The Carolina Hunger Initiative, a grant- and donor-funded operation housed within the UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, directs projects and initiatives spanning the Tar Heel State.

“Our mission is to create greater access to federally funded meals,” said Lou Anne Crumpler, CHI’s director.

Here are five things to know about CHI’s work.

1. It’s called Carolina home for over a decade.

CHI, initially named No Kid Hungry North Carolina, began in 2011 with Gov. Beverly Perdue. When Perdue left office, Crumpler needed a new home for the program.

In Carolina, she found a world-class institution with expertise and a focus on statewide service.

“We knew if we had an institutional home and the strength of the reputation of UNC and the seriousness of being at a university, we’d be better off than trying to start a nonprofit,” Crumpler said.

Forming connections with UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health faculty like HPDP director Alice Ammerman and Jessica Soldavini, a research specialist, bolstered the CHI’s work.

“We have an impact on people all over North Carolina who may never step foot on campus but benefit from the work that we do that is supported and promoted by the University,” Crumpler said.

2. Its work leads to results.

CHI works on several projects, including a partnership with the state called SUN Bucks, delivering more than $257 million in two years to families to help feed children during summer months.

CHI also co-leads the School Meals for All N.C. Coalition, which uses data to educate legislators and the public. As a result, the state legislature voted to expand the number of students eligible for free school lunches via a reduced-price copay.

“We see it as an incremental step toward school meals for all,” said Andrew Harrell, program and communication manager at CHI. “We play the education and data role in this advocate world.”

3.  It’s working to curb hunger among college students.

More than 22% of college students don’t know where their next meal is coming from, Harrell said. More than two-thirds of the ones eligible to participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (aka SNAP) aren’t enrolled.

Earlier this year, CHI created the NC College Food Benefits website, where students can learn if they’re eligible and get connected with resources.

4. Carolina students play a role.

CHI gets plenty of support from Carolina interns, primarily Gillings students. They do everything: help run nutrition education programs, build communications toolkits and turn raw data into dashboards for advocacy and planning.

Two former student assistants are now part of CHI’s full-time staff of nine.

5. CHI’s presence is felt statewide.

The group’s work spans all 100 North Carolina counties and includes partnerships with each school district.

CHI hosts the annual N.C. Child Hunger Leaders Conference, usually held in Chapel Hill but moving to Asheville in 2026. The conference brings together nutrition professionals, representatives from food banks and state agencies, educators and community partners to share successes, tools, feedback and inspiration while learning how to best coordinate across sectors.

CHI also co-hosts SummerPalooza, all-day events in the western, central and eastern parts of the state. The events celebrate the hard work done to provide meals to kids at no cost to families when school is out — and remind communities that CHI is there to help.

“We co-present with the state agency and make it very clear to any organization that we are there to be your extra staff,” said Tamara Baker, CHI’s project and communications director.

Each researcher has authored multiple papers that rank in the top 1% by citation for their field and publication year in Clarivate’s Web of Science platform over the past 11 years. The list is then refined using quantitative metrics, as well as qualitative analysis and expert judgment.

This year, 6,868 individuals across 60 countries earned the distinction.

The University’s most-cited researchers include:

Biology and biochemistry

Xi-Ping Huang, UNC School of Medicine

Clinical medicine

Dr. John B. Buse, UNC School of Medicine

Dr. Lisa A. Carey, UNC School of Medicine and UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center

Dr. Sidney C. Smith Jr., UNC School of Medicine

Cross-field

Gianpietro Dotti, UNC School of Medicine and UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center

Rachel L. Graham, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Sarah R. Leist, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Nigel Mackman, UNC School of Medicine

Evan Mayo-Wilson, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Alexandra Schafer, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Jenny P.Y. Ting, UNC School of Medicine

Chao Wang, UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Wei You, UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Yuling Zhao, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy

Engineering, environment and ecology, materials science, and physics

Jinsong Huang, UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Immunology

David van Duin, UNC School of Medicine

Mathematics

David Wells, UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Microbiology

Ralph Baric, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Lisa E. Gralinski, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Timothy P. Sheahan, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Nutrition

Barry M. Popkin, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Pharmacology

Bryan L. Roth, UNC School of Medicine, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy

Pharmacology and toxicology

Alexander V. Kabanov, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy

Plant and animal science

Jeffery L. Dangl, UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Hans W. Paerl, UNC College of Arts and Sciences and UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Psychiatry and psychology

