We see that every day. From finding new cures to providing new scholarships, at Carolina we know that the best is yet to come. And we hope you see it, too.
This site is a resource and playground. It is a place where you can learn about some of the incredible stories that happen here. Or perhaps you have a story to share? Help us create this site by sharing something bold, innovative or inspirational that you experienced at Carolina, particularly because a private donation made it possible. Anything is possible here, but it isn’t free. Thankfully we have generous donors who see the potential and help make it happen.
We know there are many more to tell, maybe even yours.
We want to hear them. We need your help to collect them.
Click here to share your stories or the ones you’ve heard. This is your site, so help us fill it with all the ways Carolina is making a difference in the world.
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Have a good story about the power of private giving at Carolina? Send it to us! A short summary is fine, or a complete article or a link to one.
The Tools to Change the World
Dr. Sam Lai grew up in a privileged setting and thought the best way to show his appreciation was to become a doctor – until it wasn’t.
“I’ve always felt that the two pillars in any society are health and education, but during my teenage years I came to realize I didn’t want to be a doctor, but instead someone who provides a doctor with the necessary tools to treat patients,” Lai says.
Lai works as an associate professor and director of the Pharmacoengineering Program at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, where he runs the Lai Lab.
“I hope to impact society by bringing new medicines to the market,” says Lai. “There are few instances in one’s profession where, literally, what you can do with your hands offers the potential to change the world for the better.”
Lai’s research has spawned two companies: Mucommune, which develops mucosal biologics to treat and prevent a variety of infectious diseases, and AI Tracking Solutions, which uses artificial intelligence to automate analysis of video microscopy data.
One of Lai’s most significant contributions is serving as the faculty director of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Young Innovators Program. Part of the Eshelman Institute for Innovation, the program engages top-tier high school students in cutting-edge and innovative research in the pharmaceutical sciences. It challenges them to think creatively and critically as they solve real and urgent health-care problems, all under the guidance of School mentors.
“I train students who aren’t afraid to be different and strive to leave their own mark on society,” Lai says.
The Eshelman Institute for Innovation is made possible by a $100 million gift from Fred Eshelman to accelerate the creation and development of ideas leading to discoveries and transformative changes in education, research and health care. To learn more about the EII’s impact, visit unceii.org/impact.
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string(2109) "Lindsey James came to Carolina to get her PhD in 2005 and never left.
Eighteen years later the chemist runs a lab in the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy exploring medicinal chemistry and epigenetics with the goal of making strides in cancer care and treatment. It’s a method of research defined as translational — bridging the gap between promising early-stage science and the development of products and services that benefit society.
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string(2578) "Organizational experts at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School emphasize four pillars of teamwork: identification with group and mission, trust, distributed expertise and shared leadership.
Building these pillars takes time and lots of positive interactions as a team. For the staff of the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, also known as DigitalNC, that means dedication to their mission as well as time for taste-testing Oreos and sharing pet photos. The team — eight University Libraries employees in the Wilson Special Collections Library in Chapel Hill plus three Elizabeth City State University employees in a satellite office — are there for the work and for each other.
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“It’s such a great team,” said Kristen Merryman, digital projects librarian. “You can be transparent about what’s going on, and you know you’re going to receive empathy and support.”
That mutual respect radiates out to the center’s relationship with its partners statewide, team members said. In April, the Office of the Provost recognized their partnership with the State Library of North Carolina with an Engaged Scholarship Award.
Nominator Judy Panitch, director of library communications, praised the staff’s generosity, openness and inclusion. “No partner is too small; no document too minor; no user unimportant,” she wrote. “NCDHC’s values include the belief that ‘community history and culture have the power to enrich the lives of all North Carolinians.’ Every aspect of the program enables and promotes these encounters.”
“Our mission is to support cultural heritage organizations around the state in their goals for access to their collections,” said Lisa Gregory, the program coordinator who supervises the team. “Everyone who works for the center has a passion for access to information and the cultural heritage mission. That helps make us a strong team.”
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Photo by Kent Corley from the Carolina Performing Arts performance of "Omar."
“Omar,” an opera from Southern Futures at Carolina Performing Arts Artist-in-Residence Rhiannon Giddens and acclaimed composer Michael Abels, has won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in music. This marks the first time a work co-commissioned and co-produced by CPA has won this distinguished national honor.
Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels
On Feb. 25 and 26, sold-out audiences watched the North Carolina premiere of “Omar” as part of CPA’s 2022-23 season. The work draws inspiration from the life of Omar ibn Said, a West African scholar who spent over half a century enslaved to a prominent North Carolina family. Upon his death, Said left behind a collection of Arabic-language documents, including an 1831 autobiography that informs much of the opera’s content. Some of these materials reside in Wilson Library on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus.
