NEWS

Roberts receives highest professional honor given in Dominican Republic

Dr. Harold R. Roberts, who founded UNC’s Center for Thrombosis and Hemostasis in 1978, recently received the highest honor given to professionals in the Dominican Republic.

The country’s president, UNC alumnus Hipolito Mejia, awarded Roberts the Order of Christopher Columbus at the grade of knight for Roberts’ service in establishing the Dominican Republic’s first Thrombosis and Hemostasis Center.

Thrombosis, or abnormal blood clot formation, has been the lynchpin of Roberts’ research and clinical career. Thrombosis can form anywhere in the body and involve any organ. As the basic component in the vascular diseases heart attack and stroke, it is the culprit killing more people than all forms of cancer combined.

Roberts formed the UNC center as the focal point for research in vascular diseases at the university. Today the center’s affiliated treatment centers for hemophilia and thrombophilia help patients from across North Carolina and the Southeast deal with bleeding and clotting disorders.

Roberts served as the center’s director until five years ago and is now Sarah Graham Kenan professor of medicine and pathology in the School of Medicine.

The Order of Christopher Columbus has seven grades and is awarded for service to the Republic through humanitarian, artistic or scientific merit.

Roberts received the honor soon after being notified by the American Heart Association’s Council on Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology that he has been selected to receive the 2002 Special Recognition Award for his scientific and medical contributions.

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Photo URL: http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/faculty/roberts_harold.jpg

Crawford-Brown named director of Carolina Environmental Program

Dr. Douglas J. Crawford-Brown, professor of environmental sciences and public policy, has been named director of the UNC Carolina Environmental Program.

Crawford-Brown joined UNC in 1982 as an assistant professor of environmental sciences and engineering. His research focuses on risk assessment and environmental policy, and he is recognized as a national leader in secondary and post-secondary environmental education. He directs CEP’s Salzburg Field Site in Austria and chairs the environmental science and environmental studies degree program, offered through CEP and the College of Arts and Sciences.

"Professor Crawford-Brown is a world-renowned scholar with leadership experience in the CEP," said Dr. Robert N. Shelton, executive vice chancellor and provost. "He is the ideal person to direct this program, combining a commitment to environmental education with a passion for multi-disciplinary research."

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Jansen named new director of School of Medicine’s Intrah

The UNC School of Medicine recently named Dr. William H. Jansen as the new director of Intrah, an internationally recognized organization focusing on helping health-care providers improve the lives of women, children and families worldwide.

During the past five years at UNC, Jansen led the team that developed the PRIME II Project proposal, a program active in 23 countries and a proposal that received the largest single award in UNC’s history ($88 million). He continues his work as the project’s executive director.

Before joining the School of Medicine, Jansen helped the U.S. Agency for International Development develop new policies and strategies to combat infectious diseases. As a behavioral scientist, he has researched health-care-seeking behavior in diverse populations, human fertility, cultural factors and infectious disease programs, as well as the effects of poverty on access to health care.

During two decades as a foreign service officer, he designed and managed programs to improve health-care services in Morocco, Jordan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Philippines.

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Los Alamos expert to discuss science and security at national laboratories

Terrorist attacks, anthrax-tainted mail, and now questions about Iraq have heightened public concerns about the proliferation of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. Dr. Thomas Meyer, associate director for strategic research at Los Alamos National Laboratory, will be at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Nov. 1 to discuss the role of the national scientific laboratory system in supporting America’s broad national security interests. His free public lecture on "Science and Security at the National Laboratories" will be at 3:00 p.m. in room 207 of Venable Hall.

Meyer, who was a member of the UNC faculty for more than 30 years, was Kenan distinguished professor of chemistry and vice chancellor of research and graduate studies.

The Los Alamos laboratory is involved in the assessment and reduction of threats from nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, and in research and development to promote homeland security.

The lecture is co-sponsored by the Department of Chemistry and the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center.

For information, contact Holden Thorp at 843-4743.

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Dr. Timothy A. Turvey, chairman of the UNC School of Dentistry’s department of oral and maxillofacial surgery, recently represented the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons at the opening ceremonies of the Second World Cleft Congress.

The congress was held in Munich, Germany.

Turvey delivered greetings and presented a check to congress organizers on behalf of the association. He also presented a paper on bone grafting the cleft maxilla and palate.

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News Services contact: Deb Saine, (919) 962-8415