EPID News ()

Students work to improve health status of Nicaraguans

kastlema@email.unc.edu (Linda Kastleman) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:36:09 PDT

Four graduate students from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health are spending the summer in Nicaragua as part of a collaborative project between the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill schools of medicine, nursing and public health and the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua � Leon (UNAN).

The students are Sheri Denslow and Jess Edwards, from the Department of Epidemiology, and Mary Dickinson and Emily Treleaven, from the Department of Maternal and Child Health.

The partnership between UNC-Chapel Hill and UNAN aims to improve the health status of residents of the remote North Atlantic Autonomous Region

Peters receives Presidential award for early-career scientists

kastlema@email.unc.edu (Linda Kastleman) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 10:03:29 PDT

Ulrike (Riki) Peters, PhD, associate member of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Wash., was named by President Obama in July as one of 100 recipients of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on young professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers.

Peters, a 1999 alumna of the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health�s Master of Public Health program in epidemiology, will join other recipients who will be recognized at a White House ceremony in fall 2009.

Winning scientists and engineers receive up to a five-year research grant to further their study in support of critical government missions.

The awards, established by President Clinton in February 1996, are coordinated by the Office of Science and Technology Policy

Rosen publishes research on HIV infection in N.C. prisons

kastlema@email.unc.edu (Linda Kastleman) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:23:15 PDT

A UNC study led by David Rosen, PhD, has found that 3.4 percent of inmates evaluated in North Carolina prisons test positive for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and as many as 61 percent of HIV cases in prison settings may remain undetected. Those at highest risk for HIV infection include men who have sex with men and non-whites.

Rosen and colleagues at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill�s Gillings School of Global Public Health and School of Medicine published their findings in an article in American Journal of Public Health (June 2009). The paper also has been selected by the Guttmacher Institute�s journal, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, to appear

UNC Study: Digging in beach sand increases risk of gastrointestinal illness

kastlema@email.unc.edu (Linda Kastleman) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:01:44 PDT

Children and adults who build castles and dig in the sand at the beach are at greater risk of developing gastrointestinal diseases and diarrhea than people who only walk on the shore or swim in the surf, according to researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

People who playfully bury their bodies in the sand are at even greater risk, according to the study published online recently in the American Journal of Epidemiology. It also shows children, who are more likely than adults to play with and possibly get sand in their mouths, stand the greatest chance of becoming ill after a day at the beach.

Gene found to influence waist circumference, obesity

kastlema@email.unc.edu (Linda Kastleman) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 07:51:14 PDT

People who are overweight or obese sometimes joke about their bodies, saying that the waist size of their �jeans� is influenced by the �genes� they inherited from their parents. New research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, however, suggests that this play on words has some basis in reality.

A consortium of scientists from around the world has found that genetic material passed from parents to child do indeed influence not only an individual�s waist circumference, but also their body mass index (BMI) and level of overall body fat, too.

�Because central abdominal fat has been shown to be a strong risk factor for diabetes and cardiovascular disease � a major health concern around the world � we looked for genes that might predispose people to a larger waist circumference,� said

Rositch selected as Fogarty Scholar

kastlema@email.unc.edu (Linda Kastleman) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:40:19 PDT

Anne E. Rositch, doctoral student in epidemiology, was selected this spring as a Fogarty International Clinical Research Scholar. Beginning in July, she will live in Nairobi, Kenya, for about a year, contributing to a study that focuses on human papillomavirus, cervical precancerous lesions and HIV transmission.

Under the auspices of The University of Washington at Seattle and The University of Nairobi, Rositch will conduct research ancillary to a study led by Jennifer Smith, PhD, UNC research assistant professor of epidemiology and Rositch's mentor.

Rositch will be involved in all aspects of the study, including recruitment, interviews and laboratory coordination, and hopes to conduct HIV testing and counseling in the University of Nairobi�s infectious disease and HIV clinic.

�As a Fogarty Scholar, I look forward to broadening my research skills so I can successfully contribute to international

Smoking, drinking, lack of exercise interact with genes to increase risk of hypertension

kastlema@email.unc.edu (Linda Kastleman) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:26:33 PDT

Cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption and lack of exercise can interact with genes to influence a person�s risk of developing high blood pressure, according to a report published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics.

�The three lifestyle characteristics are well-known risk factors for high blood pressure,� said Nora Franceschini, MD, lead author of the study and assistant professor of epidemiology at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. �What�s new is that we are showing that these behaviors interact with your genes to influence blood pressure levels.

�The most interesting study finding is that a susceptibility to hypertension in your genetic background doesn�t mean that your lifestyle exposures do not matter; they do. Drinking, smoking and exercise habits can be modified, which would, in turn, influence the risk of developing hypertension, even in people who

Use of herbal and other dietary supplements may have impact on cancer risk

kastlema@email.unc.edu (Linda Kastleman) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:29:35 PDT

Certain herbal and specialty supplements may increase one�s risk of developing lung and colorectal cancers, while others may decrease the risk, according to a new study led by Jessie Satia, PhD, associate professor of epidemiology and nutrition in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill�s Gillings School of Global Public Health and School of Medicine and member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The research, which examines the use of 11 supplements including glucosamine, chondroitin, fish oil, garlic pills and others, is published in the May issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, the leading cancer prevention journal.

As part of the VITAL (Vitamins and Lifestyle) cohort, 77,000 men and women in western Washington state, aged 50 to 76 years, completed in-depth questionnaires about the frequency and duration of their supplement

Researchers find genes associated with onset of puberty

kastlema@email.unc.edu (Linda Kastleman) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 12:51:37 PDT

The genes that may cause a normal variation in the timing of female sexual maturation have been identified, according to a researcher at the University of North Carolina�s Gillings School of Global Public Health and 38 other researchers from around the world. Their findings, published in the June issue of Nature Genetics, also indicate a genetic association between age at first menstruation, height and possibly body mass index (BMI).

Nora Franceschini, MD, MPH, research assistant professor of epidemiology at UNC, is one of the leading authors of the study, which analyzed data from more than 17,000 Caucasian women participating in eight different studies. The researchers found the first evidence of a correlation between puberty and genes in chromosomes 6 and 9. Age of first menstruation, which occurs at a mean age of 13 years

School provides expertise, training, awards toward H1N1 flu preparedness and response efforts

perryc@email.unc.edu (Chris Perry) — Thu, 28 May 2009 13:20:10 PDT

Preparedness is a critical area of interdisciplinary expertise at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The global public health crisis sparked by the H1N1 flu outbreak tested the depth and breadth of the School�s many programs, training and response capabilities.

�The results of our response have confirmed for us the durability and effectiveness of our planning,� said Bill Gentry, director of the School�s Community Preparedness and Disaster Management program and health policy and management lecturer. �As this situation continues to unfold, we have confidence that we are using the same tools that we are communicating daily to our students through our curriculums to help mitigate the crisis.