UNC was not peripheral
Its researchers were world leaders in assembling and modifying coronaviruses and collaborated for years with EcoHealth Alliance and scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Independent public-interest project
A NORTH CAROLINA QUESTION WITH GLOBAL CONSEQUENCES
UNC should investigate.
The public deserves answers.
Serious questions remain about coronavirus research connected to Chapel Hill, the origins of COVID-19, and records withheld from public view. We are asking for an independent, transparent investigation, wherever the evidence leads.
Anyone can sign. No North Carolina residency, UNC affiliation, academic credentials, or scientific background is required.
This project does not presume a conclusion. It asks UNC to apply the same standard it has articulated elsewhere: if something went wrong, find out and fix it.
“If something has gone wrong, we want to know about it. If something needs to be fixed, we will be sure to fix it.”
UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts, July 30, 2026
JUST PUBLISHED · BUSINESS NORTH CAROLINA
UNC’s research is a vital, risky asset requiring close oversight
George Howard and Jim Haslam make the business case for independent oversight of UNC’s research enterprise and greater transparency. Their essay calls for examination of the evidence and scrutiny of North Carolina’s university research-records exemption.
· George Howard and Jim Haslam · Opinion
Read our Business North Carolina op-ed →Supporting an independent examination does not require accepting a particular explanation for the pandemic’s origin.
View all media coverage →
PUBLISHED COMMENTARY
Jim Haslam’s op-ed in RealClearScience
In “Why COVID-19 May Have Started at the University of North Carolina,” Carolina Flu co-founder Jim Haslam outlines his hypothesis about U.S. animal-vaccine research and calls for access to UNC’s pre-pandemic records to help test it.
· Jim Haslam · RealClearScience · Opinion
Read Jim’s RealClearScience op-edSigning the open letter supports an independent examination without requiring agreement with Haslam’s hypothesis.
View the article’s media entry
LATEST COVERAGE
North State Journal examines Carolina Flu
North State Journal reporter A.P. Dillon reports on CarolinaFlu.org, the open letter to UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts, the university records dispute, DEFUSE and the questions an independent investigation could answer.
· Independent reporting
Read the North State Journal report →Also in the record: The Daily Tar Heel’s September 3 report and published commentary by George Howard and Jim Haslam in North State Journal and Chapelboro.
View all media coverage →PUBLIC RECORDS INITIATIVE · SUBMITTED OCTOBER 19, 2026
A new request for answers.
Carolina Flu has submitted a request for UNC System administrative records concerning what university leadership knew about coronavirus research, what oversight it considered, and how it responded to calls for disclosure.
Following U.S. Right to Know’s litigation and unsuccessful request for North Carolina Supreme Court review, we are pursuing a complementary route focused on administrative oversight.
Read the request and follow its progress →WHY AN INVESTIGATION
The question is not whether you accept a theory. It is whether the evidence should be examined.
Relevant records exist
Laboratory records, virus sequences, grant files, transfer agreements, shipping documents, and communications could resolve central factual disputes.
Transparency has fallen short
Thousands of potentially relevant records remain unavailable despite sustained public requests for their release.
A WIDER RESEARCH NETWORK
Carolina Flu.
And Duke, too?
The documents connect UNC and Duke-NUS to the same proposed research network. Records from these institutions could help answer outstanding questions and test Jim Haslam’s hypothesis.
Are you a Duke alumnus interested in helping organize a similar transparency effort? We would like to hear from you.
OUTSIDE PERSPECTIVE · SEPTEMBER 2026
Bill Gurley calls for UNC to open its records.
In his All-In Summit talk, Searching for Feynman, Gurley urges an independent investigation into COVID-19’s origins and asks people connected to UNC to press for access to relevant records. His published resource list includes CarolinaFlu.org.
Gurley speaks for himself. Signing our open letter supports an independent examination, without requiring agreement with any origin theory.
FOLLOW THE RECORD
A timeline built from documents, not speculation.
Nineteen sourced events trace the research, policies, litigation, safety reporting, federal oversight, and public calls for an independent review.
Explore the full timeline2015Published work on engineered SARS-like coronaviruses
2018DEFUSE proposal describes adding novel cleavage sites
2020COVID-19 emerges; crucial origin questions begin
2026Ralph Baric retires from UNC amid federal debarment proceedings
DOCUMENT LIBRARY
Read the evidence yourself.
Primary records, correspondence, research papers, hearing materials, and careful explanatory guides, presented with sources and context.
SENATE RECORD
Statement submitted to the U.S. Senate
A concise account of the unresolved questions and records Congress can obtain.
Open evidence library ↗PUBLIC RECORDS
The documents UNC has withheld
A guide to the requests and records still outside public view.
Open evidence library ↗RESEARCH TIMELINE
Coronavirus research, 2015–2020
The collaborations, proposals, experiments, and disclosures in chronological order.
Open evidence library ↗AN OPEN LETTER TO CHANCELLOR LEE ROBERTS
Apply UNC’s own standard: find out what happened and fix what needs to be fixed.
Dear Chancellor Roberts: We respectfully ask you to authorize a genuinely independent investigation with full access to the relevant records, and to release the evidence necessary for the public to assess these matters. Scientific integrity and public trust require nothing less.
Read the complete letter →322People have signed
OPEN TO EVERYONE
Ask UNC to examine the evidence wherever it leads.
Signing supports an independent investigation, not a predetermined conclusion about COVID-19’s origin.
Add your nameView media coverage and outreach →WHERE SIGNERS LIVE
A North Carolina request. Support across borders.
Named and anonymous signers across the United States and beyond are calling for transparency. Explore our October 22 geographic snapshot.
WE TOOK THESE QUESTIONS TO WASHINGTON
A request for evidence, made directly to Congress.
Following the hearing, Haslam and Howard submitted a cited statement for the congressional record asking investigators to obtain and examine the records capable of resolving the central questions.
WHO WE ARE
George Howard and James Haslam
George A. Howard
George A. Howard, UNC–Chapel Hill ’89, is a North Carolina businessman, conservation entrepreneur, and former U.S. Senate staff member. He co-founded Restoration Systems, an environmental-restoration company responsible for large-scale conservation projects across the United States. He has brought his experience in public policy, business, and records-based inquiry to CarolinaFlu.org and the project’s cited statement submitted for the congressional record.
James Haslam
James Haslam is an independent researcher and author of COVID-19 Mystery Solved. He has spent years examining scientific papers, research proposals, public records, and correspondence concerning coronavirus experimentation and the origins of COVID-19. His work presents a detailed hypothesis about research activities that may have contributed to the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 and identifies records capable of testing that hypothesis.
WHY PEOPLE ARE SIGNING
Their reasons, in their own words.
Selected comments from people who added their names, or chose to sign anonymously.