Meet The Unc Street Drug Scientist Awarded A ‘genius’ Grant For His Lifesaving Work

By Taylor Knopf

At a clip erstwhile nan nation’s supplier proviso has go increasingly unpredictable, Nabarun Dasgupta uses what he calls “science successful service” to bring immoderate clarity to nan chaos. 

Dasgupta has spent 2 decades utilizing information to show nan communicative down thoroughfare narcotics and their hidden dangers. He documents really group usage those substances arsenic a measurement of reducing nan harm done by them. 

Dasgupta’s profession has brought technological rigor to nan believe of harm reduction, an attack to supplier usage that seeks to minimize its sick effects while allowing users to enactment live and well, and person support.  

Harm simplification efforts for combating opioid overdoses include, for example, distributing naloxone — an opioid overdose reversal supplier — aliases sterile supplier usage supplies to forestall nan dispersed of diseases specified arsenic hepatitis C and HIV. More recently, harm simplification workers person been utilizing testing strips to observe harmful additives lurking successful nan thoroughfare proviso — for illustration nan potent opioid fentanyl. 

These interventions admit nan realities of supplier usage without judging nan group who usage them, each while helping them enactment alive.  

“I deliberation harm simplification is simply a problem-solving strategy based connected nan ancient contented that each lives person dignity and value, sloppy of what they put successful their bodies,” Dasgupta said. 

From nan Appalachian foothills of Wilkes County — wherever he helped motorboat 1 of nan country’s first organization naloxone programs — to a supplier checking laboratory astatine UNC Chapel Hill wherever he and his squad way and study nan chemic constitution of thoroughfare narcotics successful existent time, Dasgupta’s activity has redefined nan nationalist wellness consequence to nan overdose situation successful North Carolina and beyond.

Now, nan epidemiologist and thoroughfare supplier interrogator has been named a 2025 MacArthur Fellow, honored for his innovation, collaboration and compassion that has saved countless lives. 

This year, Dasgupta is nan only North Carolinian among nan 22 group awarded what is known arsenic nan “genius grant” from nan MacArthur Foundation, which comes pinch $800,000 to walk arsenic he sees fit. 

“I didn’t moreover cognize I was nether consideration,” Dasgupta said. “You’re conscionable doing nan work, but it’s 1 of these uncommon moments wherever you recognize immoderate group person been paying attraction nan full time.”

MacArthur fellows are chosen done a rigorous, secretive process by which imaginable candidates are selected by an invited group of anonymous nominators. The no-strings-attached grant goes to “extraordinarily talented and imaginative individuals arsenic an finance successful their potential,” according to nan foundation. 

“I genuinely can’t deliberation of anyone much deserving,” said Elyse Powell, head of nan North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition, an statement that participates successful sending thoroughfare supplier samples to Dasgupta’s lab. “His laboratory has been an tremendous assets for us, and I conscionable spot each time really his activity is redeeming lives. It’s getting existent accusation retired to group truthful that they tin protect themselves.”

Drug checking lab

In 2020, Dasgupta sewage a telephone from his friend and workfellow Louise Vincent, head of nan Greensboro-based harm simplification statement North Carolina Survivors Union, asking if he could thief group up their caller drug checking machine. Dasgupta and his squad trained nan Greensboro harm simplification workers connected really to usage it and agreed to beryllium nan back-up laboratory for further testing. 

The mobility remained: How would they get thoroughfare supplier samples from Greensboro to Dasgupta’s laboratory successful Chapel Hill? It was nan tallness of nan coronavirus pandemic. Dasgupta was successful his car waiting connected a drive-thru COVID trial — holding a zip-top container pinch instructions, a swab and trial conduit — erstwhile he had an idea. 

They could make akin testing kits for thoroughfare narcotics and message them.

“I thought, ‘Wait, if we tin do this pinch viruses, past surely we tin do pinch drugs,’” he said. “We figured retired nan correct rules and really to beryllium successful compliance pinch authorities and national laws.

“What was developed arsenic a section solution had nan expertise to standard to a nationalist level.”

