal.] sweetened beverage without nutrients. WATER [0 calories]
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CALORIES Total = 464
SWEETENED BEVERAGES [211 calories]
SWEETENED BEVERAGES WITH SOME NUTRIENTS SWEETENED [213 calories] BEVERAGES WITH NO CALORIES [1 cal.]
TEA/COFFEE LOW FAT MILK [29 calories] UNSWEETENED [11 cal.]
WATER [0 calories] Flu viruses move fast— so do public health officials preparing for pandemic
n August 2009, two months before the first shipment of H1N1 vaccine was to arrive in North ens I w
Carolina, officials with the N.C. Division of Public ill o w Health already were planning how to distribute it. Dr. Jennifer Horney
They wanted to determine what people knew two-stage random sample that employed the of information,” Horney says. Also, most about the vaccine and how many were plan- use of parcel maps and geographic informa- people in the survey were unaware that the ning to get immunized. And they needed to tion systems. vaccine would be given in two doses, which know fast. “Interviewers use a hand-held computer was the plan at the time of the survey. They found help at the N.C. Center for with a GPS navigational tool that gives them These findings helped the state create bet- Public Health Preparedness at UNC Gill- a map and printed directions that send them ter and more targeted messages. ings School of Global Public Health’s N.C. to a random point. Then they go to the house “Once we learned there were pieces of Institute for Public Health. Jennifer Horney, that’s nearest that point and conduct an information that the community wasn’t PhD, research assistant professor of epide- interview,” Horney explains. getting, we made special efforts to get it to miology and deputy director at the center, A team of 20—including state personnel, them,” Fleischauer says. partnered with UNC public health school UNC faculty members and student volun- The study also showed a greater-than- alumnus Aaron Fleischauer, PhD, a com- teers—conducted 207 interviews with people expected potential demand for the vaccine, mander with the U.S. Public Health Service aged 18 to 92 from two North Carolina coun- with 63 percent of respondents saying they stationed at the N.C. Department of Health ties, Orange and Alamance. The population- planned to get vaccinated. The one previous and Human Services in Raleigh, to launch a based sampling method yielded interviews study regarding H1N1 perceptions—a national rapid research project. that would be representative of all the people Internet survey from Rand Corporation—had “For any preparedness effort, we want to who live in those counties, Horney says. showed that only 50 percent of people planned understand how the community perceives The study showed that, at least in these to do so. If time and funds are available, the public health crisis so we can respond counties, people may not have been receiv- Horney aims to follow up in spring 2010, to better,” Fleischauer says. ing the state’s communications about H1N1, find out what percentage of North Carolinians In this case, telephone interviews weren’t which were mostly online. Only a third of the got vaccinated. n sufficient. Twenty percent of people in people in the study said they typically –Angela Spivey the U.S. have replaced land lines with found news and information on the cell phones, and one of the groups at Internet, while 83 percent depended The N.C. Center for Public Health Preparedness is highest risk for the H1N1 virus— upon television. part of a national network of preparedness centers people aged 18 to 25 years—are “It was a big surprise to us that funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The study was funded by the among those most likely to be most people (in these counties) were Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and results missed by a traditional phone sur- still getting news from television, were published in the Dec. 25, 2009, edition of the vey. The team decided to conduct and even printed newspapers, which CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). See http://snipurl.com/mmwr-flu. in-person interviews, choosing a were the second most common source
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Going viral
From SARS to the common cold, Baric’s research could lead to vaccines
n issue of Carolina Public Health on innovation Awould be incomplete without an article on Ralph Baric, PhD, and his work with viruses.
After all, he’s the epidemiology professor SARS but also for other types of childhood different highly pathogenic respiratory who synthetically reproduced the variant pneumonia and even the common cold. viruses simultaneously in a highly portable of the SARS virus found in bats—probably “The lab has rewired the coronavirus platform that would be affordable and easy to the species from which the deadly human genome—taking out the natural regulatory use in the developing world,” Baric said after version emerged. signals and rewiring them with synthetic receiving his GIL. “Only three other teams of researchers signals,” explains Eric Donaldson, PhD, Any of these three projects—the synthetic have synthetically reconstructed a virus,” he research assistant professor of epidemiology. reproduction of SARS, the genetic rewir- said when his research was published in the “This prevents the rewired virus from ing of coronavirus or the multivalent vac- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sci- recombining with natural strains of the virus cine—could yield astounding stories about ence. “It will provide a model to understand and prevents reversion of vaccine strains innovation. But Baric wanted to focus on yet the means and ease by which animal corona- into more dangerous strains. However, the another innovative project. viruses move from one species to another.” rewired virus still causes a similar immune “Let’s talk about norovirus,” he suggested. Baric and his team of researchers at UNC response in the body.” Noroviruses are those nasty little bugs Gillings School of Global Public Health are Baric and his team were awarded a Gill- that cause great misery—48 to 72 hours of world leaders in coronavirus research. This ings Innovation Lab (GIL) to develop a low- vomiting and/or diarrhea in healthy adults. In type of RNA virus is responsible not only for cost, single-dose vaccine against respiratory infants and the elderly, the virus can be fatal. illness in children living in develop- “It only takes a few virus particles from ing countries. This vaccine would respiratory droplets or fecal contamination treat influenza, RSV and measles; to cause explosive transmission of the disease, be stable at room temperature; and especially in isolated communities,” he said. inhaled, rather than given with a In communities such as retirement homes,
ramona dubose needle. If they are successful, their college dormitories, military installations, work could lead to a new approach cruise ships and even airplanes, the infection for designing and administering can have devastating results. other global health vaccines. People can acquire norovirus infections “No one has ever successfully more than once in a season. delivered three antigens from three “It’s been thought that the body’s immune response to norovirus infection is short-lived, and that’s why people become reinfected,” Lisa Lindesmith, an epidemiology research specialist at the School, Baric said. “We don’t believe that this rep- studies norovirus immunity in Dr. resents the whole story. We think the virus Ralph Baric’s laboratory. is changing rapidly, so the body’s immune
10 | s p r i n g 2 0 1 0 Harnessing vast data to understand COPD and speed up new treatments ramona dubose
Dr. Ralph Baric’s innovative work with viruses may lead to a portable, single- dose vaccine to prevent respiratory illness in children in developing countries. system doesn’t recognize the new strain.” The change is known as “antigenic drift.” Immunity a person might have built up to one variation of the virus is powerless en clinics in six study centers. Thousands of against the next strain. But Baric hopes patients who suffer from a disease that has that by finding common elements of the T viruses’ genetic structure—and then caus- multiple variations. Three years’ worth of clinical ing the body to build immunity to those elements—he can create a vaccine effective and molecular data for each patient. against about 95 percent of the norovirus strains that infect humans. How do you capture and organize the infor- condition that makes breathing difficult. “His work, although still with mice, has mation a study like that generates? How do SPIROMICS is short for SubPopulations shown there is a way to develop effective you analyze all that complex data to make and InteRmediate Outcome Measures in vaccines against these viruses, even though it useful to those searching for treatments? COPD Study. That mouthful of a moniker you have to cover quite a few genetic types,” Through the groundbreaking methods of indicates the project’s two goals: to identify said Jan Vinjé, PhD, norovirus team leader UNC’s Collaborative Studies Coordinating and better understand the various kinds in the Gastroenteritis and Respiratory Center— that’s how. of COPD— known types include chronic Viruses Laboratory Branch of the U.S. Cen- Lisa LaVange, PhD, director of the CSCC bronchitis and emphysema—and to discover ters for Disease Control and Prevention. and professor of bio- quicker ways to measure whether new treat- “[Baric] brings a fresh, new perspective statistics at the UNC ments will work. LaVange and her team won to the field,” Vinjé said. Gillings School of a seven-year, $8 million contract from the Lisa Lindesmith, an epidemiology Global Public Health, National Institutes of Health’s National Heart, research specialist who’s been working leads data collection Lung and Blood Institute to serve as SPI- with Baric for 10 years, agrees. and analysis effort for ROMICS’ Genomics and Informatics Center. “We are moving the field from the idea a project called SPI- “It’s a real pan-campus research project,” of short-term immunity. This is ground- ROMICS, a nation- says LaVange. She believes the award came wide study that aims to UNC because of its reputation for state- breaking work, and so is the coronavirus Dr. Lisa LaVange work. It’s very rare for a lab to be so good to help the more than of-the-art approaches to biostatistics, data at two different things.” n 12 million people with chronic obstructive management and pulmonary research. –Ramona DuBose pulmonary disease (COPD), a progressive The Genomics and Informatics 8
carolina public health | 11 features and ne w s photos by linda kastleman
At left, Dr. Richard Boucher examines a lung Center draws together the expertise of Rich- York City and Salt Lake City will conduct tissue sample while Drs. Claire Doerschuk and Wanda O’Neal look on. At right, ard Boucher, MD, Claire Doerschuk, MD, a wide range of clinical testing, collect bio- Doerschuk presents information about the and Wanda O’Neal, PhD, at the UNC School logical specimens, and take both baseline effect of chronic obstructive pulmonary of Medicine; Jane Greenberg, PhD, and Javed and follow-up radiological scans of more disease (COPD) on the human lung. Mostafa, PhD, at the School of Information than 3,200 patients. and Library Science; and Fred Wright, PhD, “The fun comes when we start putting and Wei Sun, PhD, at the UNC Gillings clinical, radiological, molecular and biologi- indicate how severe a patient’s disease is and School of Global Public Health’s Department cal variables together,” says LaVange. potentially can provide a sense of whether a of Biostatistics, where CSCC is based. The LaVange’s team will test specific hypoth- therapeutic agent is working or not. Clinical trials to test new pharmaceuticals can take years to complete, LaVange points out. Find- The fun comes when we start putting ing markers that predict long-term outcomes in a shorter period of time can accelerate the clinical, radiological, molecular and development process and, combined with more targeted patient enrollment, has the biological variables together. potential to improve the chance of success in future COPD clinical trials. n CSCC team includes programmers, statisti- eses about new subgroups of COPD patients. –Kathleen Kearns cians, clinical monitors and project assistants “Not all people are affected by all forms of and is led by CSCC faculty member David COPD in the same way,” she explains. Couper, PhD, and project manager Betsy “If we better understand the subtypes Carretta. A fifth-generation, state-of-the-art of the disease, we can better target data management system, recently upgraded patients for enrollment in clinical tri- to enhance data security and implement als designed to investigate a particular industry-wide data standards, will be used therapeutic agent.” linda kastleman for the massive amounts of data to be col- The team also will identify biological, lected as part of the project. clinical and radiological markers that Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is the fourth leading cause of death in the Project manager Betsy Carretta, United States, and currently no drugs bring MPH (foreground), reviews materials about long-term improvement. Study cen- with SPIROMICS team members ters in Winston-Salem, N.C., Ann Arbor, including Dr. Patricia Basta (right), co-director of the Biospecimen Mich., San Francisco, Los Angeles, New Processing and Storage facility.
