Marie Lina Excellent

Dr. Marie Lina Excellent is an Assistant Professor and Global Health Certificate Lead in the Department of Public Health Leadership and Practice at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health. She holds an MD from the State University of Haiti and an MPH from UNC-Chapel Hill, supported by Fulbright and UNC scholarships. Her work focuses on HIV/AIDS prevention, continuous quality improvement (CQI), mental health stigma reduction, and global health leadership. She currently serves on the UNC Gillings Faculty Advisory Council and the Center for Faculty Excellence Advisory Board.

Education:

• MPH in Public Health Leadership, UNC-Chapel Hill (2016)
• MD, State University of Haiti (2005)
• Certificates in Global Health, Community Preparedness, and Nonprofit Leadership (UNC-Chapel Hill)

Research Interests: Dr. Excellent’s research addresses HIV/AIDS policy development, CQI in healthcare systems, antimicrobial resistance mitigation, and WaSH interventions. Her work emphasizes implementation science and community engagement, particularly in low-resource settings. She co-authored studies on HIV testing services in Haiti and external quality assessments for HIV diagnostics.

Awards & Service:

• 2023 Thorp Faculty Engaged Scholar (UNC)
• 2016 PHLP Director’s Award for Collaborative Leadership
• Reviewer for the UNC Water Institute Annual Conference

Advising & Partnerships: She mentors global health scholars and collaborates with organizations like PATH/CARE to address mental health stigma in BIPOC and Latino communities. Her recent projects include evaluations of North Carolina’s local health departments and the Gillings School’s Culture of Health Initiative.

Labs/Teams: Engaged with the Gillings School’s Global Health Certificate program and interdisciplinary teams addressing disaster health equity in Robeson County, North Carolina.