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“Even though PFAS pollution is now recognized to be a major water issue here in North Carolina, less is known about the types, sources and fates of PFAS in N.C. air,” said Jason Surratt, PhD, principal investigator and professor of environmental sciences and engineering. “We do know that air emissions of PFAS from certain sources in N.C. can contaminate private wells from precipitation such as rain. The first two years of this new study will be focused on developing and optimizing our new, real-time analytical methods to detect PFAS in air within N.C. In the last year of this study, we will sample outdoor air near Chemours in Fayetteville, N.C., in order to understand what types of PFAS might be emitted into N.C. air and chemically transformed during meteorological transport to downwind communities.”

The study, “Development of High-Resolution Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry Methods for Real-Time Measurement of Emerging Airborne Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS),” will be led by a team of researchers that includes Surratt, Professor and Chair Barbara Turpin, PhD, and Associate Professor Zhenfa Zhang, PhD, from the Gillings School; and Yue Zhang, PhD, and Sarah Brooks, PhD, from Texas A&M University.

This award is part of more than $4.7M in research grants to seven institutions for research to advance measurement and monitoring methods for air toxics and contaminants of emerging concern in the atmosphere.

Hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), often referred to as air toxics, are a subset of air pollutants known to cause cancer or other serious health effects. There is extensive evidence that low-income communities and communities of color are disproportionately exposed to air toxics.

“While we have made great strides in reducing air pollution, there is still more work to be done to protect public health,” said Maureen Gwinn, principal deputy assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Research and Development. “This research will improve our ability to measure air contaminants and find better strategies for reducing them in the environment.”

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Our 3 pillars for a healthier future

We strive toward a future where health is a universal right and the planet we call home is safeguarded for generations to come. In our pursuit of a healthier world, we’ve established three essential pillars to illustrate how we meet our mission.

1. Preparedness: We aim to prevent crises; craft strong, empathetic health messages; support an immediate response to emergencies; and work with communities through their full recovery.
2. Clean air and water: We study the systems, structures and pollutants that pose a threat to health, invent scalable solutions, and collaborate with leaders to create sustainable change.
3. Healthy families and communities: We research chronic illness prevention, address health inequalities and curb harmful behaviors with population-level strategies.

The conference, co-hosted by the Netherlands and Tajikistan, brought the global water community together on March 22-24 in New York City with the aim of understanding, managing and taking action toward shared water goals. Attendees tackled five themes: Water for Health; Water for Sustainable Development; Water for Climate, Resilience and Environment; Water for Cooperation; and Water Action Decade.

In the face of inevitable pressures from urbanization and global climate change, among other factors, organizers envisioned the UN 2023 Water Conference as a catalyst for progress toward the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by member states in 2015 as a “shared blueprint” for international cooperation that prioritizes the health of people and the environment. Safe water and sanitation are vital preconditions for efforts to promote health, adequate nutrition, gender equity, education, industry and the environment.

Three doctoral students in the UNC Gillings Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering attended the conference and reflect on their experiences and takeaways from this landmark event.

Hanna Brosky: Water is everyone’s business.

“As a doctoral student with a deep interest in water engineering, I was eager to attend this conference to gain a better understanding of the global state of water, meet experts in the field whom I respect, and listen to agenda items for the future generations of water researchers and engineers to uphold. The UN in New York City opened its doors to the global water champions, and its seats filled with indigenous representatives, UN delegates, country diplomats and leaders, and spokespeople for both nongovernmental and government organizations. I listened to many delegates of low-income countries discuss problems with affordability of water services and securing appropriate solutions that are not only for developed societies. I heard a focus on putting action to local challenges and the importance of concentrated, systematic solutions that would be inclusive to all, especially women, children and marginalized people. The closing plenary ended with a statement reinforcing how critical it is to include water in all government priorities and the assertion that ‘water is and should remain everyone’s business.’ I left the UN conference having witnessed the world fighting these wicked problems in water, and I am excited to get to work.”

