SOM Office of Research publishes bi-annual report

The UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine has published its Fall/Winter 2022 issue of the Office of Research Bi-Annual Report. Each issue presents the opportunity to reflect on all of the research accomplishments in the School of Medicine.

Message from the Vice Dean for Research — Blossom Damania, PhD:

Reflecting on the last six months of 2022 brings to mind the exceptional research accomplishments in the School of Medicine. The research done in our School and the caliber of our researchers continues to attract national and international attention.

In September of 2022, it was announced that alumni William and Dana Starling made a $25 million commitment to the Department of Psychiatry to create the UNC Suicide Prevention Institute—a place that will allow UNC to offer innovative and compassionate care to patients in the state while supporting research to better understand suicide.

Tom and Nancy Chewning were impressed with Dr. Jonathan Serody’s work at the UNC Health Foundation GameChangers event and established a fund to support his CAR-T immunotherapy work, an act aligned with their vision to improve cancer treatment.

Another exciting gift is the $10 million donation from Vaughn and Nancy Bryson to fund a new pediatric Center to support basic, translational and clinical for mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS). The Dr. Joseph Muenzer MPS Research and Treatment Center will be named in honor of Dr. Joseph Muenzer, professor of Pediatrics and one of the world’s top experts in congenital disorders.

These gifts highlight the breadth of expertise in our unit, how the faculty is highly regarded for their expertise, and the deep trust that the public has in our faculty and school to do cutting-edge, life-changing research. We are extremely excited to see what comes from these philanthropic gifts, and all of the other research projects pursued by our faculty, students, and staff. We are truly grateful for the people that make up our School, and are deeply proud of the research we accomplish as a unit.