Category: Research News
Gut Microbiome Can Increase Risk, Severity of HIV, EBV Disease
Angela Wahl, PhD, Balfour Sartor MD, and J. Victor Garcia, PhD, and colleagues created a germ-free mouse model to evaluate the role of the microbiome in the infection, replication, and pathogenesis of HIV and Epstein-Barr virus.
Study Shows Weight Loss Drug Reduces Cardiovascular Risk by 20% in Overweight, Obese Adults
A new study shows semaglutide 2.4 mg (Wegovy), a weekly injected prescription medication for overweight adults, may prevent major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) such as cardiovascular death, non-fatal heart attack or non-fatal stroke. Novo Nordisk released the results of the significant clinical trial called SELECT. The trail studied the effects of Wegovy on people with ca … Read more
Dr. Dellon Ushers in First FDA-Approved Medication for Eosinophilic Esophagitis
Evan Dellon, MD, MPH, a professor of medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology and director of the Center for Esophageal Diseases and Swallowing, co-leads effort to approve an allergy drug, dupilumab, for the treatment in adults and adolescents with eosinophilic esophagitis. Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is an allergic condition of the esophagus that is on th … Read more
Using Collaboration to Fight a Tricky Tick-Borne Disease
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 tick populations and the fact that th … Read more
TARC Holds Fifth Annual “Research Day”
Approximately 100 leading researchers and clinicians, research staff and trainees gathered recently to discuss innovative ways to advance research in arthritis, allergy, and autoimmune diseases. Additionally, attendees who couldn’t participate in person attended remotely. Of particular interest this year was keynote speaker and John B. Winfield, MD Visiting Scholar, Ali Ellebedy, … Read more
Dr. Seth A. Berkowitz earns Hettleman Prize for Artistic and Scholarly Achievement
Seth A. Berkowitz, MD, MPH, an associate professor in the Division of General Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology in the Department of Medicine, is one of four UNC faculty members awarded the 2022 Phillip and Ruth Hettleman Prize for Artistic and Scholarly Achievement. The Hettleman Prizes were established in 1986 by the late Phillip Hettleman, a member of the Carolina clas … Read more
Two Popular Diabetes Drugs Outperform Two Others in Head-to-Head Comparison
Dr. John Buse and colleagues complete first study comparing commonly used medications for type 2 diabetes Diabetes affects more than one out of every ten Americans and about one out of every three people in their lifetime. Type 2 diabetes occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin — a hormone that regulates the movement of sugars, carbohydrates, or starches from the … Read more
Wahl Receives $3.2 Million to Study the Neurological Consequences of HIV Infection
Angela Wahl, PhD, an assistant professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Medicine, and a member of the Institute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases (IGHID), has received a $3.2 million R01 award to study the role of microglia in HIV latency and persistence in the brain. Over 38 million people are living with HIV worldwide. While the once life- … Read more
Study shows the positive effect of preventative therapy for malaria is mediated by gestational weight gain, influenced by intestinal pathogens
Malaria in pregnancy (MiP) is a major public health problem with substantial risks for mothers and their babies. The combination treatment sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP), given for intermittent preventive therapy of malaria in pregnancy (IPTp), is one of the few existing interventions that improve outcomes for both mother and baby, despite widespread SP-resistant malaria. Compell … Read more
UNC School of Medicine Physician Scientists Training Program Gives Awards to Cultivate the Careers of Upcoming Physician-Scientists
Medicine, like any other scientific field, cannot progress forward without the hard work of new, cutting-edge researchers. In the Department of Medicine, three physician scientist trainees are working to improve the lives of patients who have inflammatory bowel disease, cancer, and food allergies. In light of their promising, hard work, all three have received support from the UN … Read more
Study Reveals Vaccination Response to Hepatitis A Outbreaks in the Veterans Healthcare Administration
Outbreaks of hepatitis A, a highly contagious viral infection involving the liver, have been on the rise since 2016. What initially began as outbreaks in a handful of states has since led to ongoing or recent hepatitis A outbreaks in 33 states across the country. Patients under the care of the Veterans Health Administration have been one of the hardest-hit groups. This is because … Read more
Weber Publishes Fiftieth Paper about Coronaviruses and COVID-19
COVID-19, a communicable disease caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), is a relatively new pandemic in the public’s eye, but it is only one of the many infectious diseases that epidemiologists like David J. Weber, MD, MPH, are continually facing. “I was at UNC for the onset of the HIV pandemic, 2001 anthrax biothreat, 2003 smallpox vaccine ca … Read more