UNC Health is proud to announce that two physician-researchers were honored by the Triangle Business Journal as recipients of 2025 Health Care Leadership Awards.
UNC Health is proud to announce that two physician-researchers were honored by the Triangle Business Journal as recipients of 2025 Health Care Leadership Awards.
The TBJ published a brief profile of each award recipient on April 10.
Those from UNC Health who were selected, and the category in which they were honored, are:
Dr. Edwin Kim, UNC School of Medicine – Innovator/Researcher
Edwin Kim, MD, MS, associate professor of Pediatrics, division chief of UNC Pediatric Allergy & Immunology and director of the UNC Food Allergy Initiative at UNC-Chapel Hill, and he has been researching food allergies for over a decade. He treats children and adults living with a range of food allergies including milk, egg, wheat, soy, peanuts and tree nuts, as well as fish and shellfish. Dr. Kim also has three children of his own with nut and legume allergy. He knows first-hand how difficult living with food allergies can be for babies, toddlers, adolescents and families. He has dedicated his career to pushing clinical research forward to help kids like his and around the world overcome allergies.
One of Dr. Kim’s biggest professional achievement’s last year included results from the OUtMATCH clinical trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showing that a monoclonal antibody, omalizumab, increased the amount of peanut, tree nuts, egg, milk and wheat that multi-food allergic children as young as age one could consume without an allergic reaction. His work was recently highlighted in National Geographic’s, “7 Medical Breakthroughs that Changed Medicine in 2024.” A food allergy reaction can occur within minutes or hours after eating an allergic food, and symptoms can range from mild to life-threatening. However, anti-IgE therapy like omalizumab is a breakthrough defense in treating severe allergic reactions. Omalizumab can significantly reduce the risk of food allergy to peanuts and other foods after about four months of treatment – a relief to many families.
Dr. Stephanie Duggins Davis, UNC Children’s Hospital – Doctor of the Year
Dr. Davis is a nationally known expert in cystic fibrosis and other rare lung diseases. In 2023, Davis was designated as a world expert from Expertscape on ciliary motility disorders, dextrocardia, Kartagener Syndrome, respiratory system abnormalities, and situs inversus. During the past 25 years, she has led or been part of teams that were funded by over $40 million of grants from the National Institute of Health or foundations to understand and find treatments for rare, life-threatening diseases such as cystic fibrosis and primary ciliary dyskinesia.
She has over 200 peer-reviewed publications on these topics that are frequently cited across the globe. She has been selected to lead numerous national professional organizations over the past five years, including serving as the Chair of the American Board of Pediatrics Board of Directors, the American Thoracic Society Pediatric Assembly, and the Society of Pediatric Research.
In late 2023, UNC Health announced its plans for the new N.C. Children’s Hospital. The new hospital will transform the care of children across the state and ensure a healthier future for North Carolina’s children through the highest level of comprehensive care.
Dr. Davis has been incredibly busy over the past year, working closely with the chairperson and other leaders at Duke Children’s. Together, they have sought ways for the two children’s specialty hospitals to work together, emphasized cooperation instead of competition. In part due to her work, executives at both institutions recently announced an affiliation to form the new, free-standing North Carolina Children’s Hospital together.
Congratulations to Dr. Kim and Dr. Davis for this well-earned recognition!