Silvia Landa: Commitments to the Water Action Agenda

The UN Water Conference brought together various stakeholders to generate voluntary commitments and catalyze actions on water-related issues. Participants discussed various issues, shared key lessons, proposed strategies and made commitments to the Water Action Agenda. My research is related to government actions, and the conference was of great interest to me because it gave me the opportunity to witness country representatives making commitments at a UN meeting. Some countries made specific and tangible targets whereas others made broader commitments. It was also fascinating to see countries use this opportunity to raise awareness about their specific issues and seek support from other nations. It would be intriguing to evaluate countries’ commitments further to track which ones follow through with their promises.

Lucy Tantum: Prioritizing water as a public health problem

The integration of water development with the strengthening of health systems emerged as a conference priority. As a student in an environmental engineering program that is housed within a public health school, I am already familiar with the ways that the environment intersects with health. Still, it was exciting to see country governments recognize safe water as an essential component of health service delivery. At the UNC Water Institute, I am involved in research to evaluate and improve access to water, sanitation and hygiene services in health care facilities. The UN Water conference led me to consider how my research can support governments not just in developing water infrastructure, but also in improving access to safe and high-quality health care more broadly.

Next steps for the water agenda

The Water Action Agenda, with over 830 commitments, is a global pledge for a water-secure world, and we believe our research can aid governments in their water and health initiatives. Upcoming UN events will build on the conference’s outcomes.

Discussions from the UN Water Conference carried on at the UNC Water Institute’s 14th annual Water and Health Conference in October, where more than 2,200 stakeholders, not just governments, exchanged insights and strategies for their water and health commitments.

NOTE: The UNC Water Institute recently completed its 14th annual conference October 23-27: waterinstitute.unc.edu/wh2023

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Our 3 pillars for a healthier future

We strive toward a future where health is a universal right and the planet we call home is safeguarded for generations to come. In our pursuit of a healthier world, we’ve established three essential pillars to illustrate how we meet our mission.

1. Preparedness: We aim to prevent crises; craft strong, empathetic health messages; support an immediate response to emergencies; and work with communities through their full recovery.
2. Clean air and water: We study the systems, structures and pollutants that pose a threat to health, invent scalable solutions, and collaborate with leaders to create sustainable change.
3. Healthy families and communities: We research chronic illness prevention, address health inequalities and curb harmful behaviors with population-level strategies.

The Youth Summit connected these high school advocates with leading researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill and experts at the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services (NC DHHS) Tobacco Prevention & Control Branch to learn about current efforts in vaping prevention, develop advocacy skills to use in their communities and build coalitions with other youth leaders in N.C. The youth leaders were joined by adult participants who work in vaping prevention or have a vested interest in youth engagement. Participants across the state traveled to Chapel Hill, from the mountains of Clay County to the beaches of New Hanover County, to harness the potential of youth advocacy and work towards a vape-free future for all N.C. teens.

The Youth Summit kicked off with a video message from N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein, who helped secure the $40 million JUUL settlement funding, underscoring the importance of evidence-based community action in efforts to prevent the harms of vaping among the state’s future generations.

“JUUL helped cause the youth vaping epidemic in N.C., and it is fitting that the JUUL Settlement funds are invested in supporting young people’s engagement in community-based action to reverse the harms that e-cigarettes have caused in our state,” said Kurt Ribisl, PhD, Jo Anne Earp Distinguished Professor and Chair of Health Behavior at the Gillings School.

An estimated one in seven U.S. high school students reported current use of vape products, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This means that nearly all students, parents, educators and those with teens in their lives have encountered e-cigarettes.

Peer advocacy is a powerful tool in the fight to prevent and address the health harms of e-cigarettes among young people.

“Youth are highly aware of issues in their communities that public health experts are actively working on,” said Inara Valliani, MPH, event co-organizer and program specialist at UNC’s Vaping Prevention Resource (VPR). “Opportunities like the N.C. Youth Vaping Prevention Summit elevate young people’s lived experiences and encourage them to inform effective change by building connections with local experts and decision-makers.”

