Gillings Innovation Laboratories
The competitively selected labs will address a variety of
public health challenges through our faculty members’
innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Innovation Labs have been awarded to:
- Study new vaccines for children, using models that could change vaccine production
- Develop portable tools to monitor air pollution
- Study models and methods to address the rising number of mental health problems in North Carolina
- Improve the effectiveness of clinical trials
- Develop means of detecting adverse effects of chronic exposure to arsenic
- Study the public health impact of moving toward a local sustainable food system.
“These projects don’t end with discovery. We will use our new knowledge to improve the public’s health while training our students to be the next generation of public health leaders and problem solvers. While we aim to move mountains, our feet are planted firmly on the ground where so much work must be done — in North Carolina and around the world.”
Morrissey will help North Carolina find better ways to approach mental health problems, including assessing policies for using state hospitals and improving accessibility to alternative services.
Ammerman will study the public health impact of a local, sustainable food system in contrast to our current, high-carbon-footprint food delivery procedures.
Vizuete will study harmful pollutants in city air by developing portable smog instruments to measure air toxicity heightened by sunlight and the effects of multiple toxins.
Ibrahim’s Center for Innovative Clinical Trials is developing new statistical methodologies to improve clinical trials of medicines and other treatments.
Baric will study ways to produce a single-dose synthetic vaccine that is affordable and easy to store which will protect children in developing countries from multiple respiratory viruses.
Meshnick’s center will combine new molecular methods with population-based surveillance to provide accurate maps and epidemiological data on tropical diseases.
Styblo will look for biomarkers in human tissue that provide clues about why some people are most susceptible than others to the adverse effects of chronic arsenic exposure.
Sobsey has been awarded two Innovation Labs:
- The Carolina Global Water Partnership, a collaboration with Kenan-Flagler Business School and Kenan Institute-Asia, will increase availability and usage of home water filters in the developing world.
- Sobsey also will develop and evaluate a simple, inexpensive, portable field test to detect fecal contamination in water.
Richardson will work to develop innovative computer systems that can link and analyze data collected in electronic hospital and ambulance records.
Gillings Visiting Professorships
Leatherman, who evaluates and analyzes health care systems around the globe, will have support to work on microfinance and public health partnerships and capabilities for the School.
Ricketts will be working with researchers in France to develop a new school of public health. In the process, he will explore research and teaching opportunities for UNC faculty and students.
Merchant, whose appointment is in environmental sciences and engineering, will work across the School as an adviser on leadership, rural health and injury prevention strategies. He also will work with the North Carolina Institute for Public Health to enhance integration of public health practice, instruction, and research.
Action-Oriented Community Diagnosis
Students pursuing a master’s degree through the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education enroll in “Action-Oriented Community Diagnosis” (AOCD), a course that requires students to involve themselves with communities to determine – or “diagnose” – the public health issues of that particular group of people.
During the 35 years the course has been taught, more than 1,000 students have worked in 260 North Carolina communities. Dr. Eugenia (Geni) Eng, professor of health behavior and health education, teaches the course. In spring 2006, she and her students won the University’s Engaged Scholarship Award for extraordinary public service at UNC, particularly service efforts that respond to community concerns.
Recent projects include developing services for Latinos in rural Johnston County and finding ways to end homelessness in Orange
Theses and dissertations from other departments of the Gillings School of Global Public Health, along with the community diagnosis papers from 1998 to 2009, are available online, as part of UNC’s growing digital collections.