News

Medicinal chemist Anwar Hossain is optimizing two READDI discoveries, which could become the world’s first chikungunya treatment. 

Her AI-powered personal food shopper, Lola, aims to make nutrition shopping simpler, the Gillings School professor says during the latest installment of “North Carolina Innovators You Should Know.”

UNC School of Medicine’s Greg Scherrer and team discovered a way to shut down the “emotional burden” of pain.

The firm’s goal is developing and commercializing transformative therapies, says Associate Director Aubrey Smith during the latest installment of “North Carolina Innovators You Should Know.”

Five Eshelman Innovation Venture Studio participants pitched ideas for products and services aimed at improving peoples’ lives.

She developed SONDER, an AI-driven digital technology, to get patients to the right path of care as quickly as possible. 

They were part of “Designing for Social Good,” an entrepreneurial workshop co-sponsored by the Eshelman Innovation Venture Studio and led by the HBCU Founders Initiative.

The Eshelman Distinguished Professor in the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy discusses her lab’s work on an inverse vaccine to treat autoimmune diseases.

He and his partners at the venture firm Cape Fear BioCapital support NC-based, early-stage therapeutics companies and aim to cement the state’s position as a nucleus of life science innovation, he says during the latest installment of “North Carolina Innovators You Should Know.”

Using its turnkey, state-of-the-art technologies, academic investigators and biopharma companies can interrogate the whole genome to decipher biology and search for novel drug targets.

Her AI-enabled chatbot aims to counter rampant misinformation, the UNC School of Nursing faculty member says during the latest installment of “North Carolina Innovators You Should Know.”

The former Eshelman Innovation entrepreneur in residence explains her project, an AI-driven platform to connect food production and distribution with nutrition education, during the latest installment of “North Carolina Innovators You Should Know.”

The goal is a portfolio of antiviral drugs for every virus family of pandemic potential, says READDI CEO Jimmy Rosen during the latest installment of “North Carolina Innovators You Should Know.”

The platform will help faculty and students turn research into real-world solutions that create jobs and drive economic growth and impact across communities.

Two Carolina researchers will receive funding, expert guidance and other support to drive their novel therapies from concept toward commercialization.

The ultimate goal is helping patients in areas of unmet need, says the Eshelman Innovation R&D director during the latest installment of “North Carolina Innovators You Should Know.”

The awards will support entrepreneurial training across a range of promising fields: cancer immunology, cancer radiotherapy, artificial intelligence and antiviral drug development. 

The Eshelman Innovation program enables talented scientists to grow into entrepreneurial leaders while advancing specific healthcare technologies toward commercial success.

“I dream big,” says the Carolina associate professor of applied physical sciences during the latest installment of “North Carolina Innovators You Should Know.”

Doing so could lead to a novel, non-addictive pain treatment, says the UNC School of Medicine researcher during the latest installment of “North Carolina Innovators You Should Know.”

Losing a sibling to an overdose has been a huge driving force, says the Goldie Health CEO during the latest installment of “North Carolina Innovators You Should Know.”

The therapy grew out of a discovery linking non-functioning lysosomes with lupus, says Vilen during the latest installment of “North Carolina Innovators You Should Know.”

Part of Eshelman Innovation’s therapeutics curation strategy, the event opened with a moving patient story and included a range of expertise. 

The NC Collaboratory invests in the translation of great ideas, says its executive director during the latest installment of “North Carolina Innovators You Should Know.”

Carolina’s translational institute is pointing its therapeutics curation model at autoimmune disorders to drive innovation, following the success of the 2024 Radiopharmaceuticals Summit.

During a lively panel discussion, experts from academia, industry, government and law tackled a range of topics — NIH budget cuts, the promise and perils of AI, drug manufacturing and more. 

The chemical’s pervasiveness is both a challenge and opportunity, says Speight, CEO of AxNano, during the latest installment of “North Carolina Innovators You Should Know.”

Early feedback shows the workflow management tool not only helps overdose responders get organized but also boosts patient engagement rates.

Her ‘Zippersomes’ therapy accumulates in the heart where it’s needed, says Nguyen during the latest installment of “North Carolina Innovators You Should Know.”

Initial drug discovery is producing promising antiviral compounds, says Vargason during the latest installment of “North Carolina Innovators You Should Know.” 
 

She was recognized for her light-activated therapeutics technology — breakthrough research kept alive by critical translational funding and training.

Innovative technology can fix the potentially dangerous human error in IV therapy dosing, Eckel says during the latest installment of “North Carolina Innovators You Should Know.”

One year after launching, the center is already benefiting legislators and regulatory agencies in their efforts to combat America’s opioid epidemic. 

This high-risk, early-stage discovery plays a critical role in the drug development continuum, she explains during the latest installment of “North Carolina Innovators You Should Know.”

Bob Dieterle explains how the venture studio process is accelerating digital health solutions during the latest installment of “North Carolina Innovators You Should Know.”