12 | s p r i n g 2 0 1 0 ‘Team Science’ advances technology
Computational toxicology creates new ways to synthesize data ow much exposure to a Hcertain chemical is safe? What’s the right dose of a given drug? So That’s where computational toxicology The center’s col- far, agencies charged with answering these comes in. The interdisciplinary field merges laborative approach questions—the U.S. Environmental Protec- toxicology, biology and computer science includes partnerships tion Agency and Food and Drug Adminis- to create new ways to synthesize data and with the EPA and the tration—have not had good ways to account predict chemical hazards. National Institutes for an immutable fact about human beings— “Toxicologists need biostatisticians, of Health’s National namely, that people are different. geneticists and molecular biologists to be Institute of Environ- Dr. Ivan Rusyn Individual genetic makeup might keep part of the team,” Rusyn says. “It’s team sci- mental Health Sci- one person from metabolizing a given sub- ence, and this campus is just great for build- ences, National Toxicology Program and stance, while another might metabolize so ing these teams.” National Chemical Genomics Center. much that it becomes toxic. Ivan Rusyn, MD, Fred Wright, PhD, professor of biostatis- “We work with government stakeholders PhD, associate professor of environmental tics, is a key contributor to several research to engage them in our research and leverage sciences and engineering at UNC Gillings efforts underway at CCCT. “Without his resources and expertise,” Rusyn says. School of Global Public Health and director help, we’d be dead in the water,” Rusyn says. Through this collaboration, he aims to of the Carolina Center for Computational The teams don’t work on human popula- find reliable models to predict how individu- Toxicology (CCCT), leads several projects tions per se, but on collections of human cells als will react to chemicals and drugs. Rusyn developing breakthrough methods to con- from different individuals or on populations hopes that working directly with govern- sider genetic diversity. Research by Rusyn of laboratory animals, such as mice. ment agencies also will speed up the flow of and colleagues provides substantive data to “We’re using cell lines and exposing them information from the laboratory bench to the determine safe levels for pharmaceuticals to different chemicals,” Rusyn says. regulator’s desk. n and environmental chemicals. “We’re looking at whether different cell –Kathleen Kearns “Rapid advances in the technology of lines respond differently, and if so, why. Simi- genotyping make these types of studies pos- lar experiments can be done in animal mod- sible,” Rusyn explains. els—for example, in mice where we know the “Five or ten years ago, it was a major genetic makeup of a particular strain. Having undertaking to sequence one individual in vitro and computational tools allows us to mouse, yeast or human.” address these risks without doing lengthy and Now, he says, researchers can quickly and unnecessary animal research.” inexpensively sequence genetic information. That means genetic data on many individuals Collaborative experiments with the National can be obtained easily. Chemical Genomics Center are vital in gen- It also means dealing with a staggering erating data for Dr. Ivan Rusyn’s research. Master’s student Shannon O’Shea (above, left) amount of information. and research specialist Oksana Kosyk traveled “For some research, where we screen thou- to the center to expose dozens of cell lines sands of compounds on hundreds of people, to various environmental chemicals, using the
we have millions of data points,” he says. center’s advanced robotic equipment (right). photos by dr. menghang xia and sri sakamuru
carolina public health | 13 features and ne w s s w
UNC and UAE r. pete andre D Dr. Jacqueline MacDonald Gibson (right) confers with colleague Rugaya Mohamed, partner to protect from the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi.
do constructive work in the Middle East,” the environment MacDonald Gibson said. Ranking the risks Read the UAE project report at www.sph.unc.edu/uae/report. Once UNC researchers identified public health threats facing the UAE, the next step was to prioritize the needs for action. Com- apid development in the United Arab mon environmental risks do not always make headlines, but they may be the biggest threat Emirates (UAE) has led to increased life facing a nation, MacDonald Gibson said. R Researchers worked with about 75 UAE expectancy and greater economic opportunity, but stakeholders to determine environmental it also brings the potential for significant environ- risk priorities. UAE government officials, scholars and mental and public health threats. representatives from industry and nongov- ernment organizations participated in work- Since June 2008, researchers at UNC Gill- report at www.sph.unc.edu/uae/report.) shops to rank their priorities. Information on ings School of Global Public Health have Now, UNC epidemiologists are collecting each risk was provided in uniform summaries collaborated with UAE officials in an effort data to determine the effects that indoor pollut- that included details such as the fatalities the to reduce and prevent such health challenges. ants, diet and lifestyle have on Emiratis’ health. risk was expected to cause in one year. The UNC-UAE National Strategy for The project is an opportunity to help UAE “Many of (the stakeholders) had never expe- Environmental Health project, sponsored by officials manage environmental problems and rienced a group process like that, and they felt the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi, called set the future course of environmental protec- empowered that they had a chance to influence for UNC researchers to assess the country’s tion, said principal investigator Jacqueline their policy,” MacDonald Gibson said. greatest environmental risks and develop a MacDonald Gibson, PhD, assistant professor The project marked the first time this plan to strengthen the UAE’s public health of environmental sciences and engineering. process has been used on a national scale policy. UNC has partnered in that effort with It also serves as a bridge to rebuilding rela- to rank environmental risks. It has not UAE University’s Department of Community tionships in the Middle East, she said. been employed in the United States because Medicine and with the RAND Corporation, a “After September 11 (2001), so much dam- policy here often is drafted after a disaster, global public policy research institution. age was done to the relationship between the MacDonald Gibson said. However, the Army Researchers evaluated everything from U.S. and the Middle East that I thought we Corps of Engineers is using the process to water quality, to food safety, to global climate needed to grab hold of this opportunity to assess risks along the Gulf Coast. change. They found that outdoor air pollution is the top environmental threat to the country, The project marked the first time this process has been followed by indoor air pollution and occu- pational exposures. (Read the UAE project used on a national scale to rank environmental risks.
14 | s p r i n g 2 0 1 0 Researchers evaluated everything from water quality, program and will analyze responses, says C. Edward Davis, PhD, research professor in the to food safety, to global climate change. They Department of Biostatistics. The air monitors measure seven pollutants, found that outdoor air pollution is the top including nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, environmental threat to the country, followed by sulfur dioxide and particulate matter. Par- ticulate matter is of special concern because indoor air pollution and occupational exposures. increased exposure to fine and coarse particles is related to increased cardiovascular and respi- ratory disease exacerbations and outcomes. Researchers now are drafting recommen- To monitor for these particles, research- dations on how to improve the country’s ers use an innovative device called a UNC ambient air-monitoring stations and design- passive aerosol sampler. The instrument was ing a study to measure more precisely the developed by UNC alumnus Jeff Wagner, pollutants in the air. PhD, when he was a graduate student in environmental sciences and engineering, Epidemiology study and David Leith, ScD, professor and associate The UAE-UNC Indoor Air, Health and chair of the department. Dr. Will Vizuete Dr. Karin Yeatts Nutrition study is evaluating the air Emiratis The goal of the study is to provide useful breathe inside their homes, the food they eat information about potential health effects Outdoor air quality and their general health and lifestyle pat- of indoor air pollutants and determine the Outdoor air pollution is easily the greatest terns. The assessment will be done in 600 general health and nutrition status of Emi- threat to the 4.8 million people who live in homes across the seven emirates. ratis, said Karin Yeatts, PhD, the study’s the UAE. UNC researchers estimate that 600 The UNC team of 20 faculty and staff co-principal investigator and research assis- deaths each year can be attributed to outdoor members are coordinating the study and tant professor of epidemiology. The project air pollution, with 540 of those due to par- working with faculty members from the principal investigator is Andy Olshan, PhD, ticulate matter. Particulates include sand, United Arab Emirates University, who have chair of the department. which can carry microbial fungi and other hired more than 50 field interviewers to visit “I hope that the study findings will help infections, and result from diesel engines study participants’ homes. the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi with used for massive construction, oil and gas On their first home visits, field interview- their air quality regulations,” Yeatts said, production, and car and barge traffic. Pol- ers set up air monitors and make a list of “either to strengthen the regulations or verify lution from Europe and Eastern Asia also the home’s residents. Interviewers return that what they currently have is useful for blows into the region. seven days later to remove monitors and protecting the public’s health.” n To determine the UAE’s risk from outdoor interview participants about their health his- –Natalie Gott air pollution, scientists developed one of the tories, diets and lifestyles first air quality models in the region to simu- (e.g., whether they smoke late the atmosphere. The model stretched or have recently exercised). beyond the UAE to the Arabian Peninsula Field interviewers record as far east as India, north into Turkey and interview responses into west to Cairo. a computer program that “We made the first state-of-the-art air has been translated into quality model for that part of the world, Arabic. Our public health and we created it using the most advanced school’s Collaborative scientific methods and techniques available,” Studies Coordinating Cen- said Will Vizuete, PhD, assistant professor of ter (CSCC) developed the environmental sciences and engineering, who worked on the UAE outdoor air quality team. With the model’s design, scientists at the Playing outdoors usually is a healthy activity, but out- public health school have created the infra- door air quality in the UAE structure to track pollutants plaguing the
threatens the country’s 4.8 olle y UAE, a critical step for making policy deci- million people, especially F iina sions to reduce emissions. children and the elderly. T
carolina public health | 15 features and ne w s
from the public health school’s health behav- ior and health education department and Peers for Progress: UNC’s School of Medicine guide the Center. With initial funding from Eli Lilly and Company Foundation, Peers for Progress has Fisher heads global group focused on the global diabetes epidemic, pro- jected to grow to 439 million people by 2030. providing diabetes support To accelerate best practices for peer support around the world, Peers for Progress aims to expand the proof that such programs are beneficial. It collects information about the peer educator in Cambodia conducts weekly group many available programs, so as to secure rec- sessions, offering lessons about diabetes manage- ognition and resources for peer support as a A core component of prevention and health care. ment and advice about physical activity and nutrition. “The niche of Peers for Progress is to net- work with organizations around the world A community health worker each year they are ‘on their own.’ to facilitate more programs, better-quality in rural Arizona provides sup- Peer support can help people take programs and more secure support so the port and education to medically the plans they make in the doctor’s programs can help as many people as pos- underserved migrant workers office and put them into practice in sible,” Fisher said. and new immigrants with dia- their daily lives. They get their ques- UNC Gillings School of Global Public betes. He helps order glucom- tions answered and stay motivated to Health has a long tradition of providing eters and visits the workers if sustain healthy patterns across those peer support in local communities. Current they are sick. 8,760 hours.” faculty including Eugenia Eng, DrPH, and Jo Peers for Progress, a pro- Dr. Edwin Fisher The American Academy of Family Anne Earp, ScD, professor and chair, respec- gram led by Edwin Fisher, PhD, Physicians Foundation established tively, in the Department of Health Behavior professor of health behavior and health Peers for Progress in 2006. Recognizing and Health Education, and Alice Ammer- education at UNC Gillings School of Global UNC’s pre-eminence in community and man, DrPH, and Marci Campbell, PhD, pro- Public Health, is working to ensure that more peer approaches to health promotion, the fessors of nutrition, have been involved in a people living with diabetes or other chronic group asked Fisher and colleagues to host number of projects that empower individuals health conditions have access to similar peer- its Program Development Center a year later. through individual and group peer support. n support networks. Faculty members, students and research staff –Natalie Gott Ongoing support from others who are coping with similar difficulties can offer Peers for Progress’ executive board met in February 2009 to honor Dr. Jose Caro (front, center) emotional, social and practical assistance who, as an executive at Eli Lilly and Company, conceived of the initial plan for Peers for Progress. The board includes UNC public health faculty members Drs. Jo Anne Earp, Ed Fisher, Laura that will help people become healthy. Linnan and Deborah Tate. “Unless they are very sick, people with diabetes probably spend fewer than six
hours each year in a health professional’s ul dner F
office,” Fisher says. “That leaves 8,760 hours om T
Learn more about Peers for Progress at www.peersforprogress.org.
