Research Matters
Health Disparities and Structural Racism
June 30, 2020
The mission of the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research is “to improve the health of individuals, families, and populations by understanding the problems, issues, and alternatives in the design and delivery of health care services.” Health equity is central to the research of the center. For many years, the Sheps community has ... Read more
Working Toward Racial Equity in the Research Enterprise
June 4, 2020
UNC Research condemns the most recent atrocious acts against men and women of color. Let us call it what it is – pure evil. Like most of you, I am appalled, heartbroken, and angry. We cannot watch and comment from the sidelines as many face dangers protesting the horrifying murder of George Floyd, all those ... Read more
Continuing to Accelerate COVID-19 Research
June 1, 2020
Carolinaʼs researchers are on the frontline of COVID-19 research. They are working within teams on campus and partners from around the world. Recognizing our contributions toward mitigating the pandemic, Microsoft Analytics recently ranked UNC-CH as the number-one university in the U.S. researching coronavirus. Some examples of the work ongoing at Carolina include Melissa Miller and ... Read more
UNC-Chapel Hill is a Global Epicenter for Research on Coronavirus and COVID-19
May 6, 2020
I have never seen an end to an academic semester quite like this one. While we unfortunately will not be celebrating in our traditional ways, I am exceedingly proud of what we have accomplished over these last few months. UNC researchers have led the charge in responding to the pandemic crisis by developing tests and ... Read more
Reaching Out
February 13, 2020
As our research enterprise grows, new methods and modes of communication are required to meet the needs of investigators, scholars, scientists, research administrators, and all other parties who contribute to the success of our world-class portfolio. To that end, it is my pleasure to provide background on two new opportunities to receive information from the ... Read more
Carolina Research at the Cutting Edge
January 21, 2020
Each year, the journal Science selects the most groundbreaking discoveries for its annual Breakthrough of the Year distinction. It is interesting, and encouraging, to see how closely the work of our researchers here at UNC align with the top choices for last year’s advancements in scientific discovery. An evocative image of a black hole, generated ... Read more
Carolina Leads with “Genomes to Biology” Research
December 16, 2019
Carolina’s integrative and interdisciplinary research programs are consistently at the forefront of innovation and translation. The work our researchers are conducting on “genomes to biology” particularly exemplifies the call of UNC’s strategic plan, Carolina Next: Innovations for Public Good. For instance, the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center was one of 12 centers that participated in ... Read more
R&D Funding Continues to Increase
November 18, 2019
Each November, the Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) Survey is published by the National Science Foundation (NSF). This survey collects information from U.S. colleges and universities on research and development (R&D) expenditures, broken out by field of research and source of funds. The most recent survey was released last week. Given that universities just ... Read more
A Week to Inspire
October 17, 2019
From November 4-8, UNC will celebrate University Research Week. I am excited to share that we anticipate this year's celebration to be the largest yet. In the past, University Research Week has mostly been geared toward the noble goal of recruiting and engaging undergraduates to participate in research activity.
The Ethical Challenge Posed by Genetic Progress
September 19, 2019
I’d like to address an important topic where technology has surpassed ethical standards. While we haven’t reached the right consensus on how to proceed, it’s important that we keep the conversation going. The discovery and development of the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing system has revolutionized genetic manipulation of genomes across species. The implications for medical applications are ... Read more