When Fred Sanger figured out how to sequence DNA in 1975, the world changed — and so did UNC. As more and more scientists dove headfirst into the field of genetics, the university realized the need for a department dedicated to this cause.

Since its founding in 2000, the UNC Department of Genetics has continuously made the top-five list of NIH program funding and has grown to include 80 faculty, who have taken the world of research and medicine by storm.

Discussions of sixteenths, scales, and solos rang through the rooms of Kenan Music Hall during the 2017 UNC Summer Jazz Workshop, led by music professor Stephen Anderson. Those who attended were of a variety of ages, skill levels, and backgrounds — a true testament to the universal language of music.

Some students were involved in theory and improvisation courses, while others focused on jazz history, many receiving college credit during the five-day event. All participants had the opportunity to enjoy evening concerts performed by talented guests, professors, and peers. Some of the same students return each year, sure to receive a unique experience each time — that’s the beauty of jazz.

Rising senior Lin Cao is an undergraduate researcher in the Neher Lab within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences, double-majoring in anthropology and biology, with a minor in chemistry. She is also an ambassador for the Office of Undergraduate Research. Her research focuses on the maturation and structure of lipases, a group of proteins that digest fats in the body.

The major political events of the 1960s set the stage for the founding of the UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, which forever changed education research and practice.

Smarter. Healthier. Better prepared for the world. Those are just a few of the benefits early childhood education can have over the course of a lifetime — benefits made evident by the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute’s Abecedarian Project researchers, who have spent the past 45 years following up with their original research subjects.

Francesca Bernardi is a math PhD candidate within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences and a member of the Joint Applied Mathematics and Marine Sciences Fluids Lab. She is the co-founder of Girls Talk Math and president of the UNC Association for Women in Mathematics. Through experiments and mathematical modeling, Bernadi examines the behavior of fluids flowing through tubes of various geometric shapes such as square, rectangular, elliptical, and more.

Cheng Cao is a PhD student studying geological sciences within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences. Her research focuses on understanding Earth’s evolution over time, as well as the chemical processes that take place on the planet’s surface.

Rachel Willis is a professor of American studies, global studies, and economics within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences. Her research focuses on how sea-level rise, drought, and increased storm severity threaten port communities, influence migration, alter global food sheds, and impact future access to work through complex water connections related to infrastructure for global freight transportation.

People with cerebral palsy (CP) are now living longer than they ever have before. But a longer life with CP can include more complex health issues that providers are struggling to accommodate.

One physical therapist at UNC wants to change that.

While car manufacturers and tech companies around the world work to make autonomous vehicles a reality, two UNC researchers are raising some important questions about the impacts — both positive and negative — that this massive change will have on our daily lives and public health.

As chief of research strategy, Joyce Tan is responsible for the development and implementation of research strategy for the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research. She works with leadership throughout campus to facilitate interdisciplinary research programs and to grow the university’s global reputation, encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship. She also promotes research partnerships with external public and private organizations.

From the basalt lava fields of Hawaii to the vast white expanse of Antarctica, UNC alumna Zena Cardman has ventured to some of Earth’s most unique and remote places.

Now she’s setting her sights on the ultimate frontier — space. Over 18,000 people applied to be in NASA’s newest class of astronauts, and Cardman found out on May 25 that she was among the top 12 accepted. She reports to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in August to begin her training.