For information about MoPoTsyo, a non- governmental peer-support program in Cambodia, visit www.mopotsyo.org/ peereducation.html. For information about Campesinos Diabetes Management Program, a peer-support group in Arizona, visit www.diabetesinitiative.org/ programs/DICSF.html.
16 | s p r i n g 2 0 1 0 Water power— bringing streams together to make a mighty river
n Cambodia, UNC students and faculty members show people who’ve never had clean Philip Singer, PhD, UNC’s Dan Okun I Distinguished Professor of Environmen- water how to use ceramic filters in their homes. tal Engineering, has contributed greatly to the strength of UNC’s reputation in water The lifesaving potential is immense and immediate. research. In 2006, he received the National Water Research Institute’s acclaimed Clarke Across the United States, municipalities of a new Water Institute at UNC, is to bring Prize for excellence. use UNC-developed techniques to iden- together the many streams of water exper- “UNC has a world-class reputation in tify, remove and preclude the formation of tise within the School and university and water resources, drinking water research “disinfection byproducts” from drinking incorporate them into one powerful river of and sanitation,” Singer said. “We have a lot of water. These contaminants are created when research, teaching and service with partners students and faculty doing work on a variety chlorine and other chemicals used to purify throughout the state, nation and world. of subjects involving drinking water and drinking water mix with substances in water. “This School has an amazing track record public health, but it’s not a cohesive effort. In eastern North Carolina, cities and of success at the junction between public If we can bring everybody together under towns have water-sharing and other water health and water and sanitation,” Bartram a single umbrella, we’ll be more effective in resource management agreements, devel- said. “We’re at a point now where draw- our efforts, generating more research fund- oped with the assistance of UNC water ing together and focusing our strengths ing and providing more valuable outreach.” experts, which make the most of scarce water with those of our partners will enable us to Bartram, Singer said, is the right person to resources and limited public budgets. The make an even greater impact. The complex coordinate and focus such efforts. agreements are in effect not only in rural, problems of today and tomorrow demand “Jamie is an exceptional individual,” Singer “down-east” communities but also in the interdisciplinary responses. Our vision is to said. “He’s known by almost everybody in the Research Triangle area, home to some of the break the boundaries that constrain prob- world in the water and sanitation field. He’s state’s largest cities. lem-solving by bringing together disciplines creative, he’s thoughtful, he’s a visionary. And Since the 1920s, when H.G. Baity began and sectors to confront some of humankind's at the same time, he’s very down-to-earth and teaching sanitary engineering at the Uni- most critical challenges, whether at the local, likeable. I’m excited about what the future versity of North Carolina, UNC has been a national or global level.” holds for our School and our University.” n leader where water and health intersect. From –Ramona DuBose locating the purest sources to developing tech- nologies that keep drinking water safe, UNC urre y faculty members and students are innovators. S Into this powerhouse now comes Jamie Bartram, PhD. For more than 30 years, Bartram has analyzed and advanced connec- niversity of tions between the environment and health U around the world. He comes to UNC from the World Health Organization, where he was coordinator for assessing and managing “The complex problems of environmental risks to health. today and In July 2009, he joined the environmental tomorrow demand sciences and engineering faculty at the UNC interdisciplinary Gillings School of Global Public Health, responses,” says where his mission, through the establishment Dr. Jamie Bartram.
carolina public health | 17 features and ne w s linda kastleman How the world learns New methods and technologies transform the teacher’s role in global education
he ways we access and use information have Classroom” examines issues related to cur- changed radically over the last decade. ricula and engaging students in learning T activities. Thanks to innovations such as social network- GoogleTM, the challenges may seem to equal “Many millennials are multi-taskers,” Zel- ing, micro-blogs and instantaneously loaded the potential. However, there is no longer a man says. “They use the Internet for a variety video, we can know about an event within question of whether technology is essential of tasks, including for texting, e-mailing and moments of its happening, even if it happens to a teacher’s toolkit. It is. participating in social media, many times on the other side of the world. Innovative programs based in UNC Gillings a day. They demand activities that engage These dramatic advances in technology— School of Global Public Health’s Department of them, and incorporating information tech- and our increasingly easy and economical Health Policy and Management and its Public nologies is now an important part of cur- access to it—affect the ways we learn. For Health Leadership Program are on the front ricular design.” educators trying to stay one step ahead of lines of educating 21st-century learners. Along with others, Zelman has developed “The rise of new technologies a budgeting module designed to increase the poses both profound challenges financial literacy of budding public health and opportunities for educators,” practitioners. says William Zelman, PhD, pro- The need for accessible and high-quality fessor of health policy and man- public health education has increased expo- agement. “The teaching-learning nentially with the global increase in public hierarchy is quickly changing health priorities. from an emphasis on teaching “Current distance learning practices to an emphasis on learning—and don’t address the needs of public health how to incorporate technology practitioners around the world,” says Rohit into the process.” Ramaswamy, PhD, Gillings Visiting Associ- “Millennial” students—those ate Professor in the Public Health Leadership born between 1977 and 1995— Program. “Many of the working public health are the focus of Zelman’s new professionals in developing countries have Gillings Innovation Laboratory. not had access to technology or information
linda kastleman His “Teaching and Training in about best practices.” Dr. Rohit Ramaswamy (left) meets with research assistant Public Health for the 21st Cen- Ramaswamy’s pilot program, “Leveraging Kate Barker, MPH, and Dr. Hollie Pavlica. tury: Toward a Global Seamless Local Knowledge to Improve Public Health,”
18 | s p r i n g 2 0 1 0 (Left) Alumni Julie Golding and Ju-Yeon Park multi-tasked between classes last online Certificate in Global spring in the atrium. Health, offers formal academic certification. Developed in part- is based on a series of collaborations. To nership with the School’s Office develop the distance learning course for of Global Health with Fogarty global public health competencies, he has International Center American worked with School faculty members Wil- Recovery and Reinvestment Act liam Sollecito, DrPH, Diane Calleson, PhD, (ARRA) funds and a grant from and Louise Winstanly, LLB, MS, of the Public the UNC General Administra- Health Leadership Program, who teach, and tion, the certificate program Eugenia Eng, DrPH, Allan Steckler, DrPH, includes courses in critical global and Laura Linnan, PhD, of the Department health issues, ethics, infectious Dr. James Porto Dr. William Zelman of Health Behavior and Health Education, disease epidemiology, and moni- who designed the curriculum. toring and evaluation. The Executive Doctoral Program in Health Public health professionals in six learn- Like the innovative programs mentioned Leadership, based in the Department of Health ing units—three in Ethiopia and one each above, this new certificate program uses Policy and Management, prepares mid-career in India, South Sudan and Swaziland—have a collaborative learning approach so that professionals for senior-level positions in orga- taken part in the pilot program. The units global leaders and health practitioners can nizations working around the world to improve include people who work together routinely share knowledge with fellow program par- the public's health. The three-year, cohort- and face similar public health challenges. ticipants. As students live around the world, based distance program confers a Doctor of “Our School has developed expertise in their experiences also will enrich the course. Public Health in health administration. educating degree-program students in col- “The Public Health Leadership Program has Students interact with faculty members laboration and knowledge sharing,” Ramas- a long history of success in online leadership and peers primarily online, using technol- wamy says. “Although program participation education,” says Hollie Pavlica, DrPH, clinical ogy that supports live video, audio and data does not result in an academic certificate assistant professor in the program, “and we sharing. or degree, the practice of public health is are uniquely positioned to meet the challenges One of the pinnacles of the School’s online improved globally through participants’ faced by health leaders around the world.” global health efforts occurred in the execu- common understanding of best practices.” James Porto, PhD, clinical assistant pro- tive leadership program on Jan. 21, 2010. The Another distance-learning endeavor, the fessor and director of executive programs in first international online dissertation pro- Public Health Leadership Program’s new health policy and management, teaches a class posal was defended successfully. It involved that tracks health care reform a student from Lebanon, faculty members 9 8.5 legislation. Students’ research, from American University and St. Joseph’s Working millennials in the U.S. report how many hours per week they spend observations, questions and University in Beirut, a faculty member in 8 using various technologies interactive Tweets are collected Paris, and two faculty members in Chapel This graph is based on statistics reported on a blog site, http://hpm755unc. Hill (Edward “Ned” Brooks, DrPH, and John in 2010 by Accenture, a global consulting wordpress.com, which serves as Paul, PhD, clinical associate professors of 7 and technology firm. The full report is at a news aggregator for the class. health policy and management). http://snipurl.com/accenture-millennials. “Ninety-five percent of man- The world moves fast, but it’s getting 6 agement is decision making smaller every day. n and problem solving,” Porto –Linda Kastleman 5 says. “This format (which 3.9 involves students analyzing • Read more about Zelman’s Gillings Innovation Lab at www.sph.unc.edu/accelerate/gils/zelman. 4 3.4 health care proposals and hav- • Read more about Ramaswamy’s Global Learning ing their analyses critiqued) Program at www.sph.unc.edu/glp. 3 2.3 lends itself well to public health • Read more about the School’s Certificate in Global issues students will face in the Health at www.sph.unc.edu/phlp/globalhealth. real world.” Applications for fall 2010 will be accepted until 2 June 1. “It’s essential,” Porto says, • Read more about the online executive doctoral 0.6 0.6 1 “to be able to organize infor- program in health leadership on the School’s Web mation. I see my role as that of site (www.sph.unc.edu/drph) and in the Spring a navigator through the many 2006 issue of Carolina Public Health magazine 0 (www.sph.unc.edu/cph/drph). Blogging or In a virtual On social Text Instant E-mails available resources.” on Twitter community networking messaging messaging sites carolina public health | 19 Strait of Gibraltar
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E REP. OF KENYA R THE B A S I N Tracking CONGO G GABON DEMOCRATIC RWANDA Mt. Kilimanja ro REPUBLIC Lake (highest point in Victoria tropical disease OF THE CONGO A ica, 5895 m) BURUNDI Kinshasa Lake ANGOLA Tanganyika TANZANIA go on C ou may not hear an epidemiologist quote Lake Nyasa Ya politician very often, but Steven R. ANGOLA Meshnick, MD, PhD, has been known to. MALAWI ZAMBIA “As the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moyni- “There aren’t reliable estimates or maps about where to expend money and resources. han once said, ‘You can’t solve a problem of where people are,” says Meshnick, an epi- Meshnick’s interdisciplinary team has until you first learn how to measure it,’” says demiology professor at UNC Gillings School spent more than a Z year analyzing dried ambezi Meshnick, who leads a highly collaborative of Global Public Health. “ThisN isA M Ia B burning blood-spot samples for prevalence of disease. MOZAMBIQUE Gillings Innovation Laboratory project to public health problem.” The team includes epidemiologists, geog- ZIMBABWE quantify cases of HIV and tropical disease in And he’s about to help extinguish it, first raphers, molecular biologists and tropical the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). for the DRC and then for other countries disease experts.BOTSWANA Infectious diseases are the leading cause of that undertake similar projects. In April Under theK A guidance L A H A R Iof three doctorate- death and disability in developing countries 2010, Meshnick planned to share his team’s level CongoleseD E S researchers,E R T two labs in such as DRC. Yet remarkably, international results with the DRC’s Ministry of Health,NAMIBIA Kinshasa, DRC, are extracting serum from D E S E R T health and development organizations don’t after which the team was to write formal samples to gauge levels of African sleeping have good figures on how many people suffer reports of their findings. Such information sickness. At UNC-Chapel Hill, the lab is from these diseases. will allow aid groups to make better decisions measuring HIV and malaria. ResearchersSOUTH at UNC include epidemiol- ogy postdoctoral Ofellowr Steve Taylor, PhD, an g microbiology doctorale candidate Martha Clark, geographyAFRIC doctoralA LES candidateOTHO Jane Messina, assistant professor of microbiology Julie Nelson, PhD, and associate professor of geography Mike Emch, PhD. The team records where people who have the diseases are located. A high prevalence of HIV was found in the war-torn eastern areas, for instance. There also is a high prevalence of malaria not only in rural areas, as expected, but in densely populated areas around Kinshasa.