A sample of nan mail-in thoroughfare supplier kits which are distributed to harm simplification organizations. Credit: Taylor Knopf

That collaboration pinch Vincent became nan commencement of thing overmuch larger. Together, they built a supplier checking exemplary that has reshaped really nationalist wellness workers crossed nan state show nan thoroughfare supplier proviso successful existent time. 

Now, nan Street Drug Analysis Lab astatine UNC tests narcotics mailed successful from astir nan U.S., and nan results are posted anonymously to nan lab’s website aggregate times per day. The laboratory has tested astir 17,000 samples from 185 harm simplification programs successful 41 states. It has detected 458 unsocial substances. 

Vincent, who was a fearless and wished advocator for group who utilized drugs, died conscionable days earlier Dasgupta received that astonishment telephone telephone from nan MacArthur Foundation.

“I can’t thief but consciousness for illustration it was her connected nan phone,” Dasgupta said, “Reaching retired and being like, ‘You person to support doing this work. We’re not done.’”

Why it matters

The thoroughfare supplier proviso changes constantly. New and sometimes harmful additives find their measurement into nan proviso — from caffeine to synthetic opioids to, much recently, xylazine, an animal tranquilizer. Drug checking arsenic a harm simplification measurement has been a cardinal characteristic of nan response to constituent usage successful Europe for immoderate clip and is conscionable now starting to return disconnected successful nan U.S. 

Knowing what’s successful nan proviso gives group who usage narcotics nan expertise to make informed decisions astir really and if they will usage a drug. Maybe personification will determine to usage little aliases propulsion it distant — aliases usage nan narcotics successful nan beingness of different personification alternatively than alone. Dasgupta’s laboratory analyzes narcotics that are voluntarily sent by participants of harm simplification groups. 

Many times, group want them examined because they had an different reaction. 

“It’s difficult to picture nan alleviation group consciousness erstwhile there’s really conscionable an mentation for what they experienced, and it helps them make amended choices,” said Powell, head of nan NC Harm Reduction Coalition, which operates syringe exchange programs from nan mountains to nan coast.

This knowledge besides allows nationalist wellness and harm simplification workers to respond to emerging contaminants successful existent time. They tin administer caller trial strips, elemental disposable devices utilized to trial for a azygous substance, to their participants. They tin get due coiled attraction supplies to communities and nonstop updated guidance to section and location EMS workers and emergency room unit who whitethorn brushwood personification overdosing from a supplier contaminated pinch a caller substance.

“Every caller activity of nan pandemic has caught america connected our backmost foot. By nan clip we’re talking astir it, it’s truthful acold retired of nan gross and we’re scrambling,” Powell said. “With this surveillance, if a caller additive is popping up successful 1 portion of nan state, nationalist wellness responders tin cognize that successful existent clip and alert workers successful different parts of nan state.”

Dasgupta’s grant comes astatine a clip erstwhile harm simplification interventions are being undermined by President Donald Trump’s administration. The management has trim backing to programs, and successful July Trump issued an executive bid that claimed that “so-called ‘harm reduction’ efforts” only facilitate forbidden supplier use. 

Powell was pleased to spot nan MacArthur Foundation validate harm simplification activity done this award. 

“The truth that a task wrong harm simplification was named for a MacArthur fellowship is really important,” Powell said. “I deliberation it really acknowledges nan value and worth and brilliant wrong harm reduction.”

Dasgupta called nan federal-level conversations astir harm simplification “tone deaf.” When he talks to section leaders and wellness workers who are addressing nan impacts of supplier usage successful their communities, he said they spot harm simplification strategies arsenic regular caregiving. 

“It doesn’t look arsenic arguable erstwhile you’re really talking to group who are doing nan work,” he said. “It benignant of feels for illustration it’s being made retired to beryllium much controversial, astatine a rhetorical, governmental propaganda level, but it’s not… It seems for illustration a really large disconnect.”

For Dasgupta, harm simplification has ne'er been an absurd argumentation thought — it’s ever been astir people. 

How it started

When Dasgupta was successful college, he and his mother, Nandita Dasgupta, talked astir his thoughts connected pursuing a aesculapian degree. 

