UNC-Chapel Hill, Hamner Institutes Announce Partnership To Accelerate Basic, Translational Research

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences have signed a memorandum of understanding that will guide innovative collaborations in basic and translational research.

Established with Carolina’s schools of medicine, pharmacy and public health, and its Kenan-Flagler Business School, this unique partnership capitalizes on the scientific strengths of a leading university and an independent research institute, both of which are committed to accelerating advances in human therapeutics and public health locally and internationally. Key initial areas of anticipated collaboration include pursuit of new therapies for cancer and respiratory diseases by advancing experimental and computational sciences in drug safety assessment, drug disposition, pharmacogenomics, genomic medicine, nanomedicine, drug delivery and public health.

The scientific and business-development teams at The Hamner Institutes will work with Carolina faculty, including those from the Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery in the Schools of Pharmacy, Medicine and College of Arts and Sciences, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School and the University’s Office of Technology Development to identify, assess and enhance development of new research leads. Together, they will collaboratively pursue a wide array of research grant opportunities from government, industry and non-profit organizations to accelerate development of promising research and technologies that can be licensed out and/or spun out into the University’s new innovation center.

This new partnership between The Hamner Institutes and the University will also draw upon extensive resources available at the state’s other academic institutions and the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, which supports statewide faculty recruitment, scientific education, economic development and technology development.

Related Links:
www.thehamner.org
www.unc.edu

Quotes:
"At Carolina, we are committed to making sure that the discoveries of basic science benefit people," said UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor James Moeser. "This partnership with the Hamner Institutes will help us accelerate the development of valuable new drugs, treatments and technologies that improve health and also yield new economic opportunities for North Carolinians."

"We are extremely pleased and honored to be joining with one of the world’s leading research universities to create a unique integrative model for translating basic science research into new medicines," said Dr. William Greenlee, President and CEO of The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences. "This partnership also will foster new alliances between academe, industry and government regulatory agencies to advance public health research, education and scientifically informed policies."

About The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences:
Strategically located on a 56-acre campus in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park, The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences is a cross-disciplinary nonprofit organization that acts as a catalyst to facilitate scientific collaborations – both locally and internationally – between academia, the private sector and government. For more than 30 years, Hamner scientists have been recognized for their public-policy leadership and research advances in fields such as risk assessment, dose-response modeling and inhalation drug delivery. For more information, visit www.thehamner.org or call (919) 558-1200.

Keywords:
The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Translational Research, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, Human Therapeutics, Public Health, Computational Science, Drug Safety Assessment, Drug Disposition, Pharmacogenomics, Genomic Medicine, Nanomedicine, Drug Delivery, UNC Office of Technology Development, Biomedical, Biotechnology, Dr. William Greenlee, Dr. Charles Hamner, Environmental Risk Assessment , Pharmaceutical Drug Development, Translational Biomedical Sciences, The Hamner Accelerator for Translational Bioscience, Rick Williams, UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor James Moeser

UNC News Services contact:
Lisa Katz
(919) 962-2093
lisa_katz@unc.edu

The Hamner Institutes Media contact:
Patty Briguglio
MMI Associates, Inc.
919-233-6600
patty@mmimarketing.com

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