UNC Lineberger’s Ralph S. Baric, PhD, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest distinctions for a scientist in the United States. He was one of four University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty members to earn the honor.
Baric, the William R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of epidemiology at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and professor of microbiology and immunology at the UNC School of Medicine, is internationally renowned for his seminal research of norovirus, flavivirus and coronaviruses. His scientific discoveries made a significant impact on the COVID-19 pandemic by identifying antivirals to fight COVID-19 and collaborating with the National Institutes of Health to test vaccine candidates.
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit institution that was established under a congressional charter signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. It recognizes achievement in science by election to membership, and — with the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine — provides science, engineering and health policy advice to the federal government and other organizations.