“He erstwhile told me, ‘If I spell to med school, I’ll beryllium capable to thief 1 personification astatine a time. But I want to thief a batch of group astatine a time,’” she said. “So that was already moving down his mind.”

Nabarun Dasgupta’s parents, Nandita and Avijit Dasgupta, watch their boy springiness a position titled “Behind The Numbers: Falling Overdose Rates and Drug Supply Changes” astatine UNC’s Friday Center Community Classroom arena successful October. Credit: Taylor Knopf

Then, Dasgupta dreamed of going to Thailand to study mosquitoes and nan viruses they spread. That fascination pinch viral infections and really they move done communities yet led him to researching HIV and hepatitis C, which tin dispersed done injection supplier use.

A summertime internship successful assemblage took him to his location authorities of Maine, wherever he assisted connected a study of OxyContin abuse. In nan early 2000s, nan opioid situation was softly spreading successful mini towns astir nan country. Around that aforesaid time, successful 2002, Dasgupta met Tony Givens, a harm simplification outreach worker who was successful betterment from supplier use. Givens became a mentor and friend, and Dasgupta credits him pinch helping him spot nan quality broadside of nan supplier usage problem. 

Two years later, Givens died of a supplier overdose. 

In processing that loss, Dasgupta turned to nan data. He wanted to cognize really galore others were dying from supplier overdoses, but astatine that time, nan Centers for Disease Control and Prevention didn’t intelligibly study supplier overdose deaths. They were lumped into wide categories of mortality statistics. 

So Dasgupta began to do nan activity himself, painstakingly sorting nan information to bring visibility to nan mounting crisis.

His attraction shifted to really to champion thief nan group down nan statistics. Dasgupta helped recovered 2 nonprofit organizations that thief get nan opioid overdose reversal supplier naloxone into nan hands of group who usage thoroughfare narcotics and besides to symptom patients, who are often prescribed opioids. 

Getting naloxone into communities

In 2007, he co-founded Project Lazarus successful Wilkes County, which had the third-highest complaint of opioid overdose deaths successful nan country astatine that time. The task sewage naloxone into nan hands of symptom patients and those who usage thoroughfare narcotics and saved lives. 

“Today, [naloxone] is truthful wide embraced, but astatine that time, it was still very stigmatized, happening underground successful galore places. That activity pinch Project Lazarus really helped bring naloxone into nan mainstream,” said Roxanne Saucier, Dasgupta’s wife. She besides useful arsenic a harm simplification and supplier argumentation consultant. 

The 2 met successful 2009 astatine nan yearly United Nations’ Commission connected Narcotics Drugs gathering successful Vienna, wherever Dasgupta shared nan successes of Project Lazarus. Project Lazurus besides sewage nan attraction of nan U.S. supplier czar astatine nan time, Gil Kerlikowske, who visited Wilkesboro to clasp a forum astir naloxone wherever he said it was “a pioneering illustration successful community-based nationalist wellness for nan remainder of nan country.”

To guarantee harm simplification organizations and organization wellness departments had entree to affordable naloxone, Dasgupta besides co-founded a nonprofit called Remedy Alliance/For The People, which buys and distributes low-cost naloxone straight to nan organizations that request it. 

“He’s ever had a knack for marrying nan harm simplification attack pinch his ain entrepreneurial tone and innovative ideas,” Saucier said. “He’s not acrophobic to research and effort thing new. Often he’ll do it and past interest astir nan backing later. Then nan backing does travel because what he’s doing generates truthful overmuch interest, and beautiful quickly group tin spot that it’s valuable.”

The MacArthur assistance gives Dasgupta immoderate elasticity arsenic he looks to early projects and he already has immoderate ideas.

“I would for illustration to attraction connected having a hemispheric capacity to understand really drugs, supplier usage and supplier usage harms are distributed from Canada to Chile,” he said. “What we spot present is sometimes similar, sometimes dissimilar to what happens successful different parts of our hemisphere — peculiarly successful Latin America… So we person a work to stock what we are seeing pinch our colleagues each passim Central and South America.”

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