Chineme Enyioha, MD, MPH, assistant professor in the UNC Department of Family Medicine, was recently awarded a K23 Career Development Award from the NIH National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) for a study entitled, “Development of a prototype for a mobile health intervention for smoking cessation with features culturally adapted for African American smokers.” Enyioha … Continued

Sarah Kowitt, PhD, MPH, assistant professor in the UNC Department of Family Medicine, was recently awarded a five-year, $762,196 grant by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The Mentored Research Scientist Career Development Award (K01 grant) focuses on tobacco regulatory research in youth, specifically on how to communicate the harms … Continued

Brianna Lombardi, Ph.D., MSW, and Family Medicine colleagues are recipients of a recently awarded $4.5 million five-year HRSA grant to form a new Behavioral Health Workforce Research Center (BHWRC) at UNC. Lombardi is the Primary Investigator and the Director of the BHWRC, which will function as a sister center to the Carolina Health Workforce Research … Continued

Dana Iglesias, MD, MPH, Medical Director of the Chatham Hospital Maternity Care Center, has been awarded a grant from The Duke Endowment to help improve the quality and the continuity of care provided to Black and Hispanic women by implementing a perinatal interdisciplinary inter-agency care coordination program in Chatham County. The project will build upon … Continued

In June, The UNC Family Medicine Center at Chapel Hill lobby was renamed “The Longiotti Family Lobby” in recognition of a generous gift from Mr. Samuel Longiotti, in honor of his father, Nazzareno Longiotti. Originally from Corropoli, Italy, Nazzareno Longiotti immigrated to the United States after losing his father, settling in Greenville, Pennsylvania, where he … Continued

Amir Barzin, DO, MS, Associate Professor and Medical Director of UNC Health Virtual Care Services and UNC Nurse Connect, recently won the 2022 C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service Award along with UNC School of Medicine Carolina Together Testing Program collaborators Susan Fiscus, PhD, and Amy James Loftis. UNC’s publication The Well recently featured Dr. Barzin … Continued

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Department of Family Medicine is pleased to announce that Kimberly Shoenbill, MD, PhD, has been selected as the new Director of the UNC Tobacco Treatment and Weight Management Programs (TTP/WMP). Formerly the Associate Director of Research and Quality for TTP/WMP, Shoenbill is dually board certified in Family … Continued

According to the Centers for Disease Control, in the United States, childbirth mortality rates for Black pregnant persons are 3-4 times greater than their white counterparts, no matter their socioeconomic or education status. Given this alarming disparity, Family Medicine assistant professor Venus Standard, MSN, CNM, founded the Alliance for Black Doulas for Black Mamas (ABDBM), which … Continued

Just prior to Thanksgiving break, UNC was awarded a 3-year $5 million HRSA grant to create a Teaching Health Center Planning and Development Technical Assistance Center (THCPD-TAC). The new funding is in addition to $4.3 million awarded in August 2021 and $3.6 million awarded from 2018 through 2020 from the HRSA Federal Office of Rural Health Policy … Continued

UNC Family Medicine Associate Professor Gayle Thomas, MD, has been named North Carolina’s 2021 Community Star by The National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health (NOSORH) for her vital work as Medical Director of the NCDHHS Office of Rural Health’s NC Farmworker Health Program. From the NOSORH Community Stars publication: “Gayle Thomas has been a Community Star Her whole … Continued

Family Medicine Assistant Professor Catherine Coe, MD, has been named to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Board of Directors. The AAMC made changes to the board structure for its 2021-2022 contingent, expanding from 17 to 19 voting members with the intent to create a more “diverse and flexible board structure.” The recently approved additions … Continued

Family Medicine assistant professor Leah Ranney, PhD, Director for the Tobacco Prevention and Evaluation Program (TPEP), and Jennifer Cornacchione-Ross, PhD, Assistant Professor at Wake Forest School of Medicine, received an NIH (R01) three-year award in the amount of $1.2 million for the research study Strengthening Cigar Warnings to Prevent Adolescent Use. The study seeks to improve … Continued

It is with great pleasure that UNC Family Medicine announces Kevin Tate, MHA, as our department’s new Vice Chair for Administration, beginning on July 12, 2021. He is well-prepared for the role and is committed to serving the department in our multiple missions. Kevin has been with the Department of Family Medicine for 16 years, … Continued

The Alliance for Black Doulas for Black Mamas (ABDBM) graduated its first class of Black Doulas on July 10. Founded by UNC Family Medicine’s Venus Standard, MSN, CNM, FACNM, LCCE, ABDBM offers an enhanced Doula training program whose goal is to increase access of Doula training to Black women, while improving Black women’s birth outcomes by expanding … Continued