“Youth walked away from the Summit feeling energized and empowered to bring all of the information learned to their communities,” said Caroline Ritchie, MPH, project manager for the Communicating for Health Impact Lab at the UNC Hussman School Journalism and Media. “Having a cross-generational Summit allowed not only the youth to learn from researchers and practitioners but allowed us to hear directly from youth about the issues that are important to them.”

Following the Youth Summit, participants were connected to their local N.C. Regional Tobacco Control Managers to support continued action and carry forward the momentum they built during the Summit. Participants will also have the opportunity later this year to apply for funding to support the action plans they devised at the Youth Summit.

VPR is a leading, non-commercial resource that provides communities with the latest vaping prevention resources and policy solutions. UNC researchers at the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Gillings School and Hussman School founded VPR following years of collaboration on research to determine which communication, advocacy, community health and policy approaches are most successful in the fight against vaping and tobacco use. VPR guidance is used by local and national public health agencies, and their strategies shaped many of the workshops offered to participants in the Youth Summit.

We created VPR to vastly increase the research and dissemination of vaping prevention messages and policy solutions,” said Seth M. Noar, PhD, James Howard and Hallie McLean Parker Distinguished Professor at the Hussman School. “Hosting this youth summit helps us take those efforts to the next level by directly engaging with both youth and adult leaders in this space.”

Many additional members of the VPR team were involved in planning the Youth Summit, including Hannah Prentice-Dunn, MPH, program director at Lineberger. They were joined by local public health experts from NC DHHS, the Poe Center for Health Education, Counter Tools, the Center for Black Health & Equity, the Rural Community Action Program and the Orange Partnership for Alcohol & Drug-Free Youth.

Among the experts was Ray Riordan, MS, Director of Local Policy and Program Development for the NC DHHS Tobacco Prevention & Control Branch.

“We know that 90% of adults who smoke begin this deadly addiction at the age of 18 or younger,” Riordan said. “As a result, youth are important champions of change who can encourage their peers to be vape-free, urge lawmakers to take action and stand up to the vape industry’s predatory marketing.”

To learn more about the current landscape of vaping prevention, please visit VPR at vapingprevention.org. If you or a teen you know wants to quit vaping, text VAPEFREENC to 873373 to access free 24/7 coaching and support over text.

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Our 3 pillars for a healthier future

We strive toward a future where health is a universal right and the planet we call home is safeguarded for generations to come. In our pursuit of a healthier world, we’ve established three essential pillars to illustrate how we meet our mission.

1. Preparedness: We aim to prevent crises; craft strong, empathetic health messages; support an immediate response to emergencies; and work with communities through their full recovery.
2. Clean air and water: We study the systems, structures and pollutants that pose a threat to health, invent scalable solutions, and collaborate with leaders to create sustainable change.
3. Healthy families and communities: We research chronic illness prevention, address health inequalities and curb harmful behaviors with population-level strategies.

Advancements in science and technology have led to innovative health solutions that could help achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including the goal of health and well-being for all. But putting these interventions into practice equitably, sustainably and at scale is a huge challenge – one the new Commission strives to overcome through establishing the vision for evidence-based implementation in global health and developing a blueprint for achieving it.

In so doing, the Commission will strive to improve both the generation and the full and effective use of evidence for implementation. One approach the Commission will use is including the perspective of the implementers for whom the evidence is intended, including policymakers, program managers, front-line providers and funders. The Commission will work to ensure that these implementers are involved in the generation and use of the evidence.

The new Commission will be chaired by Herbert Peterson, MD, the William R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor of maternal and child health and obstetrics and gynecology at UNC-Chapel Hill and director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center for Research Evidence for Sexual and Reproductive Health. His co-chairs are Joy E. Lawn, MBBS, PhD, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Queen Dube, MBBS, PhD, from the Ministry of Health of Malawi. Joumana Haidar, DBA, deputy director of the WHO Collaborating Center at the Gillings School, will serve as the lead for the Secretariat. The Commission will be supported by an advisory group of experts in global health implementation that will provide input from the perspectives of key stakeholders on the needs for evidence-based implementation, including how best to build and sustain a global movement to meet those needs.

