“Similar to the skin and the gut, the inside of our lungs is covered in microbes that can help maintain lung health, also called the microbiome,” said UNC School of Medicine’s Meghan E. Rebuli, assistant professor of pediatrics at the Center for Environmental Medicine, Asthma and Lung Biology. “However, if the balance of bacteria present in the lungs is altered by exposures, such as what we were testing here with wood smoke, it has been associated with lung disease.”

The research, led by first author UNC School of Medicine graduate student Catalina Cobos-Uribe, was published in American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Researchers identified how much of the different bacteria present in the lungs change after breathing in smoke from burning wood. Mucus samples from the lungs — called sputum — were collected among participants in the study.

Importantly, it was noted that some bacteria that are known to be “good” bacteria were less common after exposure and some bacteria known to be “bad” were more common. This data suggests that wood smoke can alter the lung microbiome, reducing good bacteria and increasing bacteria that can potentially cause harm if present in too large of an amount.

In addition to shifts in the lung microbiome, researchers observed a drop in lung macrophages, an immune cell important for clearing harmful exposures, including particles and microbes. Overall, even short-term exposures to wood smoke, used here as a model for wildfire smoke, in humans can shift the balance of the lung microbiome and immune cells.

“While we thought it was possible for the microbiome to communicate and coordinate with lung cells when responding to wood smoke exposures, we were not sure what we would find,” said Rebuli, corresponding author. “Here where we identified an association between microbiome changes and macrophage changes is a relatively novel insight.”

This work offers a unifying link of better understanding the role of the respiratory microbiome in the lung response to inhaled pollutants. It also highlights how the lung microbiome could be used to screen patients for increased risk of adverse health effects due to wood smoke exposure or to potentially tailor preventative or treatment strategies.

“This could add additional biomarkers, changes in levels of specific bacteria, that could be used to detect early smoke exposure effects in the lung,” said Rebuli. “Long-term we hope that this research will lead to respiratory microbiome-targeted therapies, such as probiotics or microbiome-focused drugs to restore microbiome balance after wildfire smoke exposure.”

He was accepted and became an accomplished neurosurgeon.

Now 90, Kelly ’59 (MD) sometimes wondered about finishing his bachelor’s degree. “I was the only person in my medical school class who didn’t have the degree. Quite frankly, I wanted to be an alumnus of the University of North Carolina,” he said. He was even willing to attend class on campus.

Chancellor Lee H. Roberts heard about Kelly’s long-held wish and asked Lauren DiGrazia, associate provost and University registrar, to look into fulfilling that wish. Her staff determined Kelly’s academic record matched 1955 requirements for a Bachelor of Science in chemistry.

His wish has been granted.

On Dec. 14, Kelly will put on a Carolina Blue cap and gown, then join younger graduates at Winter Commencement. His diploma will read “Class of 1955.”

From age 12, Kelly wanted to become a doctor. He took a step toward that goal after graduating as valedictorian of Winston-Salem’s Reynolds High School by enrolling at Carolina in fall 1953 with enough college credits to be a sophomore. He was named to the National Honor Society and Phi Beta Kappa. By spring 1955, 20-year-old Kelly needed one class to graduate.

Kelly (seen here on the far left; fourth row down) with his 1959 School of Medicine class. (Submitted photo)

He knew that Carolina’s medical school had open spots for superior students with three years of accredited college work. “I thought if I could gain two years in my professional career, that would be smart. That’s why I sought early entrance to medical school,” Kelly said.

The admissions board, concerned by his age, denied him admission. But the school’s dean, Dr. Walter Berryhill, heard about Kelly and wrote Reynolds principal Claude Joyner for a reference.  A week later, a phone call informed Kelly that he had been admitted.

“I didn’t know about Dr. Berryhill writing that letter until about 15 or 20 years later when Mr. Joyner visited our house for dinner,” Kelly said. “He brought the correspondence and showed it to me.”

Kelly wanted to become a family doctor. But during a third-year rotation he realized that family medicine patients often had multiple problems. “It occurred to me that to be a really good family physician, I would have to know an awful lot about cardiology, rheumatology and many other things. That didn’t appeal to me. I wanted to go into a field I could know from top to bottom and fix people,” Kelly said.