Dr. Steven Meshnick (right) works with Kashamuka Mwandagalirwa (left) and Jeremie Muwonga to sort
kathryn johnson dried blood-spot samples.
20 | s p r i n g 2 0 1 0 Strait of Gibraltar
Mediterranean Sea MOROCCO
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SAUDI OMAN ARABIA S A H A Red MAURITANIA Sea le N I G E R Ni YEMEN SENEGAL MALI r CHAD Nige BURKINA Lac'Assal THE GAMBIA S U D A N B Gulf of FASO l (low est point in ue A ica, -155 m) Aden le
Ni DJIBOUTI GUINEA Ni le BENIN e Y it E NIGERIA h L Ni W L GHANA ger CÔTE A V TOGO ol ue V D'IVOIRE ta n Be ETHIOPIA
CENTRAL AFRICAN T
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EQUATORIAL GUINEA C O N G O T r. UGANDA D A
E REP. OF KENYA R THE B A S I N CONGO G GABON DEMOCRATIC RWANDA Mt. Kilimanja ro REPUBLIC Lake (highest point in Victoria OF THE CONGO A ica, 5895 m) BURUNDI Kinshasa ANGOLA Lake Tanganyika Dr. Steven Meshnick TANZANIA go on C “We are currently looking into whether LHIVake or drug-resistant malaria tends to asso- Nyasa ANGOLA ciate with refugee camps,” Meshnick says. MALAWI The team also looks at its data in light of information from the Demographic and ZAMBIA Health Survey conducted in the DRC in 2007, which featured interviews with nearly 9,000 households. Surveyors also obtained Converting hog waste Z dried blood-spot tests to check for HIV, and ambezi N A M I B that’s where Meshnick’s team got its samples. MOZAMBIQUE“We got the leftovers,” he says. ZIMBABWE But the “leftovers” were enough for a into energy BOTSWANA project that Meshnick believes will evolve into something more extensive over the next K A L A H A R I D E S E R T decade. Gene chips now being developed will NAMIBIA allow robots to analyze far more about DNA D E S E R T than current methods can. These chips can look at thousands of antibodies and patho- gens from a dried blood spot. SOUTH “Ultimately, we could look for any disease n Or you can imagine,” Meshnick says. f you visit Tom Butler’s hog farm in Harnett an g e –Susan Shackelford County, N.C., you might spot a covered trailer AFRICA LESOTHO I bearing the faint logo of a rodeo clown.
But don’t think there’s funny business inside. near Lillington, the lab is testing Aitken’s The unlikely laboratory is the place where idea for removing ammonia, a noxious form Mike Aitken, PhD, chair of UNC’s Depart- of nitrogen, from the waste. ment of Environmental Sciences and Engi- Ammonia is a desirable fertilizer, but neering, is conducting research to stem water too much of it damages soil and denigrates and air pollution that comes from treated hog groundwater. “There is more nitrogen pro- waste, a big issue in North Carolina, the sec- duced from hog waste in eastern North ond largest pork-producing state behind Iowa. Carolina than could ever be used for crops Through a Gillings Innovation Lab, Ait- in that region,” Aitken says. Malaria Prevalence ken and his team purchased the trailer sec- Furthermore, when farmers spray ammo- DRC 2007 ond-hand. The ESE Design Center equipped nia-rich waste on crops as fertilizer—a common High: 94% it to operate as an onsite laboratory. Now practice— much of the ammonia is released to Low: 2% parked by a hog-waste lagoon at Butler’s farm the atmosphere, generating the smelly odor 8 janey messina/carolina population center
carolina public health | 21 features and ne w s itk en A ik e M r. linda kastleman D
Field technician John McNeill (left) and Dr. Glenn Walters, director of the ESE Design Center, discuss design strategies for main- taining pressure in a tank used to remove nitrogen from hog waste. At right, plastic for which hog waste is well known. required to convert the ammonia to nitrate. covering over a hog waste lagoon not only Ammonia also reacts in the atmosphere This method is superior to traditional tank- contains the noxious smell of ammonia but to form fine particles that cause respiratory and-bubble systems for two reasons, Aitken also captures methane, which will be used problems such as asthma. says. It minimizes the release of ammonia to generate electricity instead of being “This is a big public health problem,” from the treatment system and also may released as a greenhouse gas. Aitken says, going on to describe the process. minimize emission of the greenhouse gas “We are converting ammonia to nitrate, and nitrous oxide, a by-product of the process. then nitrate to nitrogen gas, which represents Aitken began testing the ammonia- 79 percent of our atmosphere and can be removal system in the first quarter of 2009 harmlessly released.” and expects the demonstration to last a The process consists of conventional waste- year. Assisting him are graduate students water-treatment technology, but two aspects Sarah Bunk and Eric Staunton, as well as
tom fuldner of the project are unusual, Aitken says. Joe Rudek, PhD, a hog-waste policy expert It’s coupled with another project at the site with the Environmental Defense Fund in which captures methane from the treated hog Raleigh, N.C., who holds master’s and doc- waste to generate electricity and thus mini- toral degrees from the UNC department mize the release of the potent greenhouse gas. Aitken heads. Under a pilot program the state began While there are state incentives for the in 2007, investor-owned utilities in North energy-conversion process, both Aitken and Carolina are required to buy the electricity. Rudek hope additional incentives, including The farmer receives up to 18 cents per kilo- credits for carbon and nitrogen removal, will watt hour, Aitken says. That far exceeds the emerge as legislation. several cents per kilowatt hour that utilities So far, Aitken says, “The state is not con- typically pay other power producers and thus necting the dots.” could significantly help offset the farmer’s He hopes to make the connections clear technology cost. soon. But for now, he says with a chuckle, The other innovative part of Aitken’s “The trailer is turned so that you can’t see project is technical. At a nominal cost, InVen- the clown logo from the road.” n tures Technologies Inc. is providing a “bub- –Susan Shackelford Dr. Mike Aitken ble-less” aeration system that supplies oxygen
22 | s p r i n g 2 0 1 0 Unraveling the mystery of arsenic’s modi operandi
urder mysteries have given arsenic a sinister Mreputation, but the damage it does is no fiction. Dr. Miroslav Stýblo The naturally occurring compound is the The basic method for detecting arsenic in in Mexico, another country where arsenic most harmful human carcinogen, says Miro- human tissue was developed some time ago. causes widespread harm. slav Stýblo, PhD, associate professor of nutri- But researchers struggle with several chal- Now Stýblo’s lab is tackling its second chal- tion at UNC Gillings School of Global Public lenges, primarily that the most toxic forms lenge, analyzing the toxic compounds created Health. It affects between 60 million and of arsenic disintegrate when exposed to air. when the human body metabolizes arsenic. 100 million people around the world, most Consequently, handling samples has been a Researchers previously have analyzed urine of whom are exposed by drinking water that stumbling block. The problem is compounded samples to determine arsenic exposure, but has passed through geological formations because areas where arsenic exposure is most such samples can’t tell us what arsenic does containing arsenic. widespread—primarily Southeast Asia, Ban- when it remains in human tissue. “We have good evidence that links chronic arsenic exposure to cancers of the skin, Stýblo is developing new ways to discern how arsenic bladder, lungs and possibly the liver,” Stýblo explains. “It can also cause a spectrum of impacts the human lungs and bladder. other diseases—cardiovascular disease, dia- betes and probably many others.” gladesh and the West Bengal region of India— Stýblo and his team are developing new Stýblo’s Gillings Innovation Lab has taken tend to be rural and less developed. ways to discern arsenic’s impact on the lungs a two-pronged approach to the problem. One In 2009, Stýblo’s team designed a cus- and bladder. Andrew J. Ghio, MD, medical objective is to develop techniques sensitive tomized lab at UNC that integrates and officer in the U.S. Environmental Protection enough to detect arsenic in very small tissue modifies the work of two researchers in Agency’s Human Studies Division, leads a samples. Prague, Jiří Dědina and Tomáš Matoušek of UNC-based study that provides Stýblo’s lab The other goal is to analyze how arsenic is the Institute of Analytical Chemistry of the with epithelial cells from the airways of smok- metabolized in human tissues into compounds Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. ers exposed to arsenic in cigarette smoke. Two more toxic than those found in drinking water. Together, they have developed an inno- researchers in Mexico, Luz María Del Razo of vative and inexpensive the Research and Advanced Studies Center of approach that uses very the National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico small samples. While (Cinvestav–IPN) and Gonzalo García Vargas fine-tuning the tech- of Universidad Juarez del Estado de Durango, nique, they are sharing supply exfoliated bladder cells isolated from it with three laboratories the urine of Mexican residents exposed to arsenic in drinking water. Stýblo’s innovative analytical methods dr gonzalo garcia-vargas Dr. Stýblo (center) poses will give epidemiologists cheaper and better with Dr. Luz María Del ways to identify and understand how arsenic Razo (second from left), harms human beings. The goal, he says, is to UNC’s Dr. Zuzana Drobna (in orange), Mayor transfer this methodology to the field. That Eusebio Aguilar and local will give those working to stop a killer a new public health workers in weapon to use. n Zimapan, Mexico. –Kathleen Kearns
carolina public health | 23 features and ne w s
Safety first on the job, especially for inexperienced teens
anted: Secure job for teenage worker. Prefer no big equipment, no tractors or W linda kastleman trucks, no heavy lifting. Safety is a top priority. “Restaurants, food stores and the fast-food industry can be hazardous places for So where do you find a “safe” job for teen- teenagers are injured on the job each year. young workers,” says Dr. Carol Runyan. age workers? A clothing store at the mall? “Food slicers, hot grease, slippery floors A fast-food restaurant? About 77 percent of and box crushers account for some of these teens who work have jobs in retail and service injuries,” Runyan says. “Restaurants, food “My research leads to where interventions industries, according stores and the fast-food industry can be haz- need to be,” Runyan says. to the Bureau of Labor ardous places for young workers.” She identified interventions including Statistics. Those jobs Fifteen years ago, Runyan and her team enforcement of and education about child might seem safer than collected statistics on young worker fatali- labor laws and development of strategies jobs in construction ties in North Carolina. She wanted to help to ensure worker safety, such as employers’ or agriculture. prevent these deaths, so she began analyzing learning how best to supervise teenagers. But Carol Runyan, the circumstances in which teens work. “Young workers lack experience,” says PhD, director of the The national study she led, interviewing Runyan. “In an attempt to demonstrate com- UNC Injury Preven- about 900 youth workers in retail and service petence, they may take risks, not understand- Dr. Carol Runyan tion Research Center occupations, showed that one-third of the ing the hazards involved. The responsibility and professor of health behavior and health respondents did not receive safety training for safety lies with the employer—and with education at the UNC Gillings School of and many worked without supervision. Her the government, to set regulations, monitor Global Public Health, wants young workers survey of teenagers working in construction in compliance and then hold employers’ feet and their families to know that injuries occur N.C. found that 84 percent of those surveyed to the fire.” on all kinds of job sites. More than 200,000 performed tasks prohibited by child labor laws. Runyan’s work has been groundbreaking in its impact on young workers’ safety. In 2009, after significant media coverage of Agriculture/forestry/ Construction fishing/hunting Other her studies, she was urged by N.C. Rep. Jen- Transportation/warehousing nifer Weiss and the N.C. Child Fatality Task Leisure/hospitality Manufacturing Force to share her results with several legis- Information lative committees, leading to two new laws Education/health The majority of young designed to protect working children. One, services people injured on the job a law with tougher penalties for employer work in the service and retail violations, went into effect in North Caro- industries. (Shown here are U.S. data for 2007.) lina in December 2009. The other requires the N.C. labor commissioner to provide detailed reports on child labor complaints Retail trade and obstacles to child labor law enforcement. “This is an important step in raising N=6,290 awareness of young worker safety and the need to ensure that employers are account- Data provided by Janice Windau of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, from the Bureau's Survey of Occupational Injuries able,” Runyan says. n and Illnesses. Reprinted with permission from the Web site of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (http://snipurl.com/cdc-young-worker-injury). –Chris Perry
