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 (UNC). 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 Mr. 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."

"We were able to put more than three years of planning into practice," said Dr. Pia MacDonald, director of the North Carolina Center for Public Health Preparedness (NCCPHP) and research assistant professor of epidemiology. "We were able to see the value of the technical assistance we offer to state and local authorities and we received much positive feedback and appreciation from public health officials across the state."

The School is working closely with the UNC School of Medicine, UNC Hospitals, local health departments and, especially, the North Carolina Division of Health and Human Services to ensure that health care providers, public officials and the general public were aware of H1N1 symptoms, best practices for avoiding spread of the virus, containment and treatment of suspected or confirmed cases and planning for treatment in case of exposure.

"Our hope is that, from our positive experiences with this crisis, even better preparedness plans and training programs will emerge," Mr. Gentry added. "We've got outstanding faculty, students and staff who are already taking what we've learned this spring and developing even more useful tools for potential outbreaks in the fall, and for other disasters that use many of the same resources."

The Gillings School of Global Public Health's preparedness responses include:

• The North Carolina Center for Public Health Preparedness (NCCPHP), part of the Gillings School of Global Public Health, quickly developed new influenza training materials and made them available online for immediate public use.  NCCPHP staff also worked with the CDC to receive expedited review of several recently completed training modules on pandemic, avian, and seasonal influenza developed through a partnership with the CDC Coordinating Office of Global Health. 
  
  
• At the request of the North Carolina Division of Public Health (NC DPH), public health student volunteers assisted the state's Public Health Command Center by answering questions related to the H1N1 outbreak from local health departments and clinicians across the state. The students are members of Team Epi-Aid, a volunteer group coordinated by NCCPHP that provides local and state health departments with surge capacity during outbreaks and other public health emergencies.  NC DPH partners noted that the student volunteers were "tremendously helpful in this response."  
  
  
• The School's North Carolina Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center has provided grants of up to $20,000 each for projects supporting innovative approaches to the H1N1 outbreak. These include:
  Dr. Noel P. Greis, director of the Center for Logistics and Digital Strategy at the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, whose study is titled "A systems approach to North Carolina public health preparedness: Social networks and information models;"
  Dr. Javad Mostafa, Frances Carroll McColl Term associate professor in the UNC School of Information and Library Science, whose study is titled "Public Health Informatics Pilot Study;"
  Dr. Stephanie W. Haas, professor in the UNC School of Information and Library Science, whose study is titled "Modeling communication links among public health emergency preparedness officials in North Carolina using social network analysis: A pilot study;" and
  Dr. James C. Thomas, associate professor of epidemiology and director of the program in public health ethics at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, whose study is titled "State pandemic influenza ethics preparedness."
  
  
• A team of faculty experts provided information and perspective to help the public in North Carolina and around the country better understand the virus and related public health concerns from many different angles.
  Dr. Ralph Baric, professor of epidemiology, serves as an expert on immunizations and virology. Baric, who has been studying coronaviruses for twenty-five years, recently built the first working molecular clone of the SARS virus.
  Dr. Myron Cohen, Associate Vice Chancellor for Global Health and J. Herbert Bate Distinguished Professor Epidemiology, shed light with his expertise on infectious diseases. Cohen also directs the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases.
  Mr. Bill Gentry, a veteran of many disaster management response efforts, specializes in local community preparedness and directs the School's Community Preparedness and Disaster Management program.
  Dr. James Thomas, studies pandemic preparedness nationwide and directs the School's Program in Public Health Ethics.
  Dr. David Weber, professor of epidemiology and of medicine and pediatrics, provided expertise in the areas of epidemiology and statistical forecasting. Weber also collaborates with the CDC on flu research.
  
  
• The School also activated its All-Hazards Preparedness Committee, coordinated by Ms. Brenda Motsinger, director of special projects for the School. The committee led School efforts to inform faculty, staff and students, encourage best practices for prevention, prepare for continuance of services, and liaise with the university. The North Carolina State Health Director was invited and participated by conference call in these daily meetings to share state guidance and utilize expertise that was present on the committee.

Please read the full story on the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health's web site here.