Renn is an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Medicine and program director of the UNC Alcohol and Substance Abuse Program. He is a board member of the executive committee for Addiction Professionals of North Carolina, North Carolina Practice Improvement Collaborative, board of directors member for Alcohol and Drug Council of North Carolina and past president of the board of directors for Freedom House. Renn received his bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and his master's degree in social work from East Carolina University.
The council duties are to consult the secretary of the Department of Correction in the administration of the Substance Abuse Program, maintain relationships with other public and private programs, make recommendations regarding program funding and effectiveness, advise on continuity of care and community linkages, seek information regarding effectiveness of the program, and create task forces on programs for special populations. The council has nine members, each serving a four-year term. The governor appoints three members.
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Adaora Adimora, a professor of medicine at UNC's School of Medicine and clinical professor of epidemiology in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, has been selected by "The Root" magazine as one of the top 100 African-American leaders.
"The Root," edited by Henry Louis Gates Jr., a distinguished professor at Harvard University, is a daily online magazine provides news commentary from a variety of black perspectives.
"The Root 100" is a new honor that highlights the leadership and service of African-American men and women whose work impacts their communities and the world.
Adimora, who received a medical degree from Yale University and a Master of Public Health from UNC's public health school, was honored for her research in HIV/AIDS.
She has researched the spread of HIV in minority communities and attributed the rapid spread of the virus to poverty and racism.
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Jerry Markatos of Pittsboro was named by The Human Rights Coalition of North Carolina as the recipient of its 2009 International Human Rights Award. Markatos is a "longtime unsung hero" in providing support for the human-rights struggles in Latin America and the Middle East.
"I feel lucky to be part of a crowd of people here in North Carolina who actively work toward a compassionate world, with respect for human dignity," Markatos said.
Markatos, a native of Wilmington, has served for many years on the boards of the Carolina Interfaith Taskforce on Central America and the Southeast chapter of Witness for Peace and as a former board member of the N.C. Editorial Forum. He has arranged travel to Fort Benning, Ga., for the annual protest against the School of the Americas, now called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. He hosts and organizes fundraising events each year for Pastors for Peace "to help them carry much-needed medical, educational and construction supplies to Cuba."
In 1991 Markatos co-founded Balance and Accuracy in Journalism, a co-sponsor of many programs that have focused on human-rights abuses in the Middle East and in Latin America. He continues to chair the organization.
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Lisa L. White of Chapel Hill was named co-winner in the non-physician category when the Durham-Orange County Medical Society presented the Jerry Nance Community Service Awards recently.
White founded Rock Against Cancer in January 2000. It is a nonprofit group to help children being treated for cancer with music. Her son, Gabriel Titus, was diagnosed with childhood leukemia in 1996, Gabe successfully completed three years of chemotherapy. Gabe listened to music frequently during treatment to help him deal with nausea, pain and anxiety.
Rock Against Cancer is a national non-profit organization working with well-known entertainers from the music industry to empower and support the emotional needs of young cancer patients. White was nominated for her tireless efforts behind cancer funding and efforts in improving childhood survival rates.
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Dinesh Manocha of UNC, the Phi Delta Theta/Matthew Mason Distinguished Professor of Computer Science in the College of Art and Sciences, has been named a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery, the world's largest educational and scientific computing society, for his contributions to computer graphics, geometric computing and robotics.
Manocha is an expert in computer graphics and geometric modeling. His research on mathematical foundations and applications has been used in scientific computations, robotics, 3-D computer graphics and virtual reality by the scientific community, the computer industry and the entertainment world.
He is among 47 fellows who will be honored at the association's annual awards banquet in June.
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Five undergraduates from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have been selected as Phillips Ambassadors for spring 2010 study abroad programs in Asia.
Phillips Ambassadors is a scholarship program offered through study abroad programs in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Kenan-Flagler Business School. The scholarship combines an award for study in Asia with an academic course that puts the experience in greater global context and challenges students to share their experiences of Asia upon their return.
The new ambassadors, with destinations and majors are:
Charles McLaurin of Albemarle, Singapore, business administration, Kenan-Flagler Business School; Benjamin Wang of Cary, Japan, physics and astronomy, College of Arts and Sciences; Katherine Knish of Charlotte, Singapore, economics, College of Arts and Sciences; Niraj Shah of Greensboro, Thailand, business administration, Kenan-Flagler Business School; Gregory Randolph of Raleigh, India, religious studies, College of Arts and Sciences.
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Charles M. Perou, who is an associate professor of genetics, pathology & laboratory medicine, and a member of UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, presented an invited lecture at the 32nd Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium and received an honorarium.
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has named Perou the 2009 Outstanding Investigator Award for Breast Cancer Research, funded by Susan G. Komen for the Cure, calling his work "one of the most important findings in breast cancer and health disparities in the last decade,"
Perou's work sets the stage to redefine breast cancer into multiple subtypes of disease. His findings are causing the entire field to re-evaluate all preconceived notions regarding what causes breast cancer and how to treat it.
More information can be found at http://aacr.org/.