24 | s p r i n g 2 0 1 0 works to ensure access to pediatric dental services despite a shortage of dentists. Using Putting new ideas where an assessment tool developed by UNC and the N.C. Division of Public Health’s Oral Health Section, physicians evaluate a child’s teeth and their mouths are risk factors and decide whether to continue treating the child or refer him or her to a gen- eral or pediatric dentist trained through the program to work with young children. Physi- cians, for instance, will advise parents about health behaviors, such as the use of fluoridated toothpaste, but will refer a child with a cavity to a participating dentist. Officials have seen ace it—no tooth fairy is going to swoop in and increased referral rates and improved efficiency mend the mouths of children with poor oral health. since the program started, Rozier said. F “All of these efforts are focused on increas- But a decade of work by North Carolina Rozier, DDS, MPH, professor of health policy ing access to preventive services at an early age public health and dental researchers at UNC and management at the UNC Gillings School so we can get to these kids before disease occurs has resulted in a kind of magic of its own— of Global Public Health. and prevent poor outcomes like hospitalization, innovative programs that really do brighten Rozier and others founded the program which is much too frequent,” Rozier said. the smiles of the state’s youngest and most after seeing an increase in dental disease “The many collaborations between Dr. vulnerable. in young children, particularly those from Rozier and the Oral Health Section of the One of the prevention programs is work- ing so well that 35 other states have adopted North Carolina’s model. All of these efforts are focused on increasing Into the Mouths of Babes was established in 2000 by a collaborative of public and access to preventive services at an early age. private medical and dental groups, with funding from N.C. Medicaid. The initiative low-income families and those with poor N.C. Division of Public Health are a model trained physicians to paint fluoride varnish access to dental care. The program marked for the state,” said Rebecca King, DDS, MPH, on infants’ and young children’s teeth, screen the first time physicians started “‘working chief of the Oral Health Section. “Working for tooth decay and provide dietary and other in the mouth,’ if you will,” said Rozier, who together, the public health school and the state dental health information to their parents. holds a Doctor of Dental Surgery from UNC- health department bring together the best of The program already reaches Medicaid- Chapel Hill. the worlds of research and public health prac- covered children in North Carolina in 45 In conjunction with Into the Mouths of tice—to the benefit of North Carolinians.” percent of their well-child visits, says Gary Babes, Rozier helped develop two more proj- The other new project aims to promote ects to serve the dental preventive dental care in Early Head Start needs of young North programs. Children who attend a participat- Carolinians. ing Early Head Start program have their teeth Carolina Dental brushed with fluoridated toothpaste at least Home is a pilot program once every day in the classroom. Teachers in Craven, Jones and learn about oral health care and relay the Pamlico counties that information to parents and caregivers. Seven- teen programs participate in the Early Head Dr. Gary Rozier (center) Start initiative in North Carolina, Rozier said. discusses his work in Combined, the three programs provide a North Carolina with long list of benefits for preschool-aged children (l-r) project manager and their families. They help prevent tooth Leslie Zeldin; Dr. William decay, reduce the amount of treatment a child Vann Jr., professor of dentistry; postdoctoral needs and generally improve the oral-health- fellow Dr. Bhavna Pahel; related quality of life for families, Rozier said. n and Dr. Daniel Lee. –Natalie Gott linda kastleman
carolina public health | 25 u nc gi l l i ng s s c ho ol of glob a l pu bl ic h e a lt h SCHOOL NEWS
For more information on these topics and other news, please see www.sph.unc.edu/news_events.
Major grants Explaining the health In fiscal year 2009, despite a major million, 5-year grant from the National Cancer care reform debate economic recession, more than 400 grants Institute, is designed to develop new methods and contracts, totaling more than $150 mil- for the design and analysis of cancer clini- lion, were awarded to faculty members with cal trials. Co-investigators from the School a primary appointment in the School—a 45 include Joseph Ibrahim, PhD, Alumni Dis- percent increase from the previous year. tinguished Professor of biostatistics; Jianwen Among the highlights: Cai, PhD, biostatistics professor and associate chair; and Danyu Lin, PhD, Dennis Gillings Gates Foundation grant for Distinguished Professor of biostatistics. urban reproductive health The Bill & Melinda Gates Founda- Center of Excellence in Genomic Science Dr. Jon Oberlander Dr. Thomas Ricketts tion awarded more than $22 million for a new project to improve reproductive health of the The National Institutes of Health’s Both local and national media urban poor in sub-Saharan Africa and South National Human Genome Research Institute have sought out School faculty members to Asia. Ilene Speizer, PhD, research associate and National Institute of Mental Health have comment on aspects of the national debate professor of maternal and child health, is one awarded UNC an $8.6 on health care reform, particularly after a of the two leaders of “Measurement, Learn- million, 5-year grant bill was passed in March. Among those most ing and Evaluation for the Urban Reproduc- to establish a Cen- often quoted are Tim Carey, MD, director tive Health Initiative,” which will be run by ter of Excellence in of the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Ser- UNC's Carolina Population Center. Working Genomic Science. The vices Research and adjunct epidemiology with the center on the project are the African center will explore faculty member; Dean Harris, JD, clinical Population and Health Research Center, based how genes and the associate professor of health policy and in Nairobi, Kenya, and the Population Refer- environment inter- management; Jon Oberlander, PhD, profes- ence Bureau in Washington, D.C. The project act and affect certain Dr. Daniel Pomp sor of health policy and management and will help identify which urban reproductive mental diagnoses, social medicine; and Thomas Ricketts, PhD, health approaches and interventions are most including autism, depression, anxiety and professor of health policy and management. effective and likely to have the biggest impact. adverse reaction to antipsychotic medicines. Media included The New England Journal Public health researchers include Daniel Statistical Methods for of Medicine, The New York Times, National Pomp, PhD, nutrition professor; and Fred Cancer Clinical Trials Public Radio, USA Today, MSNBC, CBS Sun- Wright, PhD, professor, Fei Zou, PhD, asso- day Morning and Evening News programs, Michael R. Kosorok, PhD, professor ciate professor, and Wei Sun, PhD, assistant American Public Radio’s Marketplace, AARP and chair of the biostatistics department, will professor, all in biostatistics. Bulletin Today, The Daily Tar Heel (UNC), lead researchers from UNC, Duke University WCHL Radio and The News & Observer and N. C. State University to find ways to Sobsey presents water test idea to (Raleigh, N.C.). design more powerful clinical trials for cancer NASA, USAID and others Health policy and management doctoral treatments. Their aim is to more quickly and Mark Sobsey, PhD, Kenan Distin- student Brad Wright also blogs about health effectively deliver better, more personalized guished Professor of environmental sciences care reform in The Huffington Post (see www. new therapies to cancer patients. “Statistical and engineering, is one of 10 innovators huffingtonpost.com/d-brad-wright). n Methods for Cancer Clinical Trials,” a $12.5 who participated in the first LAUNCH
26 | s p r i n g 2 0 1 0 event, held March 16–18, 2010, at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. LAUNCH spon- Technology enhances communication sors include NASA, the U.S. Agency for about the School International Devel- opment and the U.S. Social media sites provide an easy, and UNC Gillings School of Global Public State Department. now mainstream, means to share informa- Health offers a variety of ways for students, The inaugural event tion about research, practice and education alumni and friends to stay connected with focused on water sup- opportunities—and a great way to network the School and each other around the world. ply and quality. with colleagues, classmates and others. Check out these opportunities: Sobsey presented a Tap into relationships and stay informed. proposal for simple, www.linkedin.com accessible, afford- Dr. Mark Sobsey able tests to assess Post or search for jobs in public health. water quality and safety to the 30-member www.uncsph.experience.com LAUNCH Council, a diverse group of entre- Find alumni in our online community. preneurs, scientists, engineers and others www.alumniconnections.com/sph.unc.edu For links to more who advised presenters about how to move School connections Follow the School on Twitter. their innovations forward into commercial (Dean’s blog, events www.twitter.com/uncpublichealth production, field deployment and use. calendar, RSS feeds, Sobsey received a Gillings Innovation Check out the School’s YouTube channel. iTunes podcasts, Laboratory to develop portable field tests to www.youtube.com/user/UNCpublichealth myspace, Second Life, detect fecal contamination in water. He and Wikipedia, Student Picture what the School has been up to. an international team are designing reli- Affairs blog), visit www.flickr.com/photos/uncsph/collections able fecal microbe tests that will not require www.sph.unc.edu/ sophisticated laboratory equipment, electric- Join our Facebook community. more_connections. ity or advanced training of test users. n www.facebook.com
Events and other news
Minority Health Conference Small Jr. Keynote Lecture. The conference is addresses health inequality the largest and longest-running student-led in the modern world health conference in the country, regularly attracting more than 500 students, faculty, The 31st annual Minority Health Con- researchers, public health and human services ference, “Building Community in the Age of professionals, and community leaders from Information: Fighting Health Inequality in N.C. and surrounding states, with at least as the Modern World,” was held Feb. 26, 2010, many throughout the country viewing the at the William and Ida Friday Center for keynote lecture by webcast or on DVD. Continuing Education in Chapel Hill, N.C. The event was planned and hosted by the Online learning certificates School’s Minority Student Caucus. now offered Columbia University’s Robert E. Fullilove, EdD, presented the 12th annual William T. The School now offers two new online learning programs for students not seek- Dr. Robert Fullilove (above) presented the ing degrees. The Public Health Leadership keynote lecture at the 2010 UNC Minority Program’s online certificate in global health Health Conference. Health behavior and confers academic certification in global health education students Aprajita Anand health competencies, focusing on global (left) and Emily Brostek led a team of stu- health issues, ethics, epidemiology and 8 photos by linda kastleman dents in planning and executing the event.
