Category Archives: Research

Overview It is well known that health, nutrition, and economics have a complex relationship and that improving health in North Carolina and beyond will require a better understanding of these complexities. Alice Ammerman, director of the Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, UNC School of Public Health, recently received a Gillings Award to lead […]

Overview RENCI People portrays the people in science, business, technology, the arts and humanities who use technology as a tool for discovery, creativity, innovation and education. They are diverse in their expertise and their backgrounds, but all recognize that technology infrastructure can enhances our capabilities and enable a more interesting world.

Overview Botany through Web 2.0 (or “Bot 2.0”) was a 2-year project completed in April 2010. The Bot 2.0 program used an innovative technological approach to help retain student interest in the biological and botanical sciences and address the lack of diversity in the student population pursing the botanical sciences. The project introduced students from […]

Overview The Renaissance Computing Institute and the School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill collaborated on the North Carolina Collaboratory for Bioinformatics (NCCBI), part of UNC Chapel Hill’s Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA), funded by the National Institutes of Health. Nationwide, 14 CTSA awards created a network […]

Overview Effective emergency management means educating first responders and county emergency managers on how to interpret and make use of complicated weather data. NC-FIRST is a program designed to help these front-line staff decipher weather data, understand weather threats and choose actions that minimize the threats to lives and property caused by extreme weather. NC-FIRST is […]

Overview RENCI acquired a Dodeca 2360 camera system from Immersive Media in Portland, OR, to capture 360-degree high definition video. The camera system recreates physical spaces in cyberspace using an 11-camera, geo-referenced imagery system that shoots high-resolution video in full 360 degrees. The system collects huge amounts of data: 1 million pixels per second, or […]

Overview Meteorological modeling simulates meteorological conditions, such as wind, temperature and vertical mixing. The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model is a mesoscale numerical weather prediction system that serves both forecasting and atmospheric research needs. WRF merges existing mesoscale meteorological models into a comprehensive mesoscale meteorological modeling capability. It features multiple dynamical cores, a 3-dimensional […]

Overview Melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer, is typically diagnosed by pathologists who visually examine biopsies from unusual skin growths. Although many pathologists are well-practiced at identifying melanoma, computer-based image analysis could help refine the diagnostic process by quantifying features identifying these cancerous tissues. In a project led by melanoma specialist Dr. Nancy […]

Overview The Sequence Assembly project is being led by Dr. Corbin Jones, an assistant professor in the Department of Biology at UNC.  UNC as well as other research institutes are beginning to take advantage of next generation genetic sequencing technologies which allow for relatively inexpensive and rapid determination of genetic sequences. This technology has a […]

Overview High-growth companies produce the majority of revenue and job growth in the U.S. economy. Despite their significance, these companies’ success is not well understood. The High Growth Companies Research Group (HGCRG), a partnership between RENCI and the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School’s Kenan Institute for Private Enterprise (KIPE), conducted research to help understand how high-growth […]