AGP Executive Report

Cyclospora & food safety: UNC Charlotte lab testing is underway as the U.S. cyclosporiasis outbreak tops 4,000 cases, with investigators still tracing sources and warning people to avoid implicated foods. Higher ed civil rights: The U.S. Department of Education opened an Office of Civil Rights investigation into ECU’s Brody School of Medicine over alleged racial discrimination in admissions. AI in schools: At the Bridges conference, educators discussed how “AI agents” are moving beyond chatbots—running tutoring and enrollment workflows—while debating how much data and autonomy they should get. Defense tech policy: The House passed the FY27 NDAA, keeping a contentious U.S.-Israel defense technology cooperation provision despite bipartisan pushback and sovereignty concerns. Public health surge: CDC reported 2,260 measles cases as of July 16, with summer travel driving new outbreaks. Local tech for safety: Wilmington and UNCW installed SmartBurners in student housing to reduce cooking-fire risk using temperature-limiting stove tech. PFAS fight: NC AG Jeff Jackson joined states urging the EPA not to roll back PFAS testing limits in drinking water. Energy & AI infrastructure: New reporting warns AI data centers could sharply increase power demand, intensifying grid pressure. Healthcare supply chain: Trump’s proposed tariffs on imported generic medicines could reshape pharma logistics and reshoring plans. Housing pressure: Research highlights how high costs and low wages are pushing young adults out of Buncombe County.

Diabetes Tech in the Spotlight: UNC Health’s weight-management team says more patients are using continuous glucose monitors to cut finger-sticks and improve HbA1c, with benefits extending beyond insulin users. Obesity Drug Uptake: A Reuters report finds many Medicare patients (65+) are choosing injectable GLP-1s under a new $50/month trial, including at UNC Health’s program, despite earlier expectations of pill preference. Pulmonary Care Standardization: Duke-led clinicians unveiled PE-RADS v2026, a new reporting framework for pulmonary embolism CT/MR angiography to standardize communication and next-step treatment. Public Health Lab Power: UNC Charlotte is ready to help trace cyclospora outbreaks using DNA sequencing as North Carolina reports 560+ confirmed cases. Local Health Oversight Strain: Buncombe County’s nursing-home volunteer inspection system is struggling to find enough ombudsmen as facilities age and needs grow. Privacy vs Surveillance: Macon County voted to stop funding Flock license-plate cameras, citing privacy and Fourth Amendment concerns. Aviation Accessibility: Charlotte Douglas highlighted innovation and accessibility work aimed at more inclusive passenger experiences. Life Sciences Funding: A budget update points to major life-sciences investment momentum, with federal and state dollars aimed at accelerating research and trials.

Medical Tech in Action: Duke Health researchers are testing drone-delivered AEDs to cut the gap between cardiac arrest and defibrillation, aiming for use within minutes—especially in rural areas where ambulance response can be slow. Wildlife & Conservation: A petition asks the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect North Carolina’s solstice creekmussel under the Endangered Species Act, citing pollution and a tiny known habitat. Public Health & Food Safety: The FDA says an iceberg lettuce recall tied to cyclosporiasis is still under scrutiny after a false-positive test result, with products distributed to 27 states including North Carolina. State Tech & Cybersecurity: The North Carolina National Guard is helping lead Cyber Shield, a major power-sector defense drill with more than 1,000 participants focused on hardening networks against digital attacks. AI in Banking: Bank of America’s EricaAssist gets generative AI upgrades for faster, real-time recommendations to customer service staff. Local STEM/Community: Wilmington and UNCW are installing SmartBurners to reduce cooking-fire risk on campus using temperature-limiting controls. Environment & Data: Duke and UNC researchers use wastewater DNA to estimate what communities eat, linking diet patterns to income, geography, and immigration.

Rocky Mount Industrial Village: A new 45,000-square-foot light-industrial building is rising at the 55-acre Rocky Mount Industrial Village off Thomas A. Betts Parkway and Peele Road, built in just over seven months and aimed at attracting new manufacturing and logistics tenants. Workforce & training: Trane Technologies opened a 45,000-square-foot Advanced Technology Training Center in Davidson to scale hands-on HVAC technician training for increasingly connected, AI- and controls-heavy building systems. AI data centers on federal land: The DOE selected DC Blox and Amentum to develop a 1GW AI data center campus with about 2GW of on-site power at the Savannah River site in South Carolina, with natural gas as a bridge to nuclear. Public health & environment: N.C. State University research finds mosquito insecticide resistance spreading fast—genetic markers appeared across 84% of sampled residential blocks by 2023, with hotspots more common in wealthier areas that spray more. PFAS science: New work on “forever chemicals” tracks how PFAS moves through the Great Lakes food web and into people, adding detail to exposure risk pathways. Energy grid innovation: NSF’s Grid Modernization Engine backs a Carolinas hub for grid reliability and workforce development, with York Technical College leading workforce training.

