Alpha-Gal Syndrome, or AGS, is a recently identified tick-borne disease that triggers an allergy to red meat and other products made from mammals, including cheese, gelatin, and medications like heparin. Since its discovery in 2009, cases in the United States alone have risen from 24 to >40,000 people, owing to the geographic spread of the … Continued

Since the start of the pandemic, people in jail have faced an inequitably high risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Overcrowding and lack of hygiene supplies have left jail populations particularly vulnerable to outbreaks, while frequent population turnover has made it difficult to prevent and track the spread of new variants. In addition, racial incarceration disparities and … Continued

Social workers promote individual and community wellbeing, supporting people through some of life’s most difficult challenges, and this includes Emily Duberman, LCSW, CHES, the Ryan White Lead Social Worker at the UNC Eastowne Infectious Diseases Clinic. Read how Emily came to work in infectious diseases and what she finds particularly gratifying about her work with patients. … Continued

Ross Boyce, MD, MSc, assistant professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Department of Epidemiology, has been selected as one of the recipients of the Jefferson-Pilot Fellowships in Academic Medicine. This award is given to exceptional UNC School of Medicine (SOM) junior faculty. “I am honored to receive this award,” said Dr. Boyce. “I … Continued

Global health research is a collaborative process, and each researcher at the Institute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases contributes a piece to solving the puzzle of disease and morbidity. With a new academic year underway, read what some of our investigators are working on to improve the health of global populations. Their multi-disciplinary findings will be … Continued

Led by Martina Kovarova, PhD, Miriam Braunstein, PhD, and J. Victor Garcia, PhD, UNC School of Medicine researchers showed in vivo efficacy of a long-acting injectable formulation of the anti-TB drug rifabutin. Read more.

Researchers from the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) presented updated results from the HPTN 084 long-acting cabotegravir (CAB) for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) study at the AIDS 2022 conference in Montreal. New findings show reductions in HIV incidence were sustained in the 12 months following trial unblinding (November 5, 2020, through November 5, 2021). Read more.

Researchers from the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, the Gillings School of Global Public Health, and Center for Health Equity Research reviewed qualitative data from three “Ending the HIV Epidemic” (EHE) projects, published in the July issue of Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (JAIDS). In the article, Kate Muessig, PhD, associate professor … Continued

Building on the work of Dr. Ross Boyce, Victoria Shelus studies antimalarial drug use and practice at drug shops in Uganda. In the remote villages of Bugoye sub-county at the foot of Uganda’s Rwenzori Mountains a rolling landscape stretches across lush river valleys and steep hillsides. It’s the kind of terrain that might make for … Continued

Jonathan Juliano, MD, MPSH, Professor of Infectious Diseases and Associate Director of the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, with fellow IDEEL investigators Jessica Lin, MD, MSCR, and Jonathan Parr, MD, MPH, and co-PIs from the University of Florida (UF) and Centre Pasteur Cameroon, has received a $3.4 million R01 grant award to study … Continued

Tick-borne diseases (TBD) including Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiosis (SFGR), ehrlichiosis, and increasingly Lyme disease, represent a substantial public health concern throughout much of the Southeastern United States. North Carolina experiences some of the highest rates of SFGR and ehrlichiosis in the United States, often accounting for more than of 10% and 5% of cases reported to the … Continued

In 2021, women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa accounted for three of five new HIV infections, and young women aged 15–24 years were three times as likely as young men in the same age group to be infected with HIV. Despite expanded access to oral PrEP, women are disproportionately affected by HIV experiencing considerable barriers … Continued