Solutions start here: UNC research is improving residents' lives and the state's economy.

• Position: RESEARCH NORTH CAROLINA: UNC CHAPEL HILL

Each year, research and startup businesses at UNC Chapel Hill contribute [dollar]2.6 billion to the state's economy--a figure that represents over 28,000 North Carolina jobs. Today Carolina ranks eighth in the nation for the volume of federal research it conducts. It serves our state as a fountainhead for cures and treatments for disease, new technologies, and opportunities to grow and attract industry to North Carolina.

* Treating cancer, launching businesses

As part of its mission, UNC is committed to creating both social and economic value for North Carolina. A recent example can be found in G1 Therapeutics Inc., a startup founded by UNC faculty that is developing cancer therapies to attack tumors and to minimize the adverse effects of chemotherapy on the body. G1 emerged in 2008 from UNC's Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center with assistance from the UNC Kickstart Venture Services program. In May 2017, the company went public, attracting [dollar]108 million in new investment to North Carolina through its initial public offering. The research that gave rise to G1 received early support from the N.C. General Assembly's University Cancer Research Fund, a vital catalyst for funding groundbreaking research and discoveries in the fight against cancer.

* Targeting genes, unlocking cures

Critical investments by UNC in the promising field of gene therapy recently led to the acquisition of Chapel Hill-based Bamboo Therapeutics by biopharma giant Pfizer in a deal valued at [dollar]675 million. Gene therapy is a novel treatment for diseases caused by genetic mutations. It harnesses benign viruses and uses them to insert healthy working copies of missing or dysfunctional genes into a patient's cells. In the early 1990s, university leaders invested heavily in critical viral vector production capacity at UNC's Gene Therapy Center. These investments began to pay off as intellectual property emerging from gene therapy research was licensed for commercial use. A decision to spin out UNC's vector manufacturing facility for gene therapy clinical trials led to the creation of Bamboo Therapeutics, a private startup dedicated to the cure of rare neurological diseases and muscular dystrophy.

Bamboo quickly attracted the attention of biotechnology giant Pfizer, which acquired the UNC spinout in 2016, announcing plans to expand its gene therapy platform. Pfizer has a significant presence in North Carolina, maintaining a manufacturing plant locally in Sanford...