carolina public health | 27 s c h o o l n e w s
monitoring evaluation. Apply by June 1, 2010. Learn more at www.sph.unc.edu/phlp/ Career fair provides networking opportunities globalhealth. The Certificate in Maternal and Child More than 275 students, alumni Health Leadership (MCH Olé!) provides prac- and others attended the School’s titioners with core knowledge and skills to 2010 Career and Internship Fair promote the health of women, children and on Feb. 4, 2010. Thirty-three families around the world. Apply by Oct. companies and agencies sent 1, 2010. Learn more at www.sph.unc.edu/ representatives to meet some mch_online. of the best trained public health students in the world. New dissertation This year, Abt Associates was a awards and merit-based “Gold Sponsor” of the event. Abt associates apply their expertise scholarships offered in research, consulting, technical Two new programs to support students assistance, data collection, and have been funded through Carolina Public medical and life sciences to a Company representative Health Solutions, the group administering wide variety of problems in the public and private sec- Brad Hollern and master’s the $50 million gift to the School from Den- tors. (See www.abtassociates.com.) candidate Alrick Edwards nis and Joan Gillings. The School thanks Abt and other career fair talk to students about job opportunities at Abt As many as two dissertation awards will sponsors, including ICF International, RTI International and the School Alumni Association. Read more about Associates. be granted to current doctoral candidates the event at www.sph.unc.edu/career_fair. n whose work has strong potential for public health impact. The $5,000 award(s) will be presented in spring 2010. Any student applying to a UNC graduate highlights of a few who have shared their James Marks, MD, MPH, senior vice degree program in public health also will be experiences and expertise. To hear many of president of the Robert Wood Johnson eligible to receive merit-based scholarship these lectures online, visit www.sph.unc. Foundation, spoke to faculty, staff and support. The School plans to make funding edu/webcasts. students on April 9, 2010. His talk was pools available each year. Academic depart- titled “Wayne Gretzky and the Future of ments and the Public Health Leadership Dean’s Lecture Series Public Health Leadership.” Program will consider applications and make CDC Director Thomas Frieden, MD, funding decisions. MPH, spoke on Oct. 9, 2009, about the 2010 Foard Lecture ways public health training “bridges the Guest lecturers enrich Jeanne Lambrew, implementation gap.” More than 400 people PhD, director of the School experience packed the School’s atrium to hear Frieden U.S. Department of Numerous distinguished guests discuss Centers for Disease Control and Health and Human have made presentations at the School Prevention and public health priorities, Services’ Office of over the past several months. Below are including improvement of public health sur- Health Reform, was veillance and epidemiology, support of state expected at press and local public health action, strengthening time to deliver the of global health work and having greater 2010 Fred T. Foard Jr. impact on public health policies. Memorial Lecture on Dr. Jeanne Lambrew April 15 at The Wil- Dan Ariely, PhD, James B. Duke liam and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Professor of Behavioral Economics at Education in Chapel Hill, N.C. Lambrew Duke University and author of Predictably received master’s and doctoral degrees in Irrational: The Hidden Forces That health policy (in 1991 and 1993, respec- Shape Our Decisions, presented a talk, n
linda kastleman tively) from UNC. “Predictably Irrational,” on March 26, 2010. Dr. Thomas Frieden
28 | s p r i n g 2 0 1 0 Harriet Hylton Barr (1925–2009)
Harriet Hylton Barr, MPH, alumna and longtime health educator at the School, died Dec. 14, 2009, in Durham, N.C. Barr received a Master of Pub- In lic Health in health edu- M cation from UNC in 1948 Jessie Satia (1971–2010)emoriam and taught health educa- tion classes at UNC from Jessie Satia, PhD, associate professor of nutrition 1967 to 1994. She served and epidemiology and special assistant to the School's as the School’s assistant dean for diversity, died in her home in Chapel Hill, N.C., dean for alumni affairs from 1983 to 1994, on Feb. 4, 2010, after a long illness. during which time she organized and energized During her career, Satia published more than 65 an alumni association. In 1980, the association papers and authored two book chapters. Her numerous recognized Barr with its Distinguished Service awards and honors include the Graduate Student Fel- Award, later renamed in her honor. The Harriet lowship Award from the University of Washington and Hylton Barr Distinguished Alumnus Award the New Investigator Award from the American Society is presented annually to recognize leader- of Preventive Oncology in 1999. In 2001, she won the ship, collaboration and innovation within the Dannon Leadership Institute's Nutrition Leadership profession of public health; impact within the Institute Award. She was a three-time recipient, in 1999, practice arena; and outstanding service. 2001 and 2003, of the Minority Research Scholar Award A special remembrance was part of the given by the American Association for Cancer Research. School's Foard Memorial Lecture on April Satia explored methods and strategies to recruit African-Americans into research studies 15, 2010. for cancer prevention and control. She also assessed and monitored trends in health-related Memorial donations may be made to the behaviors among colon and prostate cancer survivors and examined whether health behav- UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health iors impact cancer prognosis and survival. Foundation—Harriet Barr Memorial Fund.* n Memorial donations may be made to The Dr. Jessie A. Satia Memorial Fund.* n
Barry Margolin Mary Rose Tully (1946–2010) (1943–2009)
Mary Rose Weber Tully, MPH, alumna and Barry Margolin, PhD, former chair of the adjunct associate professor of maternal and child health, School's Department of Biostatistics, died Jan. died Jan. 20, 2010, at the N.C. Cancer Hospital in Chapel 28, 2009, after many years Hill, N.C. of declining health. Margo- Tully was a co-founder and senior clinical associate lin joined the biostatistics of the Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute in the faculty in 1987 as profes- Department of Maternal and Child Health. She also sor and chair, a position was director of Lactation Services at UNC Hospitals he held until 1999. He also and a faculty member in the UNC schools of medicine served as director of the and nursing. biostatistics facility at the Memorial donations may be made to The Mary Rose UNC Lineberger Com- Tully Training Initiative at the Carolina Global Breast- prehensive Cancer Center from 1989 to 1999. feeding Institute.* n A remembrance ceremony was held at the School on March 3, 2010. A memorial session honoring Margolin's distinguished career will * To make a memorial gift, please visit www.sph.unc.edu/giving, or contact Kembrie Greene Farrow, be held at the Joint Statistical Meetings in Van- Office of External Affairs, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, 107 Rosenau Hall, Campus n Box 7400, Chapel Hill, N.C. 27599-7400, telephone (919) 966-0198. couver, Canada, on Aug. 3, 2010.
carolina public health | 29 u nc gi l l i ng s s c ho ol of glob a l pu bl ic h e a lt h awards & R ecognitionS Augus t 2009 – M a rc h 2010
Details of these and other awards are available at www.sph.unc.edu/school/recognitions.
