Author Archives: Kim Morris

Following is a letter of appreciation to medicine faculty, from Nina M. Browner, MD, for demonstrating “Herculean” efforts during the pandemic. Browner is the Bryson Distinguished Associate Professor of Neurology and vice-chair for education in the UNC Department of Neurology. December 3, 2020 Dear Dr. Falk, As a program director...

While the pandemic made this year particularly challenging for fellowship recruitment efforts and interviews, a series of videos showing each program’s strengths was a creative solution, introducing viewers to faculty and current fellows, with a brief glimpse into what it might be like to join the program. And although it...

Timothy Carey, MD, MPH, the Sarah Graham Kenan Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Social Medicine, will retire in January after 35 years as a UNC faculty member. As a health services leader and researcher, active in both inpatient and outpatient care, Carey says serving UNC and the state’s residents...

As the US Food and Drug Administration considers whether to authorize emergency use of Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine, medical experts are paying close attention to reports of allergic reactions to the vaccine. Edwin Kim, MD, associate professor of medicine and pediatrics in the division of rheumatology, allergy and immunology, says...

WNCT (Greenville) reports vaccinations are starting across North Carolina, with CarolinaEast Health System in New Bern giving medical workers the first shots in the Greenville region. But the report also recognizes that there are many people who don’t feel comfortable getting the vaccine and introduces a group in the east...

Saira Sheikh, MD, led the “BASE” study, now published in The Lancet Rheumatology, which found mortality, AESIs among SLE (Systemic Lupus Erythematosus) patients taking Benlysta similar to placebo. Learn more from the UNC Health and UNC School of Medicine Newsroom.

Agri-Pulse reports the Food and Drug Administration has for the first time approved an intentional genomic alteration, or IGA, in animals that can be used for both food and human therapeutics. The IGA is in what are called GalSafe pigs, bred to eliminate alpha-gal sugar on the surface of the...

A labor advocate group is asking a North Carolina court to have the state’s Department of Labor reconsider additional actions to protect frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. ABC-13 News reports the request comes after Labor Secretary Cherie Berry said the pandemic is not a workplace hazard. “We know that...

The first two coronavirus vaccines seeking emergency authorization from federal regulators require two doses, and medical professionals worry that some people may be tempted to get only one dose. Experts say that could allow the virus to mutate and once again expose a danger to people. WRAL interviewed Cindy Gay, MD,...

It’s been shown that when two people wearing masks interact, the chance of COVID-19 transmission is drastically reduced. This is why public health officials have pleaded for all people to wear masks: they not only protect the wearer from expelling particles that might carry SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus...

Ada Adimora, MD, professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases, was a guest on NPR’s “All Things Considered,” and asked about Rochelle Walensky, an infectious disease specialist chosen by president-elect Joe Biden to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Oh, my God. You know, honestly, there...

The view of the devastation of COVID-19 from the inside is far different than from the outside, CBS17 (NewsNation) reports. In a political climate consumed by masks and relief money, a look behind the intensive care curtain finds unprecedented work and camaraderie, impossible sadness and even a little bit of...