After researching medical and surgical specialties, he decided to find a neurosurgery residency. That year he also married Sarah “Sally” Kelly, who died in 2014. During their 56-year marriage, they had four children — Kathy Burnette, David Kelly ’84, Mary Brooks and Julia Ann Goins ’89.

“I’m indebted to Carolina’s medical school. My professors taught me firsthand. I learned techniques and teaching that I incorporated in training 48 surgery residents. They’ve practiced from Hawaii to the East Coast,” Kelly said.

Kelly completed residency training at Wake Forest University’s Bowman Gray School of Medicine/North Carolina Baptist Hospital and Peter Bent Brigham and Children’s Hospital, Harvard, and a neurophysiology fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis. He joined the Bowman Gray faculty in 1965. He became neurosurgery chair at Wake Forest Medical Center in 1978.

A specialist in treating brain tumor and vascular disorders of the brain, Kelly was president of several national and state neurosurgical organizations. He has received the UNC School of Medicine Distinguished Medical Alumnus Award (1990), Cushing Medal for extraordinary contributions to neurosurgery (1999) and Order of the Long Leaf Pine (2015) for exemplary service to North Carolina.

Each researcher has authored multiple papers that rank in the top 1% by citation for their field and publication year in Clarivate’s Web of Science platform over the past 11 years. The list is then refined using quantitative metrics, as well as qualitative analysis and expert judgment.

This year, 6,868 individuals across 60 countries earned the distinction.

The University’s most-cited researchers include:

Biology and biochemistry

Xi-Ping Huang, UNC School of Medicine

Clinical medicine

Dr. John B. Buse, UNC School of Medicine

Dr. Lisa A. Carey, UNC School of Medicine and UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center

Dr. Sidney C. Smith Jr., UNC School of Medicine

Cross-field

Gianpietro Dotti, UNC School of Medicine and UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center

Rachel L. Graham, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Sarah R. Leist, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Nigel Mackman, UNC School of Medicine

Evan Mayo-Wilson, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Alexandra Schafer, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Jenny P.Y. Ting, UNC School of Medicine

Chao Wang, UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Wei You, UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Yuling Zhao, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy

Engineering, environment and ecology, materials science, and physics

Jinsong Huang, UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Immunology

David van Duin, UNC School of Medicine

Mathematics

David Wells, UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Microbiology

Ralph Baric, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Lisa E. Gralinski, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Timothy P. Sheahan, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Nutrition

Barry M. Popkin, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Pharmacology

Bryan L. Roth, UNC School of Medicine, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy

Pharmacology and toxicology

Alexander V. Kabanov, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy

Plant and animal science

Jeffery L. Dangl, UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Hans W. Paerl, UNC College of Arts and Sciences and UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Psychiatry and psychology

Margaret A. Sheridan, UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Social sciences

Noel T. Brewer, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Stephen R. Cole, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Yan Song, UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Nine additional researchers were also cited for work conducted while at UNC-Chapel Hill:

Cross-field

Bo Chen, formerly with UNC College of Arts and Sciences

John McCorvy, formerly with UNC School of Medicine

Zhenyi Ni, formerly with UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Dinggang Shen, formerly with UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Qi Wang, formerly with UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Haotong Wei, formerly with UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Xun Xiao, formerly with UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Pharmacology and Toxicology

Elena V. Batrakova, emeritus, UNC School of Medicine

Social Sciences

Byron J. Powell, formerly with UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

The sophomore exchange student’s data science skills were already strong, and he wanted to work on his English.

“In daily life, it is still difficult to find people to talk with,” said Kimura, a Tokyo native. “I have friends, but I can’t talk with them all the time. But here, I can focus on talking to somebody.”

Kimura was one of 20-plus attendees from throughout the University community — undergraduate and graduate students, visiting scholars, postdocs and spouses — striking up conversations with fellow Tar Heels on a mid-November Friday afternoon in the atrium of the FedEx Global Education Center.

These informal weekly meetups — there’s no attendance policy or commitment requirements — are casual in nature but serve multiple purposes.

