Nabarun Dasgupta has been contributing to research at Carolina for 20 years.
Nabarun Dasgupta has worked for UNC-Chapel Hill in a variety of roles, most recently as a senior scientist as the UNC Injury Prevention Research Center and the Gillings Innovation Fellow at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.
What brought you to Carolina?
When I was applying for PhD programs in 2005, the main draw to UNC-Chapel Hill was Gillings’ internationally acclaimed program in pharmacoepidemiology — the science of medication side effects and the consequences of specific molecules on large populations.
Surprisingly, a key reason I ended up in Chapel Hill was that Carolina was one of the only schools that had an option for a paper application. This minor detail was critical because, at the time, I was working at medical camps in coastal Indian villages that had been destroyed by the 2004 tsunami. There was no electricity. Dial-up internet connections in larger settlements were too slow to upload supporting documents for applications I had started stateside to other schools of public health.
This fortunate quirk instilled in me deep respect for a state university with a commitment to being accessible to all. After stepping foot on campus and meeting the incredible faculty, it all felt like I was exactly where I belonged.
How has your role here changed over the years?
Prior to starting my PhD program in 2005, I had already been studying drug overdose and prevention. The topic was not well-appreciated at the time, but my professors were encouraging. After graduating in 2013, I co-founded a health informatics startup and continued to collaborate with researchers at the UNC Injury Prevention Research Center (IPRC).
In 2018, I left the startup and re-joined UNC-Chapel Hill full-time as a senior staff scientist, securing a large contract from a federal agency to study overdose epidemiology. Since then, my team has grown, adapting as the contours of the drug overdose problem has evolved.
I try to do one major epidemiological analysis per year, and we now have a strong multidisciplinary team with expertise in clinical research, qualitative interviews, big data analytics, lived experience, social work, and chemistry. Most recently, I have come to embrace the neurobiology of aging, which indicates that as we grow older our brains become optimized for synthesizing large amounts of information from varied sources.
Our collaborators are in pharmacology, public health, medicine, pharmacy, and even history. I have learned the nuances of these allied disciplines, and collectively our work is more impactful through this diversity. Drawing together our multidisciplinary insights, my role has intentionally evolved to include more science communication. Working with colleagues in journalism and health communications, I have gained new knowledge on scientific messaging. My passion, now, is telling true stories about health, with numbers.
Impact Report
In 2021, more than 4,000 North Carolinians lost their lives to overdose, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. That was a 22% increase in overdose deaths compared to the year before.
The UNC Street Drug Analysis Lab tests drugs for public health programs and returns results immediately to help communities reduce overdose deaths. It serves more than 160 programs in 40 states.
What’s kept you at Carolina?
Independence of thought and institutional support. The field of substance use still often relies on an antiquated understanding of how drugs work in the body. Challenging these assumptions is critical to finding new solutions. But this kind of innovation can only thrive in an environment that lets you take calculated risks. I feel that Carolina has been supportive in allowing me to explore options beyond dominant paradigms. My role as the first Gillings Innovation Fellow has given me a refreshed platform to push the limits of what is possible. Carolina feels like a place where we can safely make mistakes — and learn from them.
What contribution are you most proud of?
Our team’s efforts are focused on answering applied questions of significant public health importance. We think of ourselves as less traditional “research” but rather “science in service.” As members of a public university, we feel our role is to apply science to solve everyday problems. To this end, we serve more than 160 frontline public health programs in 40 states through the UNC Street Drug Analysis Lab, which tests street drugs for composition and returns results immediately. We routinely hear stories about people who are alive today because of our efforts.
In addition to the direct work happening on campus, I have started two community-based nonprofits, Project Lazarus and Remedy Alliance For The People, both of which are focused on overdose prevention. Working directly with community members has given our scientific work greater public saliency. They also serve as a positive feedback loop to keep us going on tough days and provide a space for exploring new solutions.
What is a uniquely Carolina experience you’ve had?
When I was starting my full-time role, I asked how I would be evaluated. Steve Marshall, the head of IPRC at the time, told me simply: “Save lives.” It was a daunting order. But it encapsulated the intense focus on serving the citizens of our state. I feel like that simple edict has been an organizing principle that helps us winnow away distractions and focus on direct impact.
Rooted recognizes long-standing members of the UNC-Chapel Hill community who have aided in the advancement of research by staying at Carolina. They are crucial to the UNC Research enterprise, experts in their fields, and loyal Tar Heels. Know someone we should feature? Nominate a researcher.