Right now, while many of us are sheltering in place and doing our part to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, UNC-Chapel Hill’s researchers, experts, scientists and staff are fervently working to find solutions so that we can save lives, reduce suffering, and safely reopen our state, our nation and our world. Vital resources are needed now to fill the gaps in existing and evolving research opportunities for Carolina to better execute its rapid response to this global pandemic.

The breadth and depth of Carolina’s COVID-19 research is astounding but not surprising: UNC-Chapel Hill has been a leader in pandemic research for decades, from pioneering treatments for infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS to leading novel testing and development of antiviral therapies and vaccines for emerging threats like Ebola, Zika and coronavirus. Now, Carolina is tackling the COVID-19 crisis head-on through our expertise in microbiology, immunology, epidemiology, pharmacology, on-campus specialized clinical care for lungs and all other systems of the human body.

Housed in UNC’s Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research that oversees, develops and supports Carolina’s $1.1 billion research enterprise, the UNC COVID-19 Research Accelerator Fund provides critical unrestricted support to Carolina’s world-renowned research teams — eliminating roadblocks and cutting through barriers to deliver the resources needed most to mitigate this pandemic and prepare us for the next.

Our research teams encounter a wide range of needs, from highly specialized equipment to supplies, services and data, to hiring invaluable postdoctoral researchers and specialists to help coordinate activities between labs.

Your contributions to the UNC COVID-19 Research Accelerator Fund will be quickly dispersed where most needed to accelerate existing research capacity and advance new projects. You can make an immediate impact. For questions about the fund or specific areas of research, contact Mark Meares at mark_meares@unc.edu.

• Carolina is the highest ranked among U.S. universities in coronavirus research, according to a Microsoft Academic rating system based on how often other researchers cited articles written by the University’s faculty members.
• Recently, Reuters named UNC-Chapel Hill the sixth most innovative university in the world.
• UNC-Chapel Hill is home to five U.S. News & World Report top-ranked health sciences schools, including our schools of pharmacy, public health, medicine, nursing and dentistry.