International and American Tar Heels get to meet new people, exchange culture, practice and receive feedback on their English speaking and learn about University and community resources.

As UNC-Chapel Hill continues to set records in international-student enrollment, the program’s mission is the same as it was when it began in 2010. “We want to give people a sense of community,” said Gigi Taylor, the senior English language and coach specialist at the Writing and Learning Center.

That sense of community leads to results. Students gain confidence in their ability to speak in class and participate in other parts of campus life. Spouses learn about community resources. Participants form bonds with others, even matrimonial ones at least once.

Undergraduate exchange student Ryusei Kimura talks with Marcos Eduardo Gomes do Carmo, a visiting scholar in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences’s chemistry department, at the Speaking Group’s weekly meetup on Nov. 14. (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)

Participating in the Speaking Group “really does boost their confidence going back into their academic worlds,” Taylor said. “This is just a good thing for their social life in the community and their academic success.”

Taylor and colleague Warren Christian give the group different topics each week to guide conversations. One week was about forming deeper connections. Another focused on the U.S. government shutdown. The group also makes occasional field trips to local landmarks like the Carolina Basketball Museum, Ackland Art Museum and YoPo.

Taylor said some of the best conversations she can recall were about different marriage customs across cultures and the role of religion in different countries.

Naturally, these talks devolve into other areas of interest, like one’s academic and career plans or what sort of food they miss the most from home.

Among the group’s regular attendees are speech-language pathology graduate students from the UNC School of Medicine, there to meet people and prepare for their future careers.

“Being able to listen to different dialects, accents and things like that — it’s very critical to our work as clinicians,” first-year graduate student Stacy Thornton said. “Being able to decipher different things and train our ears a little bit.”

Gigi Taylor, the senior English language and coach specialist at the Writing and Learning Center, discusses the day’s topic at the Speaking Group’s weekly meetup on Nov. 14. (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)

International students also have the chance to work one-on-one with speech-language pathology graduate student Kelly Yang. She gives feedback and tips on improving their speaking skills after having a conversation and listening to them read a passage.

Some of Yang’s advice is easy to get behind. “Watch TV shows. Listen to podcasts,” she said.

Beyond the language skills, the Speaking Group delivers the universal need for connection.

For Kimura, joining the group has helped turn Chapel Hill from just a place into a home.

“I like meeting new people,” he said. “That’s very useful. Also, there are a lot of people from other countries all over the world. It helps me to understand the difference between Japan, the U.S. and other countries. It’s so interesting.”

Page will lead UNC Health at a critical time for the state’s leading academic health system and school of medicine. UNC Health has hospitals and clinics across the state, employs about 56,000 people and is focused on its mission of improving the health and well-being of North Carolinians.

Page, who has served in the positions on an interim basis since July, was elected by the UNC Board of Governors following recent action by the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees and the UNC Health Board of Directors. She will begin the roles Nov. 24.

An expert in primary care and rural health, Page has helped lead innovative health initiatives, fundraising and strategic planning and partnerships for UNC Health, broadening access to care for patients across North Carolina. She worked to develop branch campuses and grow rural residency programs to train more providers to meet the state’s growing health needs.

A Distinguished Professor of Family Medicine at the UNC School of Medicine who joined the faculty in 2005, Page has been a key player on both leadership teams, serving as president of UNC Health Enterprises in 2024-25 and chief academic officer at the medical school and at UNC Health in 2023-25. She was executive dean at the medical school from 2019 until earlier this year.

Previously, she founded and led Mission3, an educational nonprofit, and created the Fully Integrated Readiness for Service Training scholars program at the UNC School of Medicine. She led the family medicine residency program at the school from 2011 to 2018 and chaired the school’s family medicine department.

A Wilmington native and lifelong Tar Heel, she earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology at UNC-Chapel Hill as a Morehead scholar, a master’s in public health and an MD at the medical school she will now lead. She has published extensively and won numerous grants and awards focused on rural health.

