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First cohort of UNC-Chapel Hill faculty recognized for advancing innovation, mentorship through their research.

This article was originally published on January 15, 2025, by Shellie Edge at Innovate Carolina and can be read here

Innovate Carolina announces its first cohort of members to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s National Academy of Inventors (NAI) chapter, which supports and celebrates the achievements of inventors within the UNC-Chapel Hill community. Since its founding in 2010, NAI champions inventors with U.S. patents by recognizing their contributions, advancing academic innovation, promoting intellectual property disclosure, mentoring student innovators, and raising public awareness about the societal benefits of its members’ work.

“We are excited to celebrate the inaugural members of UNC-Chapel Hill’s National Academy of Inventors chapter,” says Dedric A. Carter, PhD, MBA, Chief Innovation Officer and Vice Chancellor of innovation, entrepreneurship and economic development at UNC-Chapel Hill as well as NAI Invention Ambassador. “Their groundbreaking work and dedication to innovation inspire our community and pave the way for future inventors at Carolina to transform ideas into impactful solutions.”

Inaugural 2024 Inductees  

  • Gregory P. Copenhaver, PhD
    Chancellor’s Eminent Professor of Convergent Science, Director, Institute for Convergent Science, Associate Provost for CoC & EPAP, Professor of Biology and NAI Senior Member
  • Paul A. Dayton, PhD
    William R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor Department Chair, The Lampe Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at UNC Chapel Hill and NC State University, and NAI Senior Member
  • Alexander V. Kabanov, PhD
    Mescal Swaim Ferguson Distinguished Professor, Director, Center for Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery, Co-Director, Carolina Nanomedicine Institute, and NAI Fellow
  • Brian Kuhlman, PhD
    Oliver Smithies Investigator, Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics and Co-Director, UNC Molecular and Cellular Biophysics Program
  • Yueh Z. Lee, MD, PhD
    Professor of Radiology and Vice Chair of Translational Research
  • Matthew R. Penny
    Associate Professor of Practice, The Lampe Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at UNC Chapel Hill and NC State University, and Associate Director, MS MedTech Program
  • R. Jude Samulski, PhD
  • Professor of Pharmacology, UNC School of Medicine and NAI Fellow
  • Mark H. Schoenfisch, PhD
    Peter A. Ornstein Distinguished Professor, Department of Chemistry and ESOP Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics, and 2018 UNC Inventor of the Year
  • Koji Sode, PhD
    William R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor, The Lampe Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at UNC Chapel Hill and NC State University, and NAI Fellow
  • Xiaodong Wang, PhD
    Research Professor, Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, ESOP Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, and Director of Medicinal Chemistry
  • Otto Z. Zhou, PhD
    David Godschalk Distinguished Professor, Physics and Astronomy

Honorary Inductees 

In addition, Jude Samulski, PhD, has been honored as a NAI Fellow, elected as one of 170 exceptional inventors into the 2024 Class of Fellows. Samulski is the ninth UNC-Chapel Hill inventor to be honored as a NAI Fellow. NAI Fellowship is the highest professional distinction awarded solely to inventors. The distinction highlights academic inventors who demonstrate a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society.

Current and former Carolina faculty researchers honored as NAI Fellows include Nancy AlbrittonJoseph DeSimone, Anthony J. Hickey, Alexander KabanovHarold KohnJ. Michael RamseyKoji Sode, and the late Oliver Smithies, UNC-Chapel Hill’s first Nobel laureate. There are only 1,800 NAI Fellows worldwide and collectively, they hold more than 63,000 issued U.S. patents, which have generated more than 13,000 licensed technologies, 3,200 companies and created more than 1 million jobs.

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