Meet the Scientist

The NRC features research labs where scientists from the NRC, the Museum, UNC System, DENR, or visiting scientists from industry or agency partners conduct their research while visitors observe “science in action” through glass windows.

A main visitor experience will be Meet the Scientist at the Window on Research areas, casual seating spaces that allow scientists from the labs to have direct interactions with visitors.

The Exploratory Gallery of the NRC, located on the first floor will highlight cutting edge research is Engineering, Health and Modeling.

Dr. Joseph DeSimone is one of the scientists who will be featured in that gallery. Dr. DeSimone is a chemist who is interested in the composition and form of man-made materials. His work has led him to study the size and shape of tiny particles—specifically nano-particles that are designed to attack cancer cells.

His innovations have earned him numerous commendations and awards including the 2008 Lemelson, the MIT Prize for Invention and Innovation—which many consider a step to the Nobel Prize; he was the youngest member named to the National Academy of Engineering and was the 2008 News and Observer “Tarheel of the Year.”

Currently, Dr. DeSimone is the Chancellor’s Eminent Professor of Chemistry at UNC-Chapel Hill; the William R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at N.C. State University; Director of the Institute for Nanomedicine at UNC-CH; Director of the Institute for Advanced Materials, Nanoscience and Technology at UNC-Chapel Hill. Most recently Governor Beverly Perdue appointed Dr. DeSimone to serve on the Museum’s Advisory Commission.