FACULTY ship in the society, with four members of the faculty—including the late Dr. Bernard Devlin joins School as Gillings Visiting Greenberg and Drs. Jim Grizzle, Gary Koch Professor and Lisa LaVange—having previously served Leah M. Devlin, DDS, as president. MPH, former N.C. State Health Direc- Richardson tor, was appointed appointed to White as a Gillings Visiting House advisory board Professor in fall 2009. Dr. Eugenia Eng and Dr. Allan Steckler David B. Richardson, The position is based PhD, associate profes- in the Department November 2009. sor of epidemiology, Dr. Leah Devlin of Health Policy and SOPHE is an independent, international was appointed by Dr. David Richardson Management. professional association made up of health President Obama in In her new role, Devlin is connecting the education professionals and students. October 2009 to the White House Advisory School, including the N.C. Institute for Public Board on Radiation and Worker Health. Herring elected president of ENAR, Health, with legislators and others working Richardson’s research investigates occupa- prestigious biostatistics organization on public health issues in practice. She also tional and environmental causes of disease, is consulting with School leaders to develop Amy Herring, ScD, with a particular focus on ionizing radiation. approaches to strengthen the school’s capac- associate professor He has served in various capacities at the ity as a regional and national leader in public of biostatistics, was University of North Carolina since 1996 when health quality improvement. elected president of the he began as a postdoctoral researcher. Eastern North Ameri- Steckler and Eng recognized as Distin- can Region (ENAR) of Dilworth-Anderson guished Fellows, SOPHE’s highest honor the International Bio- leads Gerontological Allan B. Steckler, DrPH, and Eugenia (Geni) metric Society (IBS) Society, receives Eng, DrPH, professors of health behavior Dr. Amy Herring for a three-year term, Reagan Award for and health education, received the Society ending in 2013. Alzheimer’s research for Public Health Education’s Distinguished IBS is the largest professional organization Peggye Dilworth- Fellow Award for significant and lasting of biostatisticians and biometricians in the Anderson, PhD, pro- contributions to SOPHE and to the profes- world, drawing its 5,800 members from more fessor of health policy sion of health education. than 25 countries. ENAR is the largest sub- and management and Dr. Peggye Dilworth- Anderson The awards, which are the Society’s high- group of the organization, incorporating 1,600 interim co-director of est honor, were presented at the organiza- members from the United States and Canada. UNC’s Institute on Aging, was inducted in tion’s annual meeting in Philadelphia in Our School has a strong history of leader- November 2009 as the new president of the
30 | s p r i n g 2 0 1 0 Gerontological Society of America at GSA’s thought-provoking news commentary from a provide greater food security for all North 62nd annual meeting in Atlanta, Ga. variety of black perspectives. “The Root 100” Carolinians. Dilworth-Anderson is a member of the is a new honor that highlights the leadership National Advisory Council for the National and service of African-American men and Holliday wins award from N.C. Dietetic Institute on Aging and former member women whose work impacts their communi- Association for contributions to field of the board of directors of the National ties and the world. Amanda Holliday, Alzheimer’s Association. Adimora was honored for her research in MS, RD, clinical Dilworth-Anderson also received the HIV/AIDS. assistant professor in Ronald and Nancy Reagan Research Insti- the Department of tute on Alzheimer’s Disease Award. She Pink awarded distinguished professorship Nutrition, was named was honored on March 9, 2010, during the in health policy and management Outstanding Dietetic seventh annual National Alzheimer’s Gala in George Pink, PhD, Educator of the Year Washington, D.C. has been appointed by the Durham-Chapel Humana Distin- Hill (N.C.) Dietetic Amanda Holliday Baric elected to guished Professor of Association and by American Academy Health Policy and the North Carolina Dietetic Association. She for Microbiology Management. accepted the statewide award at an awards Ralph Baric, PhD, Established event in Princeton, N.J., on March 25, 2010. professor of epidemiol- through a grant from ogy at UNC Gillings the Humana Founda- Dr. George Pink STUDENTS School of Global Pub- tion, the professorship Graduate School announces 24 merit lic Health, has been Dr. Ralph Baric is awarded to a health policy and manage- awards for public health students elected to the Ameri- ment faculty member with a national reputa- can Academy for Microbiology. He will be tion for scholarship in health informatics. Twenty-four UNC public health graduate recognized at the Academy Fellows luncheon Pink is a fellow at the UNC Cecil G. Sheps students received merit awards for study in in San Diego in May 2010. Center for Health Services Research and lead 2009–2010 and beyond, the UNC Graduate The American Academy of Microbiol- investigator in the center’s N.C. rural health School announced in fall 2009. ogy is the honorific leadership group within research and policy analysis center. The students are Sayan Dasgupta (biosta- the American Society for Microbiology, the tistics); Jonathan Crocker, Katherine Harrold world’s oldest and largest life science orga- Ammerman appointed to state food and Edema Ojomo (environmental sciences nization. Baric’s groundbreaking research advisory council and engineering); Jane Der, Katelyn Haus- focuses on coronaviruses, including SARS, Alice Ammerman, man, Chantel Martin, Melanie Napier, Damon and on noroviruses. DrPH, professor of Ogburn and Amitabh Suthar (epidemiology); Read more about his research on page 10. nutrition and director Andrea Des Marais, Ann Gottert, Jessica of UNC’s Center for Kadis, Elizabeth King and Sarah Lieff (health Adimora selected as one of top 100 African- Health Promotion and behavior and health education); Kristin American leaders by The Root magazine Disease Prevention, Geonnotti, Elise Lockamy and Sarah Rutstein Adaora Adimora, MD, MPH, professor of has joined a new state (health policy and management); Anna Bauer medicine at the UNC council focused on and Anupama Gomez (maternal and child School of Medicine Dr. Alice Ammerman improving policies and health); and Scott Ickes, Erik Karlsson, Tosha and clinical professor access to local, sustain- Smith and Rebecca Tkachuk (nutrition). of epidemiology in the able food in North Carolina. Health policy and management teams public health school, The North Carolina Sustainable Local compete in case competitions was selected by The Food Advisory Council was established Root magazine as one by the N.C. General Assembly in August Presha Patel, Gregory Mascavage and Jessica of the top 100 African- 2009 to study, develop and promote policies Folmar, second-year Master of Public Health American leaders. that will create jobs, support communities, students in the health policy and manage- Dr. Adaora Adimora The Root is a preserve the natural environment, increase ment department, won second place in the daily online magazine that aims to provide access to fresh and nutritious foods, and 14th annual Everett V. Fox Student Case 8
carolina public health | 31 featuresa w ards and and recognitions ne w s
Phi Beta Kappa inducts ALUMNI nine undergraduates from Alumnus Jenkins presented with APHA’s UNC public health school Lilienfield Award for teaching excellence Nine of the 146 UNC under- Bill Jenkins, PhD, graduates inducted into MPH, received the Phi Beta Kappa in fall 2009 American Public hail from four public health Health Associa- departments. tion’s 2009 Abraham The students, all from Lilienfield Award, North Carolina, include which recognizes Kateland Elizabeth Branch, excellence in the Julia Vivian Loewenthal and teaching of epide- Dr. Bill Jenkins Patty Tian Wang (nutrition); (L-R) Presha Patel, Gregory Mascavage, Jessica Folmar miology during the Bita Jasmine Emrani, Jared course of a career. An alumnus of the UNC Richard Lowe and Pranay Prabhakar (health Gillings School of Global Public Health, Competition, held during the National policy and management); Patrick Nathaniel Jenkins is an affiliate of the UNC Institute Association of Health Services Executives’ Healy and Andrew Parker Morgan (bio- of African-American Research (www.unc. annual educational conference in October statistics and biology); and Rachel Parker edu/iaar) and co-director of UNC’s Minor- 2009, in Orlando, Fla. Stevens (environmental health science). The competition offers first- and second- ity Health Project. He previously had a year graduate students an educational experi- King, PHLP master’s student, wins Kuno long, successful career at the U.S. Centers ence to enhance their problem analysis and Research Award for Disease Control and Prevention and at the Center for Research on Health Dispari- presentation skills. Students are charged Bradley King, a Master of Public Health stu- ties at Morehouse College in Atlanta. with applying their creativity, knowledge and dent, has received the Michiko Kuno Award experience to analyze real and diverse issues for Excellence in Student Research. The facing a health care organization. award, presented Jan. 27 as part of the UNC N.C . INSTITUTE FOR Ashley Winslow, Sadaf Houssain and School of Medicine’s John B. Graham Medi- PUBLIC HEALTH Matt Hasbrouck, graduate students in health cal Student Research Day, recognized King’s NCIPH honored for state service policy and management, were among the top research on diabetic retinopathy screening. The North Carolina Institute for Public five teams at the University of Alabama at King is a health care and prevention Health (NCIPH) received the N.C. Public Birmingham’s annual health care case com- student in the public health school’s Public Health Association’s Partners in Public petition on Feb. 11, 2010. A total of 24 teams Health Leadership Program and has com- Health Distinguished Group Award in participated in the competition. pleted his third year of medical school at UNC. October 2009 at the Association’s 100th Doctoral candidate Long among those anniversary meeting in Asheville. honored with UNC teaching awards STAFF The Institute, directed by Ed Baker, MD, Dustin Long, doctoral candidate in bio- NCIPH’s Place receives leadership award MPH, research professor in the Depart- ment of Health Policy and Management, statistics, has received a Tanner Award for Janet Place, direc- celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2009, Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching by tor of the Southeast highlighted by an event on Friday, Oct. 9. a Graduate Assistant. The award, given Public Health Train- The NCPHA award was established in annually to five UNC ing Center, part of 1998 to recognize organizations and profes- graduate assistants, the N.C. Institute for sions that have made significant contribu- carries a $5,000 Public Health, has tions to public health in North Carolina. n stipend. received an award for Long was among Best Leadership Proj- 21 students and ect at the Southeast Janet Place Details of these and other faculty members who Public Health Lead- awards are available at received teaching ership Institute (SEPHLI) meeting, held in www.sph.unc.edu/school/ awards in January. Dustin Long Winston-Salem, N.C. Her project was titled recognitions. “Workforce Development Roadmap.”
32 | s p r i n g 2 0 1 0 D o n o r s O U R D O N O R S
New cervical cancer initiative aims to save lives
upported by a $1.5 mil- will develop a plan for the state to increase in-school S lion gift from Glaxo- based on evidence that cervi- access to vaccines, SmithKline, two of the School’s cal cancer can be prevented including the HPV researchers are teaming up through vaccines and effective vaccine which pre- with N.C. Gov. Bev Perdue and screening. Former North Caro- vents infection with others to “eradicate cervical lina State Health Director Leah the virus that causes cancer” in North Carolina— Devlin, DDS, who is a Gillings most cervical cancer. the first step toward ending the Visiting Professor at the school, The initiative also disease nationwide. is an adviser to the project. will coordinate efforts Dr. Noel Brewer Dr. Jennifer Smith The Cervical Cancer-Free At the outset, the initiative in California (via the Initiative, led by Noel Brewer, aims to bring a coalition of California Medical Associa- cancer," said Governor Perdue. PhD, assistant professor of stakeholders together to iden- tion Foundation), Alabama "Initiatives like this go hand- and, eventually, other states. in-hand with efforts such as North Carolina is a tremendous leader in Each state will build a coalition our state's investment in the of key stakeholders in cervical University Cancer Research this multi-state effort to end cervical cancer, cancer prevention, including Fund, a historic commitment government, private, nonprofit to preventing and treating health behavior and health tify opportunities for and bar- and community groups. cancer through innovative education, and Jennifer S. riers to prevention, screening "North Carolina is a tre- medical research within our Smith, PhD, research associ- and treatment. The research- mendous leader in this multi- world-class universities." n ate professor of epidemiology, ers also will develop a project state effort to end cervical –Natalie Gott
Allison composes song to celebrate School
ack Allison, a 1966 UNC alumnus, Since his first efforts, Allison has name change, he took the initiative to Jhas composed "Dedication Song" to raised more than $150,000 in charity compose "Dedication Song" to commemo- honor the UNC public health school’s new through his music, establishing the Self rate the occasion. Allison based the lyrics name as of September 2008—UNC Gillings Help Foundation to manage funds gener- on key words used to promote the School’s School of Global Public Health. ated by his songs. goals, namely, anticipation, acceleration The song celebrates new possibilities When he heard about the School’s and innovation. for growth at the School, thanks to Den- A copy of the CD is avail- nis and Joan Gillings' generous donation. able upon request to anyone who Allison began writing songs while makes a gift of $25 or more to the serving in the Peace Corps from 1967 School’s global health program. to 1969, when he worked in a children’s For more information, contact clinic in Nsiyaludzu, Nigeria. He had an the School's Office of External urge to see the world "outside the class- Affairs at (919) 966-0198. n room" after graduating from UNC with –Jay Cartwright a chemistry degree. His songs contained lyrics with simple lessons for new mothers, which, if fol- Jack Allison and his wife, Sue lowed, would improve their babies' health. Wilson, are shown here with friends in Nsiyaludzu, Malawi.
carolina public health | 33 d o n o r s
Senkomago selected Your Gift Today... for Tellus Educational a healthier Foundation Scholarship tomorrow a s tleman K Bequests are a vital source of support for UNC Gillings in da School of Global Public Health. Bequests: L • Create scholarships, • Establish professorships, • Build new facilities, • Support research and • Improve the public’s health.
