Each week, the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy will highlight the bold work of researchers who have received funding from the Eshelman Institute for Innovation (EII). The Eshelman Institute for Innovation is made possible by a $100 million gift from Fred Eshelman to accelerate the creation and development of ideas leading to discoveries and transformative changes in education, research and health care. To learn more about the EII’s impact, visit unceii.org/impact.
Meet: Jian Liu
About Project: Developing Carbohydrate-based Medicines
Funded Amount: $749,000
About Project: Carbohydrates play essential functions in regulating various physiological and pathological processes. Advanced methods in designing and synthesizing carbohydrate molecules will open a new path for drug discovery for cancer, cardiovascular diseases and microbial infections. Three projects are proposed to improve the pharmacology of heparin, a carbohydrate-based drug for anticoagulant therapy.
“The funding from EII gives us the opportunity to establish new collaborations and open new directions to develop carbohydrate-based medicine.”