More Impact in North Carolina and around the World

Staying true to the university’s strategic framework, being 'Of the Public for the Public' is a priority for the future of Carolina, and equal to that is 'Innovation made Fundamental'. We focus on these core imperatives, not to raise our rankings, but rather to make a great impact on the people we serve. The only way we can sustain and grow solution-oriented service is to enhance our position as a preeminent translational research university, thereby strengthening our impact in North Carolina and beyond.

Reaching Our Destination Starts by Changing Our Approach.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is diagnosed in one out of every 68 children in the U.S., a 123 percent increase since 2002, and one in every 58 children in North Carolina. The disorder effects all races and backgrounds. And, it can last a lifetime.
Ranked No. 2 in the world for autism research, Carolina is poised to change the trajectory of those lives. Our new Autism Research Center represents the heart of that effort. We recognize the complexity of ASD and have brought together specializations spanning from basic autism research to service delivery to collaborate and do together what can’t be done alone: develop personalized ASD treatments for every age.
From using genetics to diagnose autism at a much earlier age to scaling up treatments to reach many more people, our collective expertise will tackle every facet of ASD. Not only will individuals with the condition benefit, but family members and caregivers will as well. By seeing individual cases for each person on the spectrum, we forge a bigger path, one that leads the way in ASD treatment. As we continue down this road, we can determine how it’s treated in the future on our way to our ultimate destination: a cure.