David Wohl, MD, is the News & Observer’s November Tar Heel of the Month, which honors people who have made significant contributions to North Carolina and the region.
For his years of work studying infectious diseases and his role in helping North Carolina health professionals and residents respond to the pandemic, David Wohl, MD, is the News & Observer’s November Tar Heel of the Month, which honors people who have made significant contributions to North Carolina and the region.
Read the story at the News & Observer.
Here’s an excerpt:
Dr. David Wohl mostly divided his time last year between treating patients with HIV and helping study the long-term effects of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and setting up a program to study the deadly Lassa fever there. He figures he spoke to two reporters all year.
This year, Wohl, an infectious disease specialist at UNC Health in Chapel Hill, has devoted nearly all his time to the coronavirus. He helped set up UNC’s virus testing program and helped develop procedures so doctors, nurses and others at UNC’s 11 hospitals could treat COVID-19 patients without getting infected themselves.
He has helped lead research and clinical trials for coronavirus vaccines and treatments.
Through it all, the media has turned to Wohl to help explain the ever-changing pandemic and the science behind it. He takes part in press conferences and speaks with reporters every week.
Wohl says tailoring messages about a complicated virus through different types of media — both TV and print — can be a challenge. But it’s part of the job, and it’s one he take seriously as the pandemic continues to worsen in North Carolina and around the world.