“In every role she has held — physician, educator, innovator and mentor — Dr. Page has led with reassuring confidence and a clear sense of purpose. She is the kind of leader who builds trust by earning it and who reminds us that the heart of health care is public service to others,” said UNC System President Peter Hans. “We could not ask for a better steward of UNC Health’s mission.”

“It is a tremendous honor and privilege to serve as CEO of UNC Health and dean of UNC School of Medicine,” Page said. “I appreciate President Hans and the Board of Governors, Chancellor Roberts and Chair Wessling for their confidence and support as I step into this important role during one of the most challenging periods in health care and academic medicine. I’m delighted to serve and lead our great team to fulfill our purpose and mission to the people of North Carolina.”

“Dr. Page is an inspirational leader and a remarkable health care provider whose dedication to serving North Carolina’s communities reflects our University’s commitment to statewide impact in all 100 counties,” said Chancellor Lee H. Roberts. “She is exceptionally qualified to guide UNC Health’s continued growth and advance its mission of saving lives across our state.”

“I have worked with Dr. Page as a member of the UNC Health Board of Directors since 2019,” said UNC Health Board Chair Greg Wessling. “She is a dynamic and strategic leader who excels in building relationships and has a heart for providing outstanding quality care across our state. I could not think of a finer person to lead UNC Health and UNC School of Medicine.”

“North Carolinians are fortunate to have Dr. Page overseeing UNC Health,” said Wendy Murphy, chair of the Board of Governors. “She has a passion for serving our citizens and the expertise to lead us into a healthier future.”

Their findings, published in the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis, show that adding blood tests to an existing risk calculator can help physicians better determine who truly needs blood thinners — powerful drugs that prevent strokes but can also cause dangerous bleeding.

“This will help doctors better select patients for anticoagulation, potentially saving lives and reducing health care costs,” said Dr. Samuel Short, a first-year hematology and oncology fellow at the UNC School of Medicine and lead author of the paper.

Short began this research as a medical student at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine alongside faculty mentor Dr. Mary Cushman. Together, they used data from an ongoing national cohort study of 30,239 adults monitored for stroke and related diseases termed Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke.

Atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia that makes the top chambers of the heart quiver instead of pumping normally. The blood inside the heart moves more slowly, and this pooling of blood can lead to blood clots.

“Blood clots can be ejected by the heart to the brain — causing stroke,” said Short. “Blood thinning medicines, or anticoagulants, make it harder for the blood to clot, lowering stroke risk. However, not every patient can or should be on a blood thinner.”

Blood thinners can reduce stroke risk for some people with atrial fibrillation, but some people who take them experience a breakthrough stroke anyway, with the medications potentially causing dangerous side effects related to uncontrolled bleeding.

Stroke risk calculators aren’t exactly new. Physicians currently use a conventional risk calculator that considers a patient’s age, sex and medical history to estimate a patient’s stroke risk before prescribing anticoagulants.

However, the conventional risk calculator does not account for heart dysfunction, accelerated blood clotting and inflammation, which are all important risk factors for stroke.

“Current calculators are not particularly accurate and improving these tools can both decrease strokes and bleeding by offering the right medicines to the right patients,” said Short.

The improved risk calculator accounts for these additional risk factors by adding results from the blood tests to the calculation. The calculator is based on two studies led by Short, Cushman and other researchers at the University of Vermont, which were published in the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis.

In the first study, researchers looked at nine blood tests that might predict the occurrence of stroke in 713 people who were taking an anticoagulant to prevent stroke. With a 12-year follow-up, 9% of these people developed a breakthrough stroke. Short and Cushman discovered that three blood test results identifying proteins associated with heart dysfunction, accelerated clotting and inflammation activity were linked to the risk of a stroke.

In the second study, researchers looked at the same 9 blood tests in 2,400 people who were not taking an anticoagulant to prevent stroke. Over 13 years, 7% of them developed a stroke. Short and Cushman discovered that two of the blood tests increased the ability to predict a stroke.

The researchers used these two blood tests to create a more accurate risk scoring system. This improved scoring system can be used by clinicians to decide which patients with atrial fibrillation might benefit the most from anticoagulant medication.

Although the calculator is not yet ready for use in clinics, physicians can use the new improved stroke risk calculator online for easy access.