Cancer Care Upgrade: Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center became North Carolina’s first to use Penumbra’s THUNDERBOLT computer-assisted vacuum thrombectomy for ischemic stroke, including a transradial approach through the wrist. Wildlife Conservation: North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission biologists captured federally endangered Indiana bats in the Nantahala National Forest for the first time in more than a decade, fitting radio transmitters and tracking a maternity roost. Genetics & Fair Medicine: A new report warns that genetic risk tools like polygenic risk scores don’t work equally across populations, driven by training data gaps and missing ancestry in major datasets. Energy Grid Workforce: NSF’s $160M “Grid Modernization Engine” aims to build a Carolinas hub for electric-grid innovation, with York Technical College leading workforce development. Public Health & Food Safety: The Taylor Farms iceberg lettuce recall tied to cyclospora continues to ripple through multiple states, including North Carolina. Data Centers & Local Planning: Richmond County approved Amazon’s $10B data center campus, while other communities weigh moratoriums and zoning limits over water, power, and quality-of-life concerns. Road Safety: New driving data suggests fewer fatalities and that speeding saves little time—while costing fuel and emissions.

PFAS Fallout in NC: After years of litigation, 2,600 North Carolina residents tied to Chemours PFAS contamination near Fayetteville are moving toward an out-of-court settlement, following a bellwether trial delay. Rural Childcare Relief: The NC budget sets $97M in federal-backed support to raise childcare subsidy rates and add a “rate floor,” aiming to stabilize rural providers that say they’ve been squeezed since pandemic funds ended. Rural Health Funding Debate: Questions remain about whether Rural Health Transformation Program dollars can actually keep rural hospitals afloat, since the program doesn’t directly solve payment shortfalls. Cybersecurity & Privacy: A new study finds nearly half of ransomware targets pay ransoms, while Walmart’s self-checkout “missed scan” AI expands—raising concerns about false alarms and surveillance. Space & STEM: The Perseids meteor shower peaks Aug. 12–13, and NC State’s textile research gets renewed NSF funding for next-gen materials and embedded sensors. Wildlife: Red wolf pups in eastern NC mark the most wild births since 2013, boosting a fragile recovery.

Defense Innovation: North Carolina launched NC ALIGN, a new statewide advisory council to connect defense research, advanced manufacturing, and tech innovation with national security needs and federal funding opportunities. Research & Industry: NSF renewed its Textile Innovation Engine of North Carolina with $16M for NC State-led textile projects, from wound-healing materials to embedded safety sensors. Data Centers & Local Control: Lee County residents say they were sold a “light industrial” business park but now face a proposed data center campus, pushing for a pause and more public records. Public Health: Taylor Farms expanded a cyclospora-linked iceberg lettuce recall to 27 states, including North Carolina, urging consumers to discard affected products. Consumer Safety: NC DOJ and licensing boards warn people to verify credentials when hiring engineers, surveyors, architects, and designers via freelance sites. Health Care: FirstHealth added interventional cardiologist Jiandong Zhang to its heart care team in Pinehurst and Laurinburg. Science Discovery: UNC Charlotte researchers helped uncover a sea anemone antiviral defense that works in a surprising, opposite way from key human immune pathways. Food Authenticity: Testing found about half of Outer Banks restaurants served imported or farm-raised shrimp despite “local” claims.

Defense Innovation: North Carolina launched NC ALIGN, a new statewide advisory council meant to connect defense research, advanced manufacturing, and tech commercialization to emerging national security needs and attract federal investment. Food Safety: Taylor Farms expanded a cyclospora-linked iceberg lettuce recall to 27 states, including North Carolina, after CDC-linked cases tied the parasite to lettuce served at Taco Bell; officials say NC hasn’t yet identified the link locally. Public Health & Policy: A Reuters review undercuts Trump’s claims about widespread noncitizen voting, finding few federal prosecutions and many cases tied to confusion or administrative errors. Health Care Access: Health insurers are walking back a prior pledge to reduce barriers to doctor-recommended care, with critics saying prior authorization improvements have stalled. Tech & Industry: Honda began rolling out an autonomous, all-electric ProZision Autonomous ZTR mower built in North Carolina, aiming to tackle labor shortages with GPS/LiDAR-guided precision. Science & Research: UNC/partners research reports a brain-scan measure that can track how alcohol shifts neural inhibition, offering a new noninvasive monitoring tool. Environment & Climate: New research highlights how the Gulf is heating faster than the world’s oceans, raising stakes for coastal communities.