Margaret A. Sheridan, UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Social sciences

Noel T. Brewer, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Stephen R. Cole, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Yan Song, UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Nine additional researchers were also cited for work conducted while at UNC-Chapel Hill:

Cross-field

Bo Chen, formerly with UNC College of Arts and Sciences

John McCorvy, formerly with UNC School of Medicine

Zhenyi Ni, formerly with UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Dinggang Shen, formerly with UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Qi Wang, formerly with UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Haotong Wei, formerly with UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Xun Xiao, formerly with UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Pharmacology and Toxicology

Elena V. Batrakova, emeritus, UNC School of Medicine

Social Sciences

Byron J. Powell, formerly with UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

Lola uses artificial intelligence to tailor product suggestions based on individual preferences and goals — balancing nutrition, taste, cost and convenience. The platform’s recommendations aim to make environmentally sound, healthful shopping intuitive and accessible rather than burdensome. Unlike one-size-fits-all approaches, it adapts to each user’s context and previous purchasing behaviors, making it more likely to influence real purchasing behavior.

“For a long time, we’ve worked on ‘nudges’ to help consumers make healthier choices, but implementation in grocery stores has been limited because of the physical nature of those spaces,” Taillie says. “The combined increase in online shopping plus the powerful nature of AI to personalize recommendations opens up major opportunities to help consumers make healthy choices more easily.”

The Kairos program will support Taillie through a six-month venture sprint, pairing her with two dedicated “venture builders” (one business-oriented and one technical) to validate the problem space, develop a compelling value proposition and pilot the platform in real markets. The experience will conclude with a presentation to potential investors, partners and other developers at a Demo Day in March 2026.

The sprint will be powered by a strategic collaboration with Amazon Web Services — which provides participating teams with advanced cloud infrastructure — AI/ML services, technical mentorship, and startup credits to build and scale rapidly. This partnership gives projects like Lola a distinct edge in developing secure, scalable health solutions.

“Kairos offers an incredible opportunity to quickly learn how to translate research into real-world impact through commercialization,” Taillie said. “At the end of the day, our goal is scalability — to positively affect the most people possible. This program will allow us to act as a ‘dietitian in your pocket,’ helping us reach many more people, which is the ultimate dream for everyone working in public health.”

With the award, Taillie joins a growing group of UNC faculty innovators who are translating promising research into real-world digital health ventures. Her project, which also features the collaboration of the Center for AI in Public Health, highlights how AI and behavioral science can converge to shift food environments, moving academic insight toward measurable public health outcomes.

“A program like Kairos is exactly what we need to tackle today’s urgent public health challenges,” says Anne Glauber, director of innovation at the Gillings School. “By connecting researchers with resources in cutting-edge AI technologies and market expertise, it accelerates the path from evidence-based innovation to meaningful results.”

Seniors Rotimi Kukoyi and Gabrielle Moreau received the honor on Saturday, joining fellow senior Tiana Dinham in the 2026 Rhodes scholars class. With 57 recipients in its history, UNC-Chapel Hill is now a No. 1 public university for Rhodes scholars.

“On behalf of the University, I am delighted to congratulate our newest Rhodes Scholars, Tiana Dinham, Rotimi Kukoyi and Gabrielle Moreau,” said Chancellor Lee H. Roberts. “They embody Carolina’s mission through their commitment to service and meaningful impact. This recognition reflects their exceptional promise and dedication to using their talents for the greater good. We are confident they will seize this opportunity and continue to make Carolina proud.”

Kukoyi is from Hoover, Alabama, and won a Rhodes scholarship for the U.S. constituency. Kukoyi is a Morehead-Cain scholar and Honors Carolina student majoring in health policy and management at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health with minors in chemistry and biology. He is senior class president, a Truman scholar and a “Jeopardy!” champion.

Kukoyi is a public health leader and has worked for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and the Clinton Health Access Initiative in Nigeria. On campus, he has leadership roles with Campus Health as well as the UNC Student Health Action Coalition. At Oxford, Kukoyi will pursue the Master of Science in health improvement and evaluation and the Master of Science in evidence-based social intervention and policy evaluation.

“Being selected as a Rhodes scholar is one of the greatest honors of my life,” Kukoyi said. “At Oxford, I will study how we build health systems that prevent harm before it happens. Public health is at an inflection point, and we need leaders who can bridge evidence-based policy with the lived realities of the communities most affected.”

