The week of August 8, 2022 was an exciting one for Dr. Eric Josephs, an Assistant Professor at the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering’s (JSNN) Department of Nanoscience. His lab was informed that they had won two grants from the NIH:

1. A R21 from the NIH/National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering for $400,000 to support a research project on making CRISPR gene therapies safer. NIH R21 grant mechanisms are highly competitive and are intended to encourage exploratory research that is considered high risk high reward and break new ground. The funding provides support for project development at the early and conceptual stages.
2. An administrative supplement for equipment purchases in the amount of $82,000 to acquire an Automatic Droplet Generator to support molecular virology work. The NIH provides mechanisms to offer administrative supplement awards toward additional needs that arise on projects that are currently funded. This award was a supplement to a previous award won by Dr. Josephs.

The Josephs lab focuses on research in the areas of nanoscience and molecular biophysics for better biotechnologies. Projects in the group focus on ee-engineering biomolecular systems with novel or enhanced functionalities to improve the ability to detect and treat genetic diseases. The group is also involved in discovering new molecular tools to understand mechanisms that modulate genetic stability in industrially and clinically important species.

These recent awards bring the total of grant funds acquired by Dr. Josephs from NIH, NSF, NCBC, UNCG, and the UNC system office, to $2.95M since August 2018 when he joined JSNN.

Congratulations to Dr. Josephs on this tremendous accomplishment!!!