A map of North Carolina showing all 100 counties and 14 U.S. Congressional districts.

Orange

UNC Research Overall Stats

11th in Federal Research Expenditures Nationally
12th in Overall Research Expenditures Nationally
$1.21B in Total Research Awards FY24

11th

in Federal Research Expenditures Nationally

12th

in Overall Research Expenditures Nationally

$1.21B

in Total Research Awards FY24

UNC Researchʼs Impact on Orange County

835 Undergraduate Students Will Participate in Research Activity (FY24)
885 Research Projects (FY24)
5071 Residents Employed by UNC Research (FY24)

FY24

835

Undergraduate Students Will Participate in Research Activity

FY24

885

Research Projects

FY24

5071

Residents Employed by UNC Research

Projects Benefitting Orange County

The North Carolina Men’s Health Report Card draws from numerous sources to provide a comprehensive overview of the health landscape for men across the state.
UNC's Eshelman Innovation partnered with the NC Collaboratory to solicit projects from researchers across the state that can advance the discovery and translation of therapeutics for opioid use disorders.
A research project with the Frank Porter Graham Child Development institute is investigating the relationships among housing stability, health, and climate change vulnerability.
The Appalachian Highlands Network is one of 32 National Park Service programs across the country that is dedicated to understanding and preserving unique natural resources through science and education.
With funding from the National Cancer Institute, the UNC School of Medicine and UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center studies ways to reduce health disparities in cancer patients.
Funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the UNC School of Government maintains a dashboard to assist N.C. utility managers and local officials with benchmarking residential water and wastewater rates against multiple attributes.

News

Drug-checking project cuts overdoses

Supported by the N.C. Collaboratory, epidemiologist Nabarun Dasgupta and his team analyze street drugs and alert communities about dangers

https://www.unc.edu/discover/drug-checking-project-cuts-overdoses/
Outreach manager protects NC families

Center for Public Engagement with Science works with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ Children’s Environmental Health Unit to develop trainings and educational resources. The group helps NCDHHS share these resources and also makes sure public health professionals and/or nonprofits with a health mission have access to them.

https://www.unc.edu/posts/2024/02/19/outreach-manager-protects-nc-families/
Addressing Pandemic Problems

While COVID-19 has shaken the world, it has also pushed society to be more innovative and creative — two attributes that have been essential to the success of researchers at UNC. Carolina students, faculty, and staff are engaged in an abundance of projects, making UNC the most cited university in the nation for coronavirus research.

https://endeavors.unc.edu/addressing-pandemic-problems/
New study by researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill finds chemical composition of U.S. air pollution changed over time

A new study published in Atmospheric Environment by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill analyzed space and time trends for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the continental United States to track the progress of regulatory actions by federal, state and local authorities aimed at curbing air pollution.

https://ie.unc.edu/news/new-study-by-researchers-at-unc-chapel-hill-finds-chemical-composition-of-u-s-air-pollution-changed-over-time/#:~:text=Although%20across%20the%20U.S.%20sulfate,carbon%20to%20total%20PM2.5.
UNC ObGyn, Orange County Department of Health recieve funding to reduce inequities in Maternal Health Care and Outcomes

A study between the UNC Chapel-Hill and Orange County Health Department, called “Thriving Hearts: Healing-Centered, Integrated, Community Maternity Care,” has been approved for a $21-million funding award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). The funding award will be used to reduce the incidence of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) and improve maternal outcomes across 10 North Carolina counties over the next six years. The intervention will be delivered by local health departments in Alamance, Caswell, Chatham, Cumberland, Durham, Forsyth, Guilford, Johnston, Orange, and Person Counties, with the goal of strengthening the ecosystem for pregnant and parenting people across each county.

https://news.unchealthcare.org/2023/12/unc-obgyn-orange-county-department-of-health-receive-funding-to-reduce-inequities-in-maternal-health-care-and-outcomes/

Centers & Institutes Located in Orange County

Carolina Population Center
The CPC is a community of scholars and professionals collaborating on interdisciplinary research and methods that advance understanding of population issues.

Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research
The Sheps Center seeks 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.

Center for Galapagos Studies
The CGS is a collaborative partnership between UNC-Chapel Hill and the Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador. The partnership is designed to foster research, education, and outreach programs in the Galápagos Islands, with the larger goals of advancing conservation efforts and promoting better understanding of ecologically sensitive and protected areas worldwide.

Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
This center addresses pressing health problems by collaborating with communities to conduct research, provide training, and translate research findings into policy and practice. Researchers seek to reduce health disparities through an emphasis on community-engaged research.

Coastal Resilience Center
This initiative led by UNC-Chapel Hill includes collaboration with more than a dozen partner universities to address the unique challenges facing communities across the United States that are vulnerable to coastal hazards.

Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute
The FPG Child Development Institute, a multidisciplinary institute at UNC-Chapel Hill, recognizes that every child deserves a safe, healthy, and stimulating childhood. Their work is dedicated to making this a reality for all children.

Highway Safety Research Center
For over 40 years, the UNC Highway Safety Research Center has conducted interdisciplinary research aimed at reducing deaths, injuries, and related societal costs of roadway crashes.

Howard W. Odum Institute for Research in Social Science
The mission of the Odum Institute parallels that of the University as a whole — teaching, research, and service — and the Institute’s focus is on the social sciences.

Injury Prevention Research Center
The center’s mission is to build the field of injury prevention and control through a combination of interdisciplinary scholarly approaches to research, intervention, and evaluation as well as through the training of the next generation of researchers and practitioners.

Institute for the Environment
The Institute for the Environment educates future environmental leaders and engages with the people of North Carolina and the nation to address and solve environmental challenges.

Renaissance Computing Institute
RENCI develops and deploys advanced technologies to enable research discoveries and practical innovations.