“We have made great progress in using our best science to create life-saving and life-enhancing interventions, and it is now time to do likewise for putting them into practice,” Peterson said.

The Commission’s priorities will include determining the current state of implementation evidence, the evidence that will be most helpful for improved implementation going forward, and how best to generate this evidence and support its full and effective use in practice.

“With this Commission, we have a wonderful opportunity to work toward achieving justice in implementation in global health. We will create a roadmap for building and applying the science needed to ensure that our most promising health innovations reach all those they are intended to serve,” Peterson said.

The Commissioners of the Lancet Commission on Evidence-Based Implementation In Global Health are Hanan F. Abdul Rahim, Niveen M. E. Abu-Rmeileh, Richard M. K. Adanu, Ross C. Brownson, David A. Chambers, Peter Cherutich, Elwyn Chomba, Komatra Chuengsatiansup, Queen Dube, Cyril M Engmann, Dean L. Fixsen, Patricia J. Garcia, Lisa R. Hirschhorn, Joy E. Lawn, Susan Michie, Joanna C. Moullin, Per Nilsen, Sania Nishtar, Obinna Onwujekwe, David Peiris, David H. Peters, Herbert B. Peterson, Stefan S. Peterson, Shankar Prinja, Helen Rees, Barbara K. Rimer, Jo Rycroft-Malone, Peter Waiswa, Judith N. Wasserheit, and Dong Roman Xu.

Learn more about The Lancet’s Commission on Evidence-Based Implementation in Global Health in The Lancet Letter at thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(23)00870-X/fulltext

‍

Our 3 pillars for a healthier future

We strive toward a future where health is a universal right and the planet we call home is safeguarded for generations to come. In our pursuit of a healthier world, we’ve established three essential pillars to illustrate how we meet our mission.

1. Preparedness: We aim to prevent crises; craft strong, empathetic health messages; support an immediate response to emergencies; and work with communities through their full recovery.
2. Clean air and water: We study the systems, structures and pollutants that pose a threat to health, invent scalable solutions, and collaborate with leaders to create sustainable change.
3. Healthy families and communities: We research chronic illness prevention, address health inequalities and curb harmful behaviors with population-level strategies.

A team led by leaders in student affairs and instructional technology launched Gillings Navigate, a new online system to strengthen the connection between students, academic coordinators and resources in the School and the University. Students can use Gillings Navigate to make an appointment; instantly schedule a meeting with an academic coordinator or other academic affairs professionals; and review their degree plan and advising reports, notes and other information provided by their academic coordinator. Students can set alerts and reminders and connect to wellbeing, career, funding and academic resources and support.

The School has implemented an external seasonal reviewer program for the Master of Public Health (MPH) degree to bring in community partners and public health professionals/alumni perspectives in the admissions process. We have also improved admitted student communication with the launch of the interactive MPH admitted student portal and a customized campaign highlighting various aspects of the Gillings community.

Drs. Laura Linnan and Rebecca Fry led a revision of the Gillings Appointment, Promotion and Tenure (APT) Manual, approved by the University in June. They also organized peer faculty mentoring panels to help enhance faculty mentoring of students in the School.

In preparation for a successful Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) reaccreditation in 2024, Gillings is participating in the self-study process which includes a peer review visit taking place Oct. 9 – 11, 2024. You can view the accreditation timeline and leadership on our website.

