William Pilkington

Dr. Pilkington co-directs the HOPE program in the research/community engagement offices of the Julius L. Chambers Biomedical and Biotechnology Research Institute (JLC-BBRI) located in Kannapolis, NC (North Carolina Research Campus [NCRC]).  He is a former public health officer in Cabarrus County (39 years) and has led federal grant funding efforts in excess of $39 million, including a $16.5 million Beacon Award, one of only 15 awarded nationwide by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) in the U.S. Health and Human Services Department.

Dr. Pilkington also directs community engagement efforts that include addressing food security and providing important health screenings in medically underserved communities.  He also serves on the community engagement core that is part of the NIMHD U54 RCMI grant. 

Dr. Pilkington joined NCCU and BBRI in 2019 and is a senior public health practitioner with a national reputation as a public health innovator.  Currently, he is leading an effort to provide health equity mapping to all counties in the NCCU service area.  He is also creating public health infrastructure improvement plans for all local health departments in Region 7.  In addition, Dr. Pilkington is the lead investigator on a joint project with RTI to assess lead poisoning hazards in daycare centers in the research triangle area of North Carolina. 

Dr. Pilkington has several peer-reviewed journal articles and has made over 50 presentations to international and national public health meetings, including the American Public Health Association (APHA), the National Association of County and City Officials (NACCHO) and the American Society of Public Administration (ASPA).  In addition, Pilkington has presented a Ted-type talk on “Racial Health Disparities as a Homeland Security Issue” at the Naval Postgraduate School.