
Nabarun Dasgupta is Carolina’s third faculty member to win the MacArthur Fellowship, known as the “genius grant.” (Alyssa LaFaro/UNC Research Stories)
The UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health scientist received the prestigious fellowship for helping prevent drug overdose deaths.
By Tommy Hamzik, University Communications and Marketing
Nabarun “Nab” Dasgupta holds many titles at UNC-Chapel Hill: Innovation Fellow at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, senior scientist at the UNC Injury Prevention Research Center and leader of the UNC Street Drug Analysis Lab.
Now he can add “genius” to that list.
Dasgupta has been awarded a 2025 MacArthur Fellowship, known as the “genius grant.” The honor, announced Oct. 8 by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, recognizes Dasgupta’s work as an epidemiologist and harm reduction advocate who combines scientific studies with community engagement to reduce deaths and other harms from drug use and overdose. Dasgupta and his team have played an important role in the national response to the opioid epidemic.
“Our mission is science in service,” Dasgupta said. “We want people to have access to the best knowledge and tools, so they can make better decisions about what they put in their bodies. This award is a testament to hundreds of community programs and health departments we serve, where lifesaving work happens.”
Dasgupta’s Street Drug Analysis Lab tests community-donated samples from around the country to determine what is in street drugs, then makes the results public in an online database. To date, the lab has completed more than 16,000 analyses with atomic precision. Understanding the makeup of these drugs helps individuals make decisions about their drug use and allows community members and first responders to prepare and provide proper care.
Integrating molecular data and community-based problem solving, Dasgupta uses his Carolina training as an epidemiologist to isolate trends and illuminate the bigger picture. His passion is telling true stories about health, with numbers. Those interested can follow the lab’s work in their newsletter.
“Our amazing teams pack boxes, analyze drug samples and process large volumes of data every day, in the hope that our neighbors have autonomy to lead healthier lives,” he said.
“Doing this work at Carolina is thrilling. Whenever we detect a street drug that’s never been seen before, we can call up world-class experts on campus and get immediate insight. The science that used to take years, we now do in weeks because we are focused on the socially relevant and actionable.”
In addition to analyzing street drugs, Dasgupta has worked for nearly two decades on broadening access to naloxone, which reverses opioid overdoses. He collaborates with people who have experience with drug use or its consequences to design effective, evidence-based interventions that respond to the needs of those who use drugs and community-based organizations that support them.
“We are immensely proud of Nabarun Dasgupta for receiving a MacArthur Fellowship,” said Chancellor Lee H. Roberts. “His groundbreaking work exemplifies Carolina’s mission to advance knowledge in service to society. This award honors his dedication and impact, as well as the collaborative spirit and commitment to the public good that define our faculty. Nabarun’s leadership and scholarship are making a tangible difference in North Carolina and beyond, and we celebrate this well-deserved achievement.”
“Nabarun Dasgupta’s recognition as a MacArthur Fellow is a powerful affirmation of the lasting impact his research has had on the communities he serves,” said Penny Gordon-Larsen, vice chancellor for research. “Addressing opioid overdose deaths, one of the most urgent public health challenges of our time, demands not only scientific excellence but also compassion, vision, and collaboration. His work exemplifies how research can both advance knowledge and directly improve lives, exactly what we strive for every day at UNC-Chapel Hill.”
Dasgupta has co-founded two nonprofits that have made significant strides in reducing the toll of opioid overdose deaths. In 2020, he and colleagues established Remedy Alliance/For The People, a new model to distribute free and low-cost naloxone to harm reduction programs across the country. He worked with the Food and Drug Administration to revise licensing agreements, allowing the nonprofit to purchase naloxone directly from pharmaceutical companies and distribute it to harm reduction organizations at low or no cost. They currently supply more than 500 organizations around the country and have shipped more than 6 million doses of the lifesaving antidote.
Project Lazarus, started in 2007 in rural Wilkes County, partnered with the North Carolina Medical Board to enable direct distribution of naloxone to those with a doctor’s prescription, and situated within an innovative integrated community-wide strategy, drastically reducing overdose deaths in the county.
“Nabarun Dasgupta is such a fitting recipient of this prestigious recognition as the first Gillings Innovation Fellow as well as Senior Scientist at the UNC Injury Prevention Research Center,” said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, dean of the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. “He specializes in turning research into practice, and through his work, he amplifies community and patient voices in public health and provides innovative health-tech and community-based solutions. He co-founded a non-profit in Wilkes County, North Carolina, which was the first of its kind to provide the antidote that reverses overdose to pain patients and people who use drugs. His originality, insight and potential are just a few of the values he shares with the MacArthur Fellowship, and we are immensely proud of his dedication, selflessness and accomplishments.”
Dasgupta was named to the TIME100 Next list in 2023 as a rising global leader. He’s also served as an adviser to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and World Health Organization. Before arriving in Chapel Hill, where he received his doctorate in epidemiology in 2013, Dasgupta earned his Master of Public Health from Yale University and a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University.
The MacArthur Fellowship is awarded to talented individuals in a variety of fields who have shown exceptional originality and dedication to their creative pursuits. Nominated anonymously by leaders in their fields and considered by an anonymous selection committee, recipients learn of their selection only when they receive a call from the MacArthur Foundation, just before the public announcement.
Fellows receive $800,000 stipends paid over five years, with no conditions.
Dasgupta is Carolina’s third MacArthur Fellow, following Tressie McMillan Cottom, professor in the UNC School of Information and Library Science, in 2020, and former Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz, then Kenan Distinguished Professor of Exercise and Sport Science, in 2011.
Here’s what some of Dasgupta’s colleagues had to say about the honor:
Brandie M. Ehrmann, director of Mass Spectrometry Core Laboratory: “On behalf of the Mass Spectrometry Core Laboratory and the department of chemistry, I extend my heartfelt congratulations to Dr. Dasgupta on this well-deserved recognition. Nab’s passion for public health and overdose prevention has been a constant source of inspiration to us as collaborators, and this award is a testament to the far-reaching impact of their contributions. Through fostering interdisciplinary research and innovation, Nab has built a program of transformative approaches that have made a profound difference within North Carolina, the Southeast region and across the nation. We are honored to collaborate with Nab’s program and are excited to see the new innovations and impact that will grow from this recognition.”
Elyse Powell, executive director of the North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition: “Nabarun’s work saves lives in the truest sense. Every day, he provides people with critical tools to protect themselves and the people they love. While this work is about preventing overdoses, at its core it’s about building healthier communities grounded in autonomy, dignity and respect. We are proud to stand alongside Nab and his team in this work.”
Maya Doe-Simkins, co-director of Remedy Alliance/For The People: “Nabarun is the real deal. His brilliance and welcoming collaborative nature operating at the intersections of public health and social justice produces an alchemy that has shown time and again to result in a collective synergy with network-level impacts.”