by Shannon Keller, CNM As my excitement to meet new families and see their friendships begin with the start of a new CenteringPregnancy® group rose, a new threat to this connection— COVID-19—hit the world.  At UNC, we did not cancel our centering groups. Instead we transitioned to  a virtual social group for women and their … Continued

In 2018, the Addictions Nursing Certification Board (ANCB) initiated the annual Carolyn Jewell “Steel Magnolia” Scholarship to honor Carolyn’s work in providing care for patients with addictions and to encourage others to promote the mission of healing. Elisabeth Johnson, PhD, NP, UNC Horizons’ Director of Health Services, was awarded the CARN-AP Carolyn Jewell “Steel Magnolia” … Continued

UNC Horizons Program is included in a group of 19 organizations across the country who will receive a total of $10.1 million in grants from the Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts (FORE) to address opioid use disorder treatment. UNC Horizons will receive $428,899 for the 18-month project. Hendrée Jones, PhD, executive director of Horizons and … Continued

From the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health More women than ever are choosing to breastfeed with widespread recognition of the benefits. Breastfeeding is recommended as the sole source of nutrition for the first six months in a child’s life, followed by continued breastfeeding with the addition of nutritious complementary foods for at least … Continued

The science blog Crosstalk has named incoming UNC Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Chair Genevieve Neal-Perry, MD, PhD, to their list of 100 inspiring black scientists in America. Dr. Neal-Perry is one of three UNC-affiliated scientists on the list. She will begin her leadership at UNC OB-GYN April 15, 2020, coming from the University of … Continued

A message from UNC Midwives on CenteringPregnancy and COVID-19 Dear Centering Pregnancy Participants UNC Health is closely monitoring the spread of COVID-19. Due to the group nature of the Centering Pregnancy program, we would ask that participants who are at risk for COVID-19 not attend the group as planned and instead call the office. If … Continued

UNC Program for Precision Medicine in Health Care (PPMH), which aims to transform patient care through evidence-based precision medicine, and the North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences (NC TraCS) Institute at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) have awarded four pilot grants for project that have direct clinical or human translational impact … Continued

The UNC Horizons Program has a number of new positions open: Residential Advisor (temporary) Early Childhood Development Practitioner Social Work Practitioner The UNC Horizons Program (part of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at UNC-Chapel Hill) is a substance use disorder treatment program for pregnant and/or parenting women and their children, including those whose lives … Continued

Tracy Manuck, MD, received a $817,905 grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for her five-year project, “Patient-oriented research and mentoring in preterm birth toxicogenomics.” This new grant allows Manuck to leverage her ongoing prospective, longitudinal study of spontaneous preterm birth in a new way, studying how environmental exposures also impact preterm birth. … Continued

UNC OB-GYN faculty are part of a joint $50,000 NC TraCS grant with the UNC Department of Radiology to test a new, non-invasive approach for identifying endometriosis, an often-painful condition that impacts one-in-10 women. Investigators on the grant, “Evaluation of Endometriosis with 18F-fluoroestradiol PET / MRI,” from UNC OB-GYN are Erin Carey, MD, MSCR, assistant … Continued