Food Safety: Taylor Farms expanded its iceberg lettuce recall tied to cyclospora to 27 states, including North Carolina, after CDC-linked cases traced to lettuce served at Taco Bell; the FDA says the company hasn’t fully shared distribution details, and consumers are urged to discard recalled products. AI & Safety Tech: Researchers trained an AI system on 12,000 images of a common animal—deer—aiming to help cars detect them at night, where collisions remain a major risk. Local Tech Policy: A fight over AI data centers in rural North Carolina is pushing Edgecombe County toward a 24-month moratorium on new projects as residents weigh grid strain and water concerns against jobs and tax revenue. Energy & Industry: Honda began rolling out an autonomous electric ProZision mower made in North Carolina, using GPS plus LiDAR/radar/visual sensing to “learn” routes and cut with tight accuracy. Weather: Dangerous heat and storm chances are forecast for Western North Carolina and nearby regions, with possible damaging winds and heavy rain. Science & Research: Caltech mourns Nobel chemist Rudy Marcus, whose electron-transfer theory reshaped how scientists predict chemical reactions. Education Tech: North Carolina’s school cellphone rules are turning into a patchwork, with districts allowing phone use during parts of the day despite the state’s “instructional time” limits.

Quantum Breakthrough: Chinese physicist Pan Jianwei became the first Chinese winner of the UNESCO-Russia Mendeleev International Prize for work on large-scale secure quantum communications and scalable quantum computing, building on the Micius satellite. Biotech Legacy: Mary-Dell Chilton, who led the team that created the first genetically modified plant in 1982, died at 87 in Carrboro, N.C. Food Allergy Push: Advocates want alpha-gal recognized as the 10th major U.S. food allergen, citing rising cases tied to lone star ticks. Local Energy Fight: A dispute over an AI data center in rural Edgecombe County is driving a proposed 24-month moratorium, as residents weigh power and water impacts against jobs and tax revenue. Election Admin Watch: North Carolina’s elections board is setting up a review after federal SAVE data flagged 1,599 potential non-U.S. citizens on voter rolls. Public Safety Tech: Guilford County is moving toward a $13.3M, 10-year body camera and license-plate reader program that also includes AI assistant licenses. Health Alert: Cyclospora outbreak linked to shredded iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell has prompted federal warnings and supplier removals. Shark Tracking: OCEARCH detected the nearly 1,700-pound great white “Contender” near North Carolina’s Outer Banks as it heads north for summer migration. Climate Research: North Carolina researchers report airborne microplastics could warm the atmosphere, with pigmented particles potentially adding a coal-plant-scale warming effect.

Road Safety & Climate: A new University of Minnesota study using 120M real trips finds speeding barely cuts travel time but drives up fuel use and costs—posted limits could save millions in gas nationwide. Cybersecurity & Elections: Experts push back hard on Trump’s claims that China “bought, stole or hacked” 220M voter files, saying the data likely came from public sources and that there’s no sign of election interference. Food Safety: CDC says cyclospora linked to Taco Bell shredded iceberg lettuce is tied to lettuce traced to a supplier connected to Taylor Farms; Taylor Farms says it’s removing Mexico-sourced iceberg lettuce. Local Tech Policy: Southport planners are weighing a 15-month data center moratorium after residents questioned zoning rules and setbacks. Healthcare Tech: AiCure’s WeightVerify uses smartphone-based facial verification and OCR for remote weight monitoring to support chronic care and clinical trials. Business & Manufacturing: Saint-Gobain will acquire EGFA’s Lexington glass fiber operations, expanding its North Carolina manufacturing footprint. Public Health & Community Care: Camden County EMS won a $299K grant to launch a community paramedicine program focused on prevention and follow-ups. AI in Agriculture: Rep. Don Davis and Rep. Greg Murphy back the FARM AI Act to modernize USDA research and workforce training for AI adoption on farms. Legal/Privacy: NC DOJ warns consumers to verify licenses when hiring engineers, surveyors, architects, or designers via freelancing sites. Environment & Politics: NC AG Jackson is asking residents to weigh in on a “backroom PFAS deal” involving Chemours and the EPA.

Ultra-Processed Food fight: FDA and USDA are weighing a federal ultra-processed food definition after 5,000+ public comments, with public health groups pushing for clarity while industry warns any science-based rule could still disrupt labeling and nutrition policy. Public health watch: Cyclospora “explosive diarrhea” cases keep rising nationally, and experts say delayed symptoms make outbreaks harder to trace—so extra care with raw produce is key. Healthcare policy: CMS proposed new maternity billing G-codes for 2027, drawing ACOG concern that it could create a dual billing system and add admin burden. AI in healthcare: A Senate vote rejected overturning a Medicare AI prior-authorization pilot, keeping the program in place amid worries about how AI affects access. Local accountability: Cary leaders pledged procurement and oversight reforms after a state auditor report criticized spending and supervision under a former town manager. North Carolina tech & research: NC State researchers found a popular visual stream-health checklist can miss serious water quality problems, while a Morrisville fiber startup is showcasing advanced filtration materials developed with NCSU. Community & economy: A new Montreat project will build an accessible trail to Flat Creek, and West Boulevard’s Three Sisters Market cooperative is moving toward a late-2027 opening to expand fresh food access.