The School’s continued excellence in research, teaching and service depends upon you—our friends and alumni who remember the School in their estate plans. Now— more than ever—your bequest makes a difference.
Contact us today about including UNC Gillings School Virginia Senkomago of Global Public Health in your estate plans. For more information, check the appropriate box in the enclosed envelope, or contact: octoral student Virginia toll it takes on individuals’ lives. Senkomago, MPH, of “Almost everyone I know in Lyne S. Gamble Jr. D Director of Major and Planned Gifts Uganda, received a Tellus Edu- Uganda has a friend or relative UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health cational Foundation scholar- affected by the disease,” Senk- Campus Box 7407, 135 Dauer Dr. ship to study infectious disease omago said. Chapel Hill, N.C. 27599-7407 epidemiology, particularly Tellus Leadership Scholar- [email protected] sexually transmitted diseases ships worth up to $75,000 are 919.966.8368 in sub-Saharan Africa. awarded to remarkable, com- Senkomago, who also mitted students from tradi- received The Winstanly Schol- tionally underserved countries. arship, funded by Derek and “Virginia’s proven academic a s tleman
K Louise Winstanly, currently is performance and her clinical a research assistant on a proj- work in the DRC fit perfectly in da L ect led by Frieda Behets, PhD, with the Foundation’s goals,” associate professor of epidemiol- said Andrew Waters, president ogy at UNC Gillings School of of the Tellus Educational Foun- Global Public Health. Behets’ dation. “We are thrilled that she project focuses on sustainable is a Tellus Leadership Scholar.” delivery of antiretroviral med- “I want to use my knowledge icine to HIV patients in the to enhance the well-being of Democratic Republic of Congo others,” Senkomago said. “The (DRC). Tellus scholarship allows me to Senkomago is particularly do this, and I’m so grateful for Master’s student Patsy Polston (right) is shown here with her interested in HIV/AIDS in sub- the Foundation’s support.” n adviser, Dr. Jill Stewart. Saharan Africa because of the –Natalie Gott
34 | s p r i n g 2 0 1 0 D o n o r s
Sanofi-aventis sponsors new UNC Graduate School, the Department of Nutrition and faculty Department of Nutrition funding sources. “We’re trying to think more globally in our research and nutri- scholarship program tion programming,” said June Stevens, PhD, department chair. “This is a great step forward in accomplishing that goal.” Stevens says that the economic downturn has meant many quali- harmaceutical company sanofi-aventis is sponsoring a new fied and enthusiastic international students have not been able to P Department of Nutrition scholarship program that will help attend UNC. The scholarship will make that opportunity possible bring top international doctoral students to UNC Gillings School and will prepare more students to address nutrition and other health of Global Public Health. challenges around the world. Through the sanofi-aventis—UNC Global Nutrition Scholars The first Scholars will arrive at UNC in fall 2010. After their Program, the company will fund half the cost of a five-year doc- first year of study, they will have the unique opportunity to develop toral program for three international students, or about $410,000. skills and broaden their understanding of the global pharmaceutical The company’s sponsorship will be matched with funds from the industry through an internship with sanofi-aventis U.S. n –Natalie Gott BIOS turns 60!
ore than 300 alumni A fitting emblem of that M and friends of UNC’s phenomenon, Kosorok said, biostatistics department came is Gary Koch, PhD, whose to Chapel Hill, N.C., on Oct. Festschrift* was a highlight 12, 2009, to celebrate the of the celebration. Colleagues department’s 60th anniversary. and former students presented A series of presentations lectures and testimonials to illuminated the department’s honor the longtime professor’s distinguished history, and achievements. A special issue attendees from as far away as of the journal Statistics in Bio- Dr. Gary Koch enjoys a presentation at a dinner to honor him, held Brazil shared remembrances pharmaceutical Research, to during the biostatistics department’s 60th anniversary celebration. about their experiences in appear in late 2010 or 2011, Chapel Hill. The multiple-day will include scientific articles event was a happy mix of schol- honoring Koch. arship and friendship. One of the celebratory “A key theme that emerged events was a breakfast for Law- the UNC public health school [email protected]. Ask about the in our celebrations and presen- rence Kupper, PhD, Alumni in 1972. Koch Scholars Program, Gary tations was the invaluable role Distinguished Professor of bio- A gallery of photographs G. Koch Student Travel Funds, of the student-mentor relation- statistics, who retires in 2010 from the event can be seen at Global Scholar Funds and other ship,” said Michael Kosorok, after 40 years on the UNC www.sph.unc.edu/bios/60. giving opportunities. n PhD, professor and chair in the faculty. To honor the department’s –Linda Kastleman department. The department was estab- 60th anniversary, ensure its “We were all moved at lished in 1949, under the continued preeminence, and/ how many of these relation- leadership of inaugural chair or honor a mentor, contact Ste- ships stay vibrant and alive, Bernard Greenberg, PhD. phen Couch, the School’s asso- * A Festschrift is a volume of essays beyond campus walls and past Greenberg chaired the depart- ciate director of development, contributed by many authors to graduation.” ment until he became dean of at (919) 966-0219 or stephen_ honor a colleague.
carolina public health | 35 d o n o r s
One generous turn inspires another
tradition at the School’s Like Kotch, both Drs. Angle A annual World of Differ- have long histories of service in ence dinner, held for donors public health. who give at the Rosenau Marcia Angle is now an Society* level and higher, adjunct professor at Duke Uni- makes for a poignant stage versity’s Nicholas School of the picture. When a new endowed Environment and serves on professorship is established, our School’s Advisory Council. both recipient and donor are Carol Remmer Angle’s half- presented with a UNC captain’s century career in medicine chair to mark the occasion. includes many highlights. In In November 2009, the stage the 1950s and ’60s, she founded tom fuldner chairs were shared by Marcia one of the country’s first poison Dr. Jonathan Kotch Angle, MD, alumna of UNC control centers, opened one of Gillings School of Global Public the first pediatric renal dialysis schools, communities and soci- Health, and Professor Jonathan units in the U.S. and conducted eties,” Kotch said at the 2009 Kotch, MD, faculty member at novel research on environmental World of Difference dinner. the School since 1978. causes of lead poisoning among “We are absolutely thrilled Marcia and her mother, Dr. children. In the late 1960s, she to have a scholar and activist of Carol Remmer Angle, estab- became one of the first female Dr. Kotch’s caliber as the first lished the Carol Remmer Angle chairs of an academic medical CRA Distinguished Professor Endowed Professorship in Chil- department in the nation. of Children’s Environmental dren’s Environmental Health. “In endowing the award, Health,” Marcia and Carol Kotch was selected for the pro- Marcia and Carol Angle rec- Angle said. “He is renowned not Dr. Jimmie Lee Rhyne fessorship, an honor acknowl- ognized that children are just for his impressive research edging his many contributions powerfully shaped by their accomplishments but also for named in honor of his mentor, to children’s health and safety. social environments, families, extensive service to the com- the late Jimmie Lee Rhyne, MD, munity, state and country.” a pediatrician who served many Kotch, in turn, has pledged years as head of the N.C. Divi- to endow a scholarship to fund a sion of Public Health’s maternal summer internship for a mater- and child health branch. nal and child health student. “It gives me great pleasure to “Carolina attracts the best recognize Dr. Rhyne's passion and the brightest, and those of for doing the right thing for chil- us on the faculty are challenged dren by naming this scholarship to respond in kind,” he said. in his memory,” Kotch said. n Kotch’s scholarship is –Linda Kastleman
“Endowing a professorship at UNC is a win-win,”
tom fuldner say Marcia and Carol Angle. “Not only is Drs. Jonathan Kotch and Marcia Angle share the stage at the School’s 2009 World of Difference dinner. UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health a world-class institution, but the State of N.C. * Named in honor of Milton J. Rosenau, MD, first dean of the UNC School of Public Health, The Rosenau Society recognizes alumni and friends who matches with a tax dollar every two dollars give $1,000 or more in unrestricted funds to the School each year. For more information, see www.sph.unc.edu/giving. privately contributed towards professorships here!”
36 | s p r i n g 2 0 1 0 Delton Atkinson, MPH: Champion of diversity
Alumnus Delton Atkinson is
soft-spoken, but his work in linda kastleman the world speaks powerfully and eloquently about his dedication to public health.
Now deputy director of the Division of Vital Statistics in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, Atkinson earned two Master of Public Health degrees from UNC-Chapel Hill—in bio- statistics and health policy and administration (now health policy and management). He has taken on a number of roles to enhance the strength of his alma mater, including adjunct faculty member of biostatistics, president and executive board member of the School’s alumni association and member of various School committees. He has received several awards for his work and visionary leadership, including ones from the North Carolina and American public health associations. At CDC, he leads the re-engineering of his division’s technology systems to increase the timely availability of health statistics and works with states to improve their Atkinson is dedicated to providing opportunities for statistics systems. higher education in public health, especially for students As current chair of the School’s Public Health Foundation who are underrepresented at the School. Recently, he has Board student support committee, one of Atkinson’s goals established the Delton Atkinson Endowed Scholarship for is to increase diversity at the School. graduate study at UNC. To that end, in January 2010, Atkinson recruited 26 “The professional success that I have experienced would minority alumni and friends to address diversity issues at not have been possible without the UNC (Gillings) School the School. Their ongoing conversations will explore how to of (Global) Public Health,” Atkinson said. “The School was quickly, effectively and fundamentally change the nature of the foundation of my career, which was made possible only the School so that a more natural diversity among students through the solid financial support that I received not once, and faculty and staff members is guaranteed. but twice. Recognizing and understanding this value has “I have had the opportunity to meet and interact with meant that ‘giving back’ to the School has always been one some of the outstanding young men and women in the of my goals.” School who represent our future public health leaders and For more information on providing a scholarship oppor- workers,” Atkinson said. “Hearing their stories and their tunity similar to this one, contact Stephen Couch, associate goals made me realize, more than ever, the importance of director of development at the School, at (919) 966-0219 or helping them achieve success and the connectivity of their [email protected]. n achievements and our future health care system.” –Linda Kastleman Nonprofit organization US postage PAID permit #177 Chapel Hill, NC The u n i ve r s i t y of n o r t h c a r o l i n a at c h a p e l h i l l
CAMPUS BOX 7400 CHAPEL HILL, NC 27599-7400