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News & Press Releases

Isabella Young Receives the 2023 CROI New Investigator Award

At the 2023 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), Isabella Young was awarded the 2023 New Investigator Award. She met Dr. Fauci in person and presented her work to attendees. Congrats Isabella!

CDC-UNC Collaboration Yields Potential Long-term HIV Protection

For people at high risk of contracting HIV, missing doses of their daily HIV prevention pills can have big consequences. In some cases, missing a pill can lead to lack of protection against the virus. … Continued

Denali Dahl

February 2022 – Denali Dahl successfully defended her PhD thesis!

Congrats Dr. Dahl!

January 2022 – Jasmine King receives prestigious NIH T32 Fellowship in collaboration with UNC/Duke Clinical Pharmacology Program!

Congrats Jasmine!

January 2022 – Ally Thorson receives Lucas Scholarship Award! Congrats Ally!

The program was named to honor UNC’s Biomedical Engineering Department founding chair, Dr. Carol Lucas, and also to recognize her contributions to the field of biomedical engineering. 

December 2021 – Isabella Young receives New Investigator Scholarship at Conference of Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections Annual Meeting (CROI 2022)

November 2021 – Aryani Pallerla receives Male Contraceptive Initiative Award! Congrats Aryani!

In 2021, MCI’s Youth Advisory Board (YAB) was able to release an undergraduate research opportunity in an effort to engage young scholars in the field of male contraception. The opportunity was made available with support from the Parsemus … Continued

July 2021 – Isabella Young receives MSD/IAS Prize for Research in HIV Prevention at International AIDS Society Meeting!

Congrats Isabella! Read the Full Story

Summer 2021 – Denali Dahl and Jordan Joiner receive summer internships

Denali will be interning at FHI 360 and Jordan will be interning at Bristol Meyer Squib. Congrats!

New Exciting R01 Grant to Develop a First-in-line Injectable MPT for Prevention of HIV & Unplanned Pregnancy!

The lab of Rahima Benhabbour, PhD, has received a $3.74 million grant over five years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The grant will … Continued

Jasmine King Receives the HHMI Gilliam Fellowship Award!

Congrats Jasmine!!!

Jasmine King Receives a Prestigious EII $25K Grant!

Congrats Jasmine on this terrific achievement!

Isabella Young Receives a Prestigious NSF Predoctoral Fellowship Award & Honorable Mention for the Ford Foundation!

Congrats Isabella!!!

Clinical & Translational Research at UNC Chapel-Hill

The NIH-funded NC TraCS Institute at UNC is a CTSA hub founded as a service to the research community— guiding investigators and study teams through clinical trials and regulatory approval, all the way to implementation … Continued

Carolina Awarded $2.91 Million to Create New Ultra-long-acting HIV Drug Delivery Implant

HIV clinical trials have shown that the protective efficacy of daily antiretroviral drugs for the prevention of HIV transmission correlates with adherence – whether an uninfected person takes the prescribed medication at proper times. But … Continued

AnelleO: 3D Printing to Create Devices for HIV Prevention, Birth Control and Infertility

Women and girls are disproportionately affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, comprising more than half of the estimated 37.9 million people living with the disease. Moreover, according to United Nations AIDS, some regions of the world, … Continued

Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News: HIV Drug Delivery Made Easier with Long-Acting Implant

Adherence to a strict HIV regimen is an essential part of effective HIV treatment. Medication should be taken every day, at specific times of the day, and with or without certain kinds of food. Making … Continued

Chapel Hill Startup AnelleO, Founded by UNC Professor, Creating Breakthrough in Women’s Health

Rahima Benhabbour has always been an advocate for women’s health issues. As an assistant professor in the UNC/NC State Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering and an adjunct professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, … Continued

Innovate Carolina Feature: Personalized Drug Delivery in 3D

On a mission for innovation and translational science, Rahima Benhabbour is using 3D-printing technology and her startup company AnelleO to create a breakthrough in women’s health.

Carolina Stories

Dr. Soumya Rahima Benhabbour is from the North African country of Morocco where, according to UNAIDS, there has been a 42 percent reduction in new HIV infections since 2010. That’s good news to Benhabbour, whose … Continued

Long-acting Injectable Implant Shows Promise for HIV Treatment and Prevention

The long-acting antiretroviral drug formulation, developed by UNC School of Medicine researchers Rahima Benhabbour, PhD and Martina Kovarova, PhD, is injected under the skin and forms into a solid implant that dissolves slowly to release … Continued

UNC to Create the Next Generation, Ultra-Long-Acting Antiretroviral Formulations for HIV Treatment and Prevention

New project aims to provide long-lasting HIV treatment and/or protection from a single injection. Angela Wahl, PhD, Rahima Benhabbour, PhD, and Martina Kovarova, PhD, are collaborating to lead the work, which is funded by a … Continued

3D Printed Intravaginal Rings to Help Protect Women from HIV Infection and Unintended Pregnancy

Rahima Benhabbour is a woman on an amazing mission. Not only is she a professor at the Eshelman School of Pharmacy University department in Chapel Hill, North Carolina she’s also founder of AnnelleO, a 3D … Continued

UNC KickStart Picks Three Faculty Startups for $89K in Funding

Three faculty-led startups at UNC-Chapel Hill are moving closer to commercialization after receiving more than $89,000 in funding from the university’s KickStart Venture Services program.

Discover the Innovation and Translational Science Happening in Our Lab