“It’s a very profound experience, one that drove me to this work much more than anything else,” he says.

Trauma survivors are understudied in research, so the interventions available to them are nearly the same as they were in the 1970s. McLean knew they deserved more — and that gap drove him from the ER to research.

Now the director of the UNC School of Medicine’s Institute for Trauma Recovery, McLean is pioneering new ways to prevent chronic trauma-related symptoms. His research explores how the brain responds to trauma and tests early interventions to stop it from trapping survivors in cycles of pain and distress.

Neuroscience of survival

To maximize survival during threats, the human brain shifts into a state of heightened alertness. While this sharpens the ability to detect and respond to danger, it can also rewire the brain to remain hyperalert, causing ongoing physical and emotional distress and disrupting sleep.

For many service members, veterans and other survivors of trauma, this kind of rewiring results in daily suffering. Crowds, confined spaces and sudden noises — like fireworks — can trigger intense reactions. Some individuals experience acute stress disorder, which can resolve within weeks. But for others, symptoms lead to post-traumatic stress disorder, where the brain becomes stuck in survival mode.

McLean and his team are interested in both the short- and long-term impacts of these changes and are trying to determine why they occur and how to prevent them.

“Our study participants, including sexual assault survivors and veterans, have so much to teach us and so much that we’re trying to learn from them,” McLean explains.

Rebooting the brain

McLean’s research is partially focused on interventions for active-duty military personnel and veterans who often experience extreme repeated stress during deployment. The Institute for Trauma Recovery is currently testing the efficacy of a military intervention called iCOVER — a strategy to help service members regain brain function during moments of extreme distress.

iCOVER is a six-step intervention for peers of trauma survivors. The peer is taught a series of tasks to complete with the person experiencing distress. By making eye contact, engaging with direct questions, establishing a clear sequence of events and requesting immediate action, the intervention activates the rational brain to help soldiers regain control. And it takes less than a minute to complete.

While this intervention is already being used across NATO militaries, especially in Ukraine, there is no empirical data to prove it actually works. McLean’s team is testing it in civilian trauma centers to find out whether the intervention measurably improves neurocognitive function in highly distressed patients.

A better tomorrow

McLean’s research also focuses on sexual assault survivors who face long-term psychological distress but receive little follow-up care. That’s where the Better Tomorrow Network comes in. The initiative from the Institute for Trauma Recovery connects this population with ongoing research, ensuring their voices are heard and that new interventions are tested.

One intervention being tested uses written exposure therapy to help survivors engage with their experiences through guided writing exercises. Early results suggest this simple intervention could reduce PTSD symptoms and improve general mental health.

“The fact that it is a low-cost telehealth intervention means that it could reach trauma survivors across the state of North Carolina,” McLean remarks. “We are very excited about our preliminary results and hope that it is also effective in large-scale testing.”

Read more about the Institute for Trauma Recovery. 

Dr. Robert L. Ferris is the Lineberger Distinguished Professor and executive director of Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and N.C. Basnight Cancer Hospital, and chief of oncology clinical services at UNC Health. Dr. Samantha Meltzer-Brody is the executive dean of UNC School of Medicine.

Ferris and Meltzer-Brody are the only physicians in North Carolina elected to the Academy this year. Election to the Academy recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service. New members are elected by current members through a process that recognizes individuals who have made major contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care and public health.

“We are so proud of Dr. Ferris and Dr. Meltzer-Brody for their work and dedication to conducting and fostering cutting-edge research, improving care for patients and educating the next generation of physicians,” said Dr. Cristy Page, interim CEO of UNC Health and dean of the UNC School of Medicine. “In addition, their leadership has helped further the mission of UNC Health and UNC School of Medicine by expanding oncology and psychiatric access and care for patients across North Carolina and beyond.”

Dr. Robert L. Ferris

Ferris was recognized for his work in optimizing the most effective therapies for head and neck cancer that changed clinical practice. He led the first positive Phase III trial and FDA-approval of PD-1 immunotherapy, including advancing neoadjuvant immunotherapy, and also changed National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines to permit deintensification for good prognosis, HPV+ cancer by reducing postoperative chemotherapy and radiotherapy after robotic surgery.