Moreau is from Toronto and won a Rhodes scholarship for the Canada constituency. Moreau is a Robertson scholar and Honors Carolina student majoring in geography at the UNC College of Arts and Sciences with a second major in environmental science from Duke University. She is a citizen of both Canada and the Métis Nation of Ontario.

Moreau is a leader in Indigenous governance and environmental conservation. For the past five years she has served as the Ontario representative of the Métis Nation of Ontario Youth Council. Moreau has participated in multiple international summits, including being a youth delegate at COP16 in Colombia. She has worked at the Harvard Project on Indigenous Governance and Development, gained on-the-ground experiential learning in the arctic through the Students on Ice program, and studied abroad at both King’s College London and the School for Field Studies in Cambodia. At Oxford, Moreau plans to pursue a Master of Philosophy in political theory.

“I am still in disbelief that I’m now a Rhodes scholar,” said Moreau. “At Oxford, I plan to pursue an MPhil in political theory to engage with theories of justice and human rights. I hope later to bring this knowledge to bear upon doctoral work in human geography on Indigenous conceptions of knowledge and justice.”

Dinham is from Jamaica and won the scholarship for the Jamaica constituency. She is also a Robertson scholar and Honors Carolina student, majoring in geological sciences at the UNC College of Arts and Sciences with a minor in geography.

She focuses her work on the fate and transport of contaminants in groundwater and sediment systems and explores ways to harness the Earth’s resources while also preserving the environment. In a ceremony hosted by the governor-general of Jamaica to announce the scholarship, Dinham dedicated the honor to the people of west Jamaica, who were recently struck by the devastating Hurricane Melissa.

Established in 1902, the Rhodes scholarship provides fully funded graduate study at the University of Oxford and is considered one of the world’s most prestigious academic awards.

“Carolina’s 2026 graduating class has three Rhodes scholars. Our students are amazing,” said Marc Howlett, executive director of the Office of Distinguished Scholarships in Honors Carolina. “I’m fully confident that Rotimi Kukoyi, Gabrielle Moreau and Tiana Dinham will make significant and lasting positive impacts on the world. I can’t wait to see what they do at Oxford and beyond.”

“We want to show that research is attainable for all,” said Jose Cuc-Reyes, LRI student ambassador. “When we asked students what they thought about research, they immediately jumped to lab coats, magnifying glasses and microscopes. Research can be so much more than that.”

The initiative is in its third year. Students learn about research through workshops, mentor relationships and cohort bonding activities. These help students focus on growing personal relationships along with learning communication and collaboration skills.

“We’re building architects for the future to eventually build a ladder for other scholars to follow and prove that research is attainable for everybody,” said Carolina Castro-Perez, another LRI student ambassador.

Students are paired with a faculty member from a field that interests them, then develop an idea for a research poster session. They meet several times throughout the session to work on the presentation, while also working on reflection writing and have conversations with other scholars about the research process.

LRI students represent a range of research, working with mentors from UNC Adams School of Dentistry, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, UNC School of Education and UNC School of Social Work.

“My favorite part has been seeing the growth of these scholars,” said Cuc-Reyes. “I’ve loved seeing students succeed who feel like they haven’t been able to make the most of their Carolina research experience prior to this.”

“This program is rooted in community and the feeling of belonging,” said Castro-Perez. “Research can be intimating and challenging for them, but they realize they belong here and their voice matters in their field of research. They learn to make the uncomfortable, comfortable and that’s the beauty of this program.”

Now he can add “genius” to that list.

Dasgupta has been awarded a 2025 MacArthur Fellowship, known as the “genius grant.” The honor, announced Oct. 8 by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, recognizes Dasgupta’s work as an epidemiologist and harm reduction advocate who combines scientific studies with community engagement to reduce deaths and other harms from drug use and overdose. Dasgupta and his team have played an important role in the national response to the opioid epidemic.

“Our mission is science in service,” Dasgupta said. “We want people to have access to the best knowledge and tools, so they can make better decisions about what they put in their bodies. This award is a testament to hundreds of community programs and health departments we serve, where lifesaving work happens.”

Dasgupta’s Street Drug Analysis Lab tests community-donated samples from around the country to determine what is in street drugs, then makes the results public in an online database. To date, the lab has completed more than 16,000 analyses with atomic precision. Understanding the makeup of these drugs helps individuals make decisions about their drug use and allows community members and first responders to prepare and provide proper care.

