NEWS

School of Public Health's Dr. Carol Runyan honored for service to armed forces

By DAVID WILLIAMSON
UNC News Services

CHAPEL HILL -- Dr. Carol Runyan, director of the Injury Prevention Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been honored for her service on the Armed Forces Epidemiological Board.

Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr., a UNC graduate, presented Runyan with the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Achievement, the second highest award the secretary gives to private citizens, at a recent ceremony at Ft. Detrick, Md.

Runyan, also professor of health behavior and health education at the UNC School of Public Health, and 22 colleagues from across the country, mostly physicians, who served on the board for two years also received a miniature medal, a rosette and a citation signed by the U.S. Secretary of Defense.

During 2001 and 2002, she and other board members made recommendations on 31 complex health issues pertaining to the armed forces. That was a 100 percent increase over the previous two years, according to Winkenwerder, and the largest increase in the board’s more than 60-year history.

"I am deeply appreciative for the board’s individual personal and professional integrity, support and selfless dedication for the health and welfare of our service members," he said. "The board’s recommendations also help provide independent credibility to our military medical programs."

Among recommendations adopted was elimination of needless screening practices that would save the department millions of dollars annually, he said. Other recommendations have been incorporated into defense directives, helped in the approval of anthrax and smallpox vaccines, antibiotics and therapeutics and radio frequency energy emission systems used by the department.

"These civilian members, who come from numerous professional, academic and scientific organizations throughout the country, spend approximately 240 hours of uncompensated consultant time for each recommendation," Winkenwerder said. "The value to the department for this voluntary time, motivated only by patriotism, good citizenship and a sense of public responsibility, has an estimated value of nearly $4 million."

Since its inception in 1941, the board has saved the U.S. military an estimated $1 billion, he said.

Runyan has devoted most of her two terms on the board to injury prevention issues and health education, including strategies for doing health assessments of new recruits and health surveillance. Among projects she was involved in was a survey of Pentagon employees who survived the 9/11 terrorist attack.

"I’ve learned a great deal from participating on the board, not only about the specific health problems considered and from the other members, but also from observing the process of policymaking in a real-world setting where difficult trade-offs must be made, sometimes with limited information," Runyan said.

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Note: Runyan can be reached at (919) 966-3916.
Contact: David Williamson, (919) 962-8596