Some of our funded projects include:

• Developing a robust and efficient strategy for censored covariates to improve clinical trial design for neurodegenerative diseases – Tanya Garcia, PhD/Biostatistics
• ‍Rural Water Quality and Risk Perception Near Solid Waste Landfills – Courtney Woods, PhD/Environmental Sciences and Engineering
• ‍Engineering Research Center for Precision Microbiome Engineering (PreMiEr) – Jill Stewart, PhD/Environmental Sciences and Engineering
• ‍Investigating SARS-CoV-2 transmission dynamics in jails to address the COVID-19 public health emergency – Sara Levintow, PhD/Epidemiology‍
• Tobacco Center for Regulatory Science – Kurt Ribisl, PhD/Health Behavior
• ‍Using simulation to project long-term colorectal cancer (CRC) outcomes attributable to clinic-based screening interventions – Kristen Hassmiller Lich, PhD/Health Policy and Management
• Systems-Aligned Precision Health for Longevity and Healthy Aging with Type 1 Diabetes – Anna Kahkoska, PhD/Nutrition

Examples of health equity projects:

• Leveraging Hispanic/Latino diversity to map and characterize cardiovascular disease loci – Misa Graff, PhD/Epidemiology
• ‍Promoting Environmental Justice and Health Equity in Perinatal Health Research – Rebecca Fry, PhD/Environmental Sciences and Engineering
• ‍Piloting a multi-level intervention to promote viral suppression among transgender women living with HIV – Clare Barrington, PhD/Health Behavior
• ‍Meds & Eds: Evaluating (in)equity in the Economic and Community Impacts of Academic Medical Centers on Small and Mid-sized Metros – Arrianna Marie Planey, PhD/Health Policy and Management
• ‍Healthy School Meals for All in North Carolina – Jessica Soldavini, PhD/Nutrition

Highlights from this year’s work in global health:

• 20 students blogged about their experiences in 11 different countries
• Held first ever Gillings International Student Orientation during orientation week
• Started new Gillings International Graduate Student Association to represent international students at the school
• Hosting the School’s first ever Fulbright-in-Residence this year! (Read more on p. 32)
• Humanitarian Health Initiative (HHI) continues its country-level service projects in Gaza, Syria, Sierra Leone and Nicaragua, as well as with several major global organizations, such as WHO and MSF.
• Supported 12 HHI student interns

Impact of our global faculty’s work:

• Abigail Hatcher, PhD, assistant professor in health behavior, helped add violence prevention to maternal health policy and co-wrote a presidential declaration that altered legislation in South Africa.
• Jason West, PhD, professor in environmental sciences and engineering, co-chairs the World Health Organization’s working group for Global Air Pollution and Health Technical Advisory Group and sits on the advisory board for the Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report.
• Bert Peterson, MD, professor in maternal and child health, is chairing a new Lancet Commission on Evidence Based Implementation in Global Health. The commission aims to improve how life-saving and life-enhancing interventions are put into practice around the world, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). (Read more)

This year, we plan to identify and plan for changes to our global health curriculum based on our own assessment and that of our external advisors.

Gillings Innovation Labs (GILs), the flagship program of the $50M Gillings Gift, have invested almost $8M and returned over $154M in follow-on funding and over 230 peer reviewed journal articles. GILs that closed in FY2023 established the preeminent causal inference research lab, promoted the science of causal inference for the improvement of public health and deepened the understanding around COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in rural South Africa in order to increase uptake and access. Proposals are now being solicited for the next GIL round: “Harnessing Generative Artificial Intelligence in Public Health.”

Offered every other year, the Gillings School Pitch Competition is a competition and learning experience rolled into one that allows student venture teams to pitch to a live panel of judges a service or product which addresses a public health issue with a viable solution. Teams are paired with entrepreneurial coaches to help them refine their pitches in the weeks leading up to the competition. The 2022 competition featured 12 interdisciplinary teams each led by a Gillings student. The first-place award went to “HIV/AIDS Network for Disaster Survivors (HANDS)” which ensures continuity of care for people with HIV (PWH) who evacuate during hurricanes.

The 2020 Pitch Competition second place winner, LiRA, has also been refining their technology and securing funding.

