Category: Uncategorized

GlycoGrip – Connecting the Dots to Disease Detection

GlycoGrip – A Straight Line to Disease Detection Stopping viral disease spread relies on accurate, cost efficient and robust community detection. Multiplexed tools that are responsive to viral mutations remove the need for iterative devices, and equip public health practitioners with test-to-treat tools that detect infection at early stages of disease, and stop an outbreak before it begins.   … Continue reading GlycoGrip – Connecting the Dots to Disease Detection

Creativity Hubs Award Funds New Implant Device To Revolutionize Chronic Disease Management

CREATIVITY HUBS AWARD FAST-TRACKS DEVELOPMENT OF IMPLANTABLE TECHNOLOGIES THAT COULD DISRUPT HEALTHCARE IN NORTH CAROLINA, NATIONWIDE, AND GLOBALLY     A new implantable device termed Autonomous Living Therapies for Extended Results (ALTER) could change the way chronic diseases are managed by offering a promising solution to one of the biggest challenges in healthcare: poor medication… Continue reading Creativity Hubs Award Funds New Implant Device To Revolutionize Chronic Disease Management

Throwback – Revisiting Chemically Reversible Hydrogels

Revisiting Ronit’s Reversible Game-Changing Hydrogel Research Imagine you are playing softball with some friends at a neighborhood field. You’re up to bat, you swing and connect and everyone cheers you on for your homerun. But the ball has landed beyond the outfield, just behind another fence. You are able to put your hand through the… Continue reading Throwback – Revisiting Chemically Reversible Hydrogels

Lab’s Research Makes Cover of Nature Chemistry

Freeman Lab Synthetic Cell Research Makes Cover of Nature Chemistry’s August Issue Chapel Hill, NC The August 2024 issue of Nature Chemistry features a cover image representing the research led by Margaret Daly, Kengo Nishi, and Ronit Freeman. The research spans multiple years in developing peptide -based filaments with DNA crosslinkers that forms networks and… Continue reading Lab’s Research Makes Cover of Nature Chemistry

AIChE Touts Potential of Lab’s Artificial Cells

AIChE Touts Potential of Lab’s Artificial Cells Chapel Hill, NC The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) take intrigue with the Freeman Lab’s ‘new method of building artificial cells from the ground up.’   These artificial cells have the ability to respond to external triggers such as heat, making them potential building blocks for sensors… Continue reading AIChE Touts Potential of Lab’s Artificial Cells

UNC Researchers create artificial cells that act like living cells

UNC-Chapel Hill researchers create artificial cells that act like living cells Chapel Hill, NC Carleigh Gabryel In a new study published in Nature Chemistry, Carolina researcher Ronit Freeman and her colleagues describe the steps they took to manipulate DNA and proteins — essential building blocks of life — to create cells that look and act like cells from the… Continue reading UNC Researchers create artificial cells that act like living cells

Targeted therapy treatments – with a twist!

Twisted Ribbons

UNC-Chapel Hill researchers have developed a therapeutic approach that harnesses helical amyloid fibers designed to untwist and release drugs in response to body temperature, according to a study published in Nature Communications. “Understanding the structural and assembly properties of the beta-amyloid 42 peptide is crucial for advancing our knowledge of Alzheimer’s and developing targeted therapies for… Continue reading Targeted therapy treatments – with a twist!

Sugar-coated COVID-19 test takes advantage of coronavirus’ sweet tooth

Researchers in the Freeman Lab take advantage of the virus’s sweet tooth by creating a sugar-coated COVID-19 test strip. This test strip has been effective at detecting all known variants of the coronavirus, including delta. They work to determine if the self-test known as GlycoGrip can detect infections caused by the omicron variant too. Read… Continue reading Sugar-coated COVID-19 test takes advantage of coronavirus’ sweet tooth

Freeman and Hagood labs awarded grant by Eshelman Institute for Innovation

The Freeman Lab is excited to announce a new cross-campus grant awarded by the Eshelman Institute for Innovation to pursue research in lung fibrosis. Dr. Ronit Freeman and Dr. Jim Hagood of the UNC School of Medicine will receive $350,000 towards their interdisciplinary research into peptide-based fibrosis therapeutics. This exciting novel drug technology will have… Continue reading Freeman and Hagood labs awarded grant by Eshelman Institute for Innovation

New Paper in Acta Biomaterialia

A new paper titled “Hydrogen Bonding Stiffens Peptide Amphiphile Supramolecular Filaments by Aza-Glycine Residues” is due to be published in the upcoming issue of Acta Biomaterialia. The paper is authored by Jacqueline M. Godbe, Ronit Freeman, Jacob A. Lewis, Ivan R. Sasselli, M. Hussain Sangji, and Samuel I. Stupp. You can find the paper online… Continue reading New Paper in Acta Biomaterialia

COVID-19 Sensing Paper in ACS Sensors

A new paper from the Freeman Lab, titled “Catching COVID: Engineering Peptide-Modified Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Sensors for SARS-CoV-2”, is due to be published in the upcoming issue of ACS Sensors. The paper was written in collaboration with Zachary Schultz and Taylor Payne of Ohio State University, and was funded by the Reserach Corporation for Scientific… Continue reading COVID-19 Sensing Paper in ACS Sensors