Norfolk State University

The research enterprise is paramount at Norfolk State University. With a focus on finding practical solutions to complex problems, research permeates the curriculum and emphasizes minority