Budding student entrepreneurs of color were paired with entrepreneurial mentors in the three-month long 2023 Entrepreneurs of Color Mentorship Program. All students were welcome! Mentors and mentees met at least once per month to discuss their entrepreneurial goals and broaden their networks. Interest in the program nearly quadrupled over 2022 with 44 student applicants from eight departments, including six degree programs. Ten mentees were matched with six Gillings-affiliated mentors. Dyads identified goals and met together monthly for three months.

The Gillings School has a robust pipeline of faculty innovators working to translate their work out into the real world for impact. Five teams completed the NSF Regional I-Corps Program, an experiential learning program using customer discovery and allowing teams to quickly assess their inventions’ market potential. Four teams completed the UNC Venture Catalyst Fellows program which pairs budding faculty innovators with professional students developing entrepreneurial skills to advance translational goals.

New venture updates:

• SNP Therapeutics, with founder Steve Ziesel, MD, PhD, is poised to be a leader in the precision nutrition market segment thanks to the unique way they develop their genetic tests and algorithms to identify the genes/variants contributing to various health issues and disease, including fatty liver disease, male infertility, prenatal nutrition and sarcopenia. Expecting revenues in Q4 2023.
• The Couplet Care team — with Kristin Tully, PhD, and co-inventors Catherine Sullivan, MPH, Alison Stuebe, PhD, and Carl Seashore, MD -— is scaling their patented medical infant bassinet to improve patient safety and clinical efficiency while promoting positive mother and infant health outcomes. They have raised $1.05 million in investor capital and were recently awarded a $2 million SBIR Phase II grant. They are currently in the process of raising an additional $3 million in Series A funds for product completion, testing and market entry.
• The Sorbenta team, led by Orlando Coronell, PhD, and Frank Leibfarth, PhD, continues to further de-risk and scale up their patented technology that removes PFAS (forever chemicals) from drinking water.
• The CollectiveGood team, led by Sean Sylvia, PhD, and Joe Tucker, MD, PhD, developed a working prototype of their platform which harnesses collective clinical intelligence to power medical AI testing and validation and is now seeking pre-seed investment.

What can the Dean’s Acceleration Fund do?

By providing flexible funding that can be directed toward new opportunities to advance public health within and beyond the Gillings School, the Dean’s Acceleration Fund is supporting our contributions to the practice of public health, our global health education program and inclusive excellence within our community.

Practice. “Practice” means putting public health learning and knowledge to work through policies and programs that support vibrant communities and healthy people. With funding from the Dean’s Acceleration Fund, the Gillings School is establishing practice hubs across North Carolina where students and faculty work with communities to address local needs. These long-term partnerships can support significant improvements to health locally and develop strategies that can be applied in other communities around the world. Along with the Gillings School’s new Department of Public Health Leadership and Practice, these hubs are a key element of the School’s six-year plan to enhance the practice of public health.

Global Health. Our signature philosophy is that there is no difference between global health and public health. The Dean’s Acceleration Fund has enabled a review of our global health curriculum to further invest in this philosophy and ensure students in this concentration have the skills to advance the health and well-being of populations in diverse global settings — including the ability to develop, implement and evaluate public health programs and projects that are aligned with local culture, contexts and resources.

Inclusive Excellence. The inclusive excellence framework reflects a striving for excellence in higher education; seeks to infuse diversity into recruiting, admissions, hiring, curriculum, administrative structures and practice; and embraces newer forms of measuring excellence, emerging research on learning and brain functioning and more nuanced accountability structures. With support from the Dean’s Acceleration Fund, the inclusive excellence team is re-envisioning how to achieve inclusive excellence at the Gillings School.

Our School was founded to bring public health to people – in N.C. and beyond – and our faculty has experience doing just that. By providing the flexibility to channel that experience into high-priority areas, the Dean’s Acceleration fund can support continued leadership at the forefront of public health.

Contact email.sph@unc.edu for more information or visit go.unc.edu/Acceleration to contribute to the Dean’s Acceleration Fund.