“We’re thrilled that our support and investment in this opera, in collaboration with Spoleto Festival USA and the many opera houses now staging it, helped bring this Pulitzer-winning work to life,” said Alison Friedman, the James and Susan Moeser executive and artistic director at CPA. “‘Omar’ is the result of countless hours of cross-disciplinary research, and the state of North Carolina should be proud of UNC’s role in nurturing such an innovative production.”
“Omar” draws inspiration from the life of West African scholar Omar ibn Said (played by Jamez McCorkle), who spent over half a century enslaved to a prominent North Carolina family. (Photo by Spoleto Festival U.S.A.)
Ahead of the February performances, CPA partnered with organizations across the community to foster discussions about the social, political, economic and historical context of the opera. The partner organizations included UNC Press, MDC and the UNC African Studies Center, among others. Hundreds of community members attended these events and participated in these ongoing conversations, including a group of area high schoolers.
“With the help of local teachers, we brought in 130 students to attend a dress rehearsal hosted by Rhiannon Giddens herself,” said Amanda Graham, associate director of engagement at CPA. “The students saw how the music that began on Giddens’ banjo transformed into the foundation for an entire opera. It felt incredible to share that process with the community.”
In the wake of the Pulitzer announcement, Giddens hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. On May 9, she announced the forthcoming release of her new solo album, “You’re the One.” She is also embarking on the second year of her three-year residency with Southern Futures at CPA. In this role, she’ll continue to pull from the past to tell hidden stories about the South.
“CPA is committed to the research, commissioning and production of new work that helps to tell untold stories of our regional history and spur audiences to ask and observe how art can build bridges,” said Friedman. “To see a work supported by Southern Futures win a Pulitzer Prize shows that we’re on the right path. Work produced on UNC’s campus with local roots is making a global impact.”
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Lindsey James came to Carolina to get her PhD in 2005 and never left.
Eighteen years later the chemist runs a lab in the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy exploring medicinal chemistry and epigenetics with the goal of making strides in cancer care and treatment. It’s a method of research defined as translational — bridging the gap between promising early-stage science and the development of products and services that benefit society.
James and her team develop small molecules that target specific proteins believed to play roles in the development of cancers. These small-molecule tools could be useful against an array of cancers.
The continuous development of new molecules requires funding and resources. This part of project development diverts time and energy from conducting the research itself. Grant writing and editing along with back-and-forth communications with funding agencies can take months, even years.
James has found great success in internal Carolina grants, built to reduce the struggle in obtaining funds to advance research. She has secured funding and support from multiple other research translation resources at Carolina, all the while receiving support and guidance from AdvanTx, an initiative to advance therapeutics research from the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research.
While James currently has two major National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants that sustain her work, these additional Carolina resources have given her a break from applying for more federal funding.
“The research space I’m in is competitive,” James said. “I was worried that if I only focused on securing NIH funding then I may lose my window of discovery because it takes a long time for NIH grants to get reviewed, approved and funded.”
Organizational experts at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School emphasize four pillars of teamwork: identification with group and mission, trust, distributed expertise and shared leadership.
Building these pillars takes time and lots of positive interactions as a team. For the staff of the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, also known as DigitalNC, that means dedication to their mission as well as time for taste-testing Oreos and sharing pet photos. The team — eight University Libraries employees in the Wilson Special Collections Library in Chapel Hill plus three Elizabeth City State University employees in a satellite office — are there for the work and for each other.
They work hard to preserve the state’s heritage. They have digitized more than 630,000 newspapers, yearbooks, photos and other items from 320 partners in all 100 counties. Nearly half a million people visited the online DigitalNC archive last year alone.
“It’s such a great team,” said Kristen Merryman, digital projects librarian. “You can be transparent about what’s going on, and you know you’re going to receive empathy and support.”
That mutual respect radiates out to the center’s relationship with its partners statewide, team members said. In April, the Office of the Provost recognized their partnership with the State Library of North Carolina with an Engaged Scholarship Award.
Nominator Judy Panitch, director of library communications, praised the staff’s generosity, openness and inclusion. “No partner is too small; no document too minor; no user unimportant,” she wrote. “NCDHC’s values include the belief that ‘community history and culture have the power to enrich the lives of all North Carolinians.’ Every aspect of the program enables and promotes these encounters.”
“Our mission is to support cultural heritage organizations around the state in their goals for access to their collections,” said Lisa Gregory, the program coordinator who supervises the team. “Everyone who works for the center has a passion for access to information and the cultural heritage mission. That helps make us a strong team.”