Dr. Nat Moorman explains the origins of READDI in the latest episode of “North Carolina Innovators You Should Know.” 

The Eshelman Innovation Rankin Innovator Acceleration Award, supported by Lawson and Gisele Rankin, is given annually to provide graduate students and Post Docs with funding to pursue entrepreneurial training opportunities.

Dr. Andrew Satterlee explains how his cancer battle drove him from research into entrepreneurship in the latest episode of “North Carolina Innovators You Should Know.”

The Carolina MD-PhD candidate in neurosurgery discusses startup success and failure, the importance of teamwork and more in the latest episode of “North Carolina Innovators You Should Know.” 

Eshelman Innovation partnered with the North Carolina Collaboratory to continue funding academic researchers across North Carolina for funding research and development that can advance the discovery and translation of therapeutics for opioid use disorders.

“North Carolina Innovators You Should Know” spotlights the brilliant minds and trailblazers driving progress and shaping the future.

Two potentially life-saving startup ideas emerged from Eshelman Innovation’s latest Venture Studio sprint in Asheville. 

The new therapy class, combining precision radiation and imaging, could revolutionize cancer treatment, said the university researchers and industry leaders who spoke.

Chief Strategy Officer for Eshelman Innovation is recognized as the staff recipient for the 2024 Robert E. Bryan Public Service Award from the Carolina Center for Public Service.

Carolina had the scientific expertise. Eshelman Innovation helped bring READDI to life.

Eshelman Innovation begins its second decade with a new look and a blueprint for moving groundbreaking health care therapeutics and digital health ideas to reality. 

Eshelman Innovation, within the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, is set to launch a new health tech platform aimed at serving patients with opioid use disorder (OUD).

As part of a new collaboration, Eshelman Innovation, within the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, will work with Aston University on a three-year project focused on preventing damage caused by swelling of the central nervous system (CNS).

“The Rankin Innovator Acceleration Award underscores the importance of supporting our emerging leaders in health care. We are so thankful to have the support of the Rankin family, who truly understands the importance of translating scientific innovation into products that benefit patients around the world,” said John Bamforth, Executive Director of Eshelman Innovation.

2022 was a great year of growth and advancement of our mission. We raised significant new funding from multiple sources that has extended our runway, and allowed us to imagine an impact across the state and potentially beyond.

Eshelman Innovation partnered with the North Carolina Collaboratory to solicit projects from academic researchers across North Carolina for funding research and development that can advance the discovery and translation of therapeutics for opioid use disorders.

In today’s fast-paced and ever-changing world, design thinking has emerged as a powerful venture building tool to solve complex problems and create innovative solutions. 

A $750,000 grant will help Eshelman Innovation create PowerUp—an initiative to address food insecurity and mental health challenges faced by Black North Carolinians. Eshelman Innovation, alongside the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Founders Initiative (HBCUFI), will help source ideas from N.C. A&T and try to refine them into digital for-profit ventures.

An eight-month collaboration to bring digital health solutions to market reaches a milestone with Pitch Day.

Eshelman Innovation is partnering with the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Founders Initiative (HBCUFI) to create PowerUp, a program that will identify and support innovators as they try to solve health equity challenges in underrepresented communities across North Carolina. 

Eshelman Innovation launched the Eshelman Innovation Venture Studio to partner with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in exploring how digital health innovation can improve health care. 

Three-time Eshelman Innovation grant recipient, Katelyn Arnold was recently included in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Science List for 2023.

Eshelman Innovation Venture Studio is a partnership between UNC-Chapel Hill, Eshelman Innovation, UNC Health and industry partner High Alpha Innovation, a leading venture builder headquartered in Indianapolis that partners with large corporations and universities.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, through Eshelman Innovation, announced a collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to build an environment for startup creation that uses cloud technology to translate UNC-Chapel Hill digital health research expertise into commercialized solutions.

Carolina leaders from Eshelman Innovation, UNC Health, UNC Research and Innovate Carolina pilot a partnership with High Alpha Innovation aiming to create digital health startups better positioned for success.

The Eshelman Innovation Rankin Innovator Acceleration Award, supported by Lawson and Gisele Rankin, is given annually to provide students and Post Docs with funding to pursue entrepreneurial training opportunities.

READDI has just received a big boost in accomplishing its mission of putting five antiviral drugs “on the shelf” ahead of future pandemics. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced Wednesday that READDI will receive an award of $65 million over the next three years to establish the Initiative as an Antiviral Drug Discovery (AViDD) Center for Pathogens of Pandemic Concern.

In 2012, a revolutionary new way to edit genes was unveiled to the world—CRISPR. Since then, the technology has been named as a “Breakthrough of the Year” by Science and has expanded to be applied to targeted epigenome editing. Now, this exciting technology is coming to UNC-Chapel Hill.