Shoreline Tech: QuickReef, a calcium-carbonate “living shoreline” barrier, aims to cut the cost and labor of erosion control by installing faster than traditional rock sills. Road Safety & Climate: A Nature study using 120M U.S. trips finds speeding is common, saves about a minute or less, and costs drivers more fuel and money. Stormwater Planning: Brunswick County approved a feasibility study for a county stormwater utility after major flooding, weighing a fee-based system to improve drainage. RTP Growth: Research Triangle Park unveiled a “next chapter” vision focused on more mixed-use housing, retail, and community amenities. Water Infrastructure: Gov. Josh Stein announced $244M+ for drinking water and wastewater projects across 28 counties, including lead pipe work and efforts to reduce “forever chemicals.” Biotech Manufacturing: Oxford Biomedica will provide AAV process development and GMP manufacturing services for Plowshare Therapies using its Durham facility. Power Grid: MCNC says it completed its HERO rural broadband expansion, adding fiber routes to extend high-speed access.

Wildfire Smoke & Heat: Toronto turned hazy yellow as smoke from 100+ Canadian wildfires pushed into the Midwest and Northeast, with warnings urging people to stay indoors as extreme heat and unhealthy air overlap. Public Health: A fast-growing cyclosporiasis outbreak tied to contaminated produce is sickening people across the U.S.; North Carolina is among states reporting more than 100 cases. Biotech Manufacturing in NC: OXB (Oxford) will support Plowshare Therapies with process development and AAV GMP manufacturing from its FDA-approved Durham facility, signaling continued gene-therapy demand. Healthcare Access: Novant Health is rolling out 24/7 primary care access across NC and SC using in-person, hybrid, and virtual-first options. Drug Pricing Enforcement: Multistate attorneys general announced a $29.6M Glenmark settlement over alleged generic drug price-fixing, with compliance reforms and consumer relief. Energy & Grid: Dominion and NextEra filed to merge, and NC regulators have a review clock running for the proposed deal. AI in Government: A new NC statewide AI roadmap is set to guide how agencies use the technology.

NSF Grid Modernization: UNC Charlotte is leading an NSF Engines push to modernize the U.S. power grid, aiming to build a replicable national model for resilience and security. Energy Merger Watch: NextEra and Dominion filed to combine, seeking approvals across multiple regulators while promising Dominion’s local operations stay in place. AI in Local Government: Asheville is using Google’s Gemini to synthesize community input for housing work, while other NC-area towns are still figuring out policies for AI use. Public Health & Food Safety: A multi-state cyclosporiasis outbreak keeps expanding, with North Carolina among the states reporting cases. Consumer Data Accountability: North Carolina AG Liz Murrill joined a coalition settlement with 23andMe over a genetic data breach, with limited recovery from bankruptcy funds. PFAS Update: A key Chemours PFAS lawsuit in North Carolina has settled out of court, ending a trial that plaintiffs had been waiting years for. Wildfire Smoke: Canadian fires are driving hazardous smoke and heat across the region, prompting health warnings. Time Policy: The House passed a bill to make daylight saving time permanent, but Senate prospects remain uncertain. Antitrust: States announced a Glenmark settlement over alleged generic drug price-fixing and reduced competition.

NSF Funding Boost: The NSF named 12 new Regional Innovation Engines, with initial $15M awards (up to $160M over 10 years) aimed at turning university-led research into jobs and tech partnerships across states. Grid Modernization in the Carolinas: Clemson and UNC Charlotte are tied to a major NSF-backed effort to modernize the electric grid, including testing grid-enhancing technologies with large regional partners. Textile Research Push: NSF renewed support for NC State’s Textile Innovation Engine with $16M (potentially $45M total), targeting next-gen textile tech from wound-healing materials to embedded safety sensors. Food Safety Watch: FDA is investigating multiple produce items, including lettuce, as cyclosporiasis cases surge across dozens of states, with Michigan and other clusters pointing to a shared source. Health Care Turnaround: UNC Health Appalachian says it’s financially stable again after a turnaround that included difficult staffing and service changes, plus plans like a mobile MRI. AI Policy Fight: UNC-Chapel Hill researchers found overwhelming public pushback on a White House proposal to reshape how federal science grants are awarded. Workforce & Tech Education: ECU and Craven Community College signed an industrial technology transfer pathway, while NC community colleges highlighted digital learning innovations. Local Tech in Action: N.C. State students helped build a faster food-bank delivery app for Duke Med’s Root Causes.