Ferris has published more than 420 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters and was co-chair of the National Cancer Institute head and neck steering committee for six years to facilitate prospective clinical trials.

He is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the recipient of numerous research and teaching awards.

Dr. Samantha Meltzer-Brody

Meltzer-Brody is an international expert in the study and treatment of women’s mood disorders. Her contributions include leading the major international study of the genetics of perinatal mood disorders and leading the trials demonstrating the efficacy of the only, and novel, treatment approved by the Food and Drug Administration for postpartum depression.

Meltzer-Brody is an internationally recognized physician-scientist in perinatal depression. Her research has investigated the epidemiologic and biological predictors of perinatal depression and innovative treatment approaches (pharmacologic and psychotherapeutic), and led to new treatments, including the first FDA-approved medications for postpartum depression. She is a member of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and the recipient of numerous research and teaching awards.

Established originally as the Institute of Medicine in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine addresses critical issues in health, science, medicine and related policy and inspires positive actions across sectors. NAM works alongside the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering to provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation and conduct other activities to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions. The academies also encourage education and research, recognize outstanding contributions to knowledge and increase public understanding of STEM. With their election, NAM members make a commitment to volunteer their service in the academies’ activities.

Ferris and Meltzer-Brody join the list of other physicians and researchers affiliated with Carolina who are members of NAM.

La Crosse is a mosquito-borne virus that disproportionately afflicts children in regions of Appalachia, especially western North Carolina. The virus has been prevalent in isolated regions of the U.S. for over 60 years, yet little has been done in the way of public health intervention or clinical research for the disease. Coincidentally, I learned that one of the leading researchers of La Crosse virus, Dr. Ross Boyce, works at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Boyce is a physician and researcher of the epidemiology of vector-borne diseases with over a decade of experience fighting malaria in rural Uganda. Boyce was gracious enough to agree to an interview for my research project. When we met, his zeal for his research and La Crosse virus immediately came through.

The first thing he spoke about was his patients, children who had contracted the disease, and their families. While the disease is rarely fatal, it can cause severe side effects in patients, such as encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) and seizures, and lead to hospitalization. Boyce hopes to provide a clinical perspective as he and his colleagues work to bring attention and investment toward better diagnostics, treatments and ways to target the mosquito vectors themselves. Following our meeting, Boyce offered me the opportunity to work under him at the Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Ecology Lab.

Contributing to projects in the lab

The first semester, we worked to develop resources for the remote Epidemiology to Elimination study funded by the North Carolina Collaboratory that aimed to improve the effectiveness of clinical care for patients and reduce disease transmission. This project is in partnership with researchers at Western Carolina University.

The resources, including a self-administered blood collection device, mosquito traps and a home environmental risk assessment, can be mailed to remote study participants outside the state of North Carolina. The data we collect will help us better understand the clinical spectrum and geographical risk factors for the disease. Through this process, I have been privileged to hear many patient testimonies. Most of them expressed altruistic motives for enrolling in the study, saying they don’t want the virus to impact other children and families in their community.

The second semester, I worked in the lab learning and performing lab techniques, such as immunofluorescent assays to test patient serums for Rickettsia antibodies and dried blood spot punching, followed by DNA extraction to screen for malaria. I even had the opportunity to assist in a research study analyzing the most effective “bait” for tick traps. Effective tick trapping is important for analyzing disease vectors within tick populations.

This is especially important in North Carolina, as ticks are the primary transmitters of the Rickettsia bacteria, a prevalent disease-causing agent in the state. While carrying my sublimating cauldron of dry ice (a particularly enticing substance for the bloodsucking arachnids) around the public location of our study, I drew some stares from curious onlookers. I even had the opportunity to educate some community members on the purpose of our study, tick identification, and ways to keep themselves and their families safe.

Over the past year, I have discovered how personal research can be. Working to bring awareness and better resources to diseases that affect my home region has been incredibly rewarding. I’ve also witnessed how research can have a direct impact on a community by facilitating community education and implementing evidence-based methods to keep the community safe.