Integrating molecular data and community-based problem solving, Dasgupta uses his Carolina training as an epidemiologist to isolate trends and illuminate the bigger picture. His passion is telling true stories about health, with numbers. Those interested can follow the lab’s work in their newsletter.

“Our amazing teams pack boxes, analyze drug samples and process large volumes of data every day, in the hope that our neighbors have autonomy to lead healthier lives,” he said.

“Doing this work at Carolina is thrilling. Whenever we detect a street drug that’s never been seen before, we can call up world-class experts on campus and get immediate insight. The science that used to take years, we now do in weeks because we are focused on the socially relevant and actionable.”

In addition to analyzing street drugs, Dasgupta has worked for nearly two decades on broadening access to naloxone, which reverses opioid overdoses. He collaborates with people who have experience with drug use or its consequences to design effective, evidence-based interventions that respond to the needs of those who use drugs and community-based organizations that support them.

“We are immensely proud of Nabarun Dasgupta for receiving a MacArthur Fellowship,” said Chancellor Lee H. Roberts. “His groundbreaking work exemplifies Carolina’s mission to advance knowledge in service to society. This award honors his dedication and impact, as well as the collaborative spirit and commitment to the public good that define our faculty. Nabarun’s leadership and scholarship are making a tangible difference in North Carolina and beyond, and we celebrate this well-deserved achievement.”

“Nabarun Dasgupta’s recognition as a MacArthur Fellow is a powerful affirmation of the lasting impact his research has had on the communities he serves,” said Penny Gordon-Larsen, vice chancellor for research. “Addressing opioid overdose deaths, one of the most urgent public health challenges of our time, demands not only scientific excellence but also compassion, vision, and collaboration. His work exemplifies how research can both advance knowledge and directly improve lives, exactly what we strive for every day at UNC-Chapel Hill.”

Dasgupta’s Street Drug Analysis Lab tests community-donated samples from around the country to determine what is in street drugs, then makes the results public in an online database. (Pearson Riley)

Dasgupta has co-founded two nonprofits that have made significant strides in reducing the toll of opioid overdose deaths. In 2020, he and colleagues established Remedy Alliance/For The People, a new model to distribute free and low-cost naloxone to harm reduction programs across the country. He worked with the Food and Drug Administration to revise licensing agreements, allowing the nonprofit to purchase naloxone directly from pharmaceutical companies and distribute it to harm reduction organizations at low or no cost. They currently supply more than 500 organizations around the country and have shipped more than 6 million doses of the lifesaving antidote.

Project Lazarus, started in 2007 in rural Wilkes County, partnered with the North Carolina Medical Board to enable direct distribution of naloxone to those with a doctor’s prescription, and situated within an innovative integrated community-wide strategy, drastically reducing overdose deaths in the county.

“Nabarun Dasgupta is such a fitting recipient of this prestigious recognition as the first Gillings Innovation Fellow as well as Senior Scientist at the UNC Injury Prevention Research Center,” said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, dean of the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. “He specializes in turning research into practice, and through his work, he amplifies community and patient voices in public health and provides innovative health-tech and community-based solutions. He co-founded a non-profit in Wilkes County, North Carolina, which was the first of its kind to provide the antidote that reverses overdose to pain patients and people who use drugs. His originality, insight and potential are just a few of the values he shares with the MacArthur Fellowship, and we are immensely proud of his dedication, selflessness and accomplishments.”

Dasgupta was named to the TIME100 Next list in 2023 as a rising global leader. He’s also served as an adviser to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and World Health Organization. Before arriving in Chapel Hill, where he received his doctorate in epidemiology in 2013, Dasgupta earned his Master of Public Health from Yale University and a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University.

Hear Dasgupta talk about his work in an event Oct. 23 at the Friday Conference Center.

The MacArthur Fellowship is awarded to talented individuals in a variety of fields who have shown exceptional originality and dedication to their creative pursuits. Nominated anonymously by leaders in their fields and considered by an anonymous selection committee, recipients learn of their selection only when they receive a call from the MacArthur Foundation, just before the public announcement.

Fellows receive $800,000 stipends paid over five years, with no conditions.

Dasgupta is Carolina’s third MacArthur Fellow, following Tressie McMillan Cottom, professor in the UNC School of Information and Library Science, in 2020, and former Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz, then Kenan Distinguished Professor of Exercise and Sport Science, in 2011.

Here’s what some of Dasgupta’s colleagues had to say about the honor:

Brandie M. Ehrmann, director of Mass Spectrometry Core Laboratory: “On behalf of the Mass Spectrometry Core Laboratory and the department of chemistry, I extend my heartfelt congratulations to Dr. Dasgupta on this well-deserved recognition. Nab’s passion for public health and overdose prevention has been a constant source of inspiration to us as collaborators, and this award is a testament to the far-reaching impact of their contributions. Through fostering interdisciplinary research and innovation, Nab has built a program of transformative approaches that have made a profound difference within North Carolina, the Southeast region and across the nation. We are honored to collaborate with Nab’s program and are excited to see the new innovations and impact that will grow from this recognition.”

Elyse Powell, executive director of the North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition: “Nabarun’s work saves lives in the truest sense. Every day, he provides people with critical tools to protect themselves and the people they love. While this work is about preventing overdoses, at its core it’s about building healthier communities grounded in autonomy, dignity and respect. We are proud to stand alongside Nab and his team in this work.”

Maya Doe-Simkins, co-director of Remedy Alliance/For The People: “Nabarun is the real deal. His brilliance and welcoming collaborative nature operating at the intersections of public health and social justice produces an alchemy that has shown time and again to result in a collective synergy with network-level impacts.”

The project used high-resolution aerial photography and lidar, a laser-based technology that generates precise 3D models of terrain and structures, across 13 of the hardest-hit counties.

“The high-resolution nature of these lidar elevation data allows you to identify individual power lines, mailboxes and fire hydrants,” said Jeffrey Warren, Collaboratory executive director. “You can even count individual Christmas trees and blueberry bushes. It’s an amazingly detailed dataset.”

The project came together quickly, thanks to a fortunate convergence of timing and budget flexibility. The Collaboratory was able to redirect $4 million in digital engineering funds, which had been appropriated in late 2023 by the North Carolina General Assembly, to meet the urgent need for post-storm mapping.

“These are data we’ll be using for years,” Warren said. “It’s not just about the research and analysis focused on recovery; it’s also about the research and analysis that will allow western North Carolina to be better prepared for the next storm, regardless of magnitude.”

Lidar image of Western NC before Helene. (Submitted photos)

Prioritizing the most impacted

A rigorous disaster impact analysis allowed the Collaboratory to direct resources to the 13 counties that needed them most: Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Davie, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, McDowell, Mitchell, Rutherford, Watauga and Yancey.

“We began by filtering for counties that had received a presidential disaster declaration,” said John Dorman, vice president and director of emergency and risk management at AECOM, a global infrastructure consulting company. “From there, we overlaid storm-specific inundation data with structural impact assessments to determine which counties experienced the most significant damage.”

With the counties selected, AECOM coordinated a team to conduct the data acquisition. Timing was critical. Flights were conducted in January through early March to capture “leaf-off” conditions, necessary as foliage obstructs both lidar returns and aerial imagery.

To ensure efficiency and avoid duplication, the Collaboratory focused on the targeted counties, while the N.C. Department of Public Safety managed the lidar collection for a broader western area.

“Partnering with the Collaboratory allowed us to do more and more efficiently,” said Gary Thompson, N.C. DPS assistant director for risk management and chief of the N.C. Geodetic Survey. The imagery will also fill a critical gap identified and requested by the impacted communities.

Thompson noted that the data will be used by the state transportation department, the state geological survey and private companies. It will be essential for programs like floodplain remapping, landslide risk assessment and real-time flood warning systems powered by over 600 water-level gauges across the state.

From data to action

As the data becomes available, counties are receiving hard drives with their regional datasets. The complete data collection will also be made publicly available through NC OneMap, the state’s geospatial data portal.

One of the Collaboratory’s key research partners, the UNC Institute for Risk Management and Insurance Innovation, will analyze the data to measure changes in the landscape and the built environment since 2017.

“This is the first time we’ll have such a complete ‘before and after’ model,” Warren noted. “Not only does this help quantify loss for FEMA recovery requests, but it’s also vital for future planning. We can simulate how future storms might behave in the changed landscape.”

Read more about the Collaboratory’s data collection project. 

Greene has worked for UNC-Chapel Hill in a variety of roles, most recently as professor of the practice in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health’s health policy and management department. She is also co-director of the program on health care economics and finance, a senior research fellow at the UNC Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research and an adjunct associate professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy.

What brought you to Carolina?

I received my doctoral degree from UNC-Chapel Hill. Dennis Gillings was my doctoral dissertation chair and guided me through the Doctor of Public Health program in the department of biostatistics in Gillings. Cecil G. Sheps was a consultant to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina when they decided to start a research unit, studying their claims data to better understand the health care utilization of their subscribers. Both of these wonderful Carolina faculty mentors assisted me in landing the position at BCBSNC and continued to serve in a consulting role as I built the new research unit.

As I developed and expanded BCBSNC’s research program, I maintained close ties with Carolina faculty. During these years, I returned to the University frequently to provide guest lectures and interact with students. When I came to a point in my career where I was ready for new professional challenges, it was a no-brainer that a position at UNC-Chapel Hill was the right step to take. While I have technically worked at the University since 1979 as an adjunct assistant professor in the biostatistics department and then a research associate at the Sheps Center in 1980, I joined Gillings full time in 2001 as professor of the practice.

How has your role here changed over the years?

My role at UNC-Chapel Hill is in two parts: teaching and research. My teaching has been in the department of health policy and management at Gillings, and my research has been at the Sheps Center. My relationships with both of these entities are deep and special.

Because of my experience in health services research and policy at BCBSNC, my teaching interests at the University were with the Dr.PH students in healthy policy and management.

When I began my role at the Sheps Center, the only health insurance claims data available for health services researchers was the N.C. discharge data. These data included records for all hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and ambulatory surgery cases in N.C. facilities. What was striking to me was that the University had no access to any other insurance claims data for its researchers to use. So, in my role at Sheps and in conjunction with Gillings, I began the Carolina Cost and Quality Initiative to bring N.C. insurance claims data into the Sheps Center.

The use of the N.C. discharge data, for which I am responsible, has also evolved. Through a contract with the Division of Health Services Regulation, the Sheps Center analyzes the use of N.C. hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers and evaluates future need to expand these facilities. This work is overseen by the N.C. State Health Coordinating Council, of which I had been a member since 1996. In 2021, I was appointed by the governor to chair this statewide council. In this role, I am responsible for producing the annual State Medical Facilities Plan, which oversees the expansion of medical facilities and services in N.C.

Read more about Sandra B. Greene. 

“He had a lot of street experience and took me under his wing,” Dasgupta says. “He was a mentor and friend.”

In 2005, as Dasgupta was preparing to head to UNC-Chapel Hill for his doctoral program, he received one of the worst phone calls of his life. Tony had overdosed and died. He keeps Tony’s photo on his desk at the UNC Injury Prevention Research Center, where he works as a senior scientist, as a reminder of why his work is important.

Dasgupta runs the UNC Street Drug Analysis Lab, which tests street drugs from all over the country, providing reports to more than 160 programs in 43 states.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 100,000 people die from drug use each year, nearly half of the overdoses from deadly drug combinations.

For example, xylazine — a dangerous drug found in the supply over the past decade — becomes deadly when mixed with fentanyl. Dasgupta’s lab detects these threats early, creating detailed reports for sample providers and analyzing national trends to guide harm reduction, like where to focus overdose prevention and distribute naloxone.

“Part of the reason why we started testing street drugs is because we don’t find out what’s in the drug supply until it’s too late, when people are either dead or they’re arrested,” Dasgupta says. “There’s no opportunity for prevention. There’s no opportunity for recovery. We can do better.”

This work has been recognized by North Carolina first lady Anna Stein, whose platforms include reducing stigma against people with substance use and mental health disorders. “Dr. Dasgupta’s work is founded upon the idea that all people, including people who use drugs, have lives that are worth saving,” she says. “The work of the UNC Street Drug Analysis Lab saves lives, plain and simple.”

Dasgupta is also the co-founder of a nonprofit called Remedy Alliance/For the People, which provides low-cost naloxone — the medicine that reverses overdose — to public health agencies in 42 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The nonprofit grew out of a program Dasgupta developed with local leaders in western North Carolina to promote the distribution of naloxone, the first in the world to use the lifesaving medicine.

“Our fundamental mission is to make our neighbors healthier,” Dasgupta says. “We want people to make better decisions about what they put in their bodies. Science can help with that. Our goal is really science in service. What we are doing here on campus has repercussions all over the country.”

Dasgupta believes his friend Tony would be proud of the work he’s accomplished.

“But we still have a long way to go,” Dasgupta says. “We’re still losing way too many people we love in North Carolina. And I think with the tools that our lab and our community partners bring to the table, we are changing what’s happening on the ground here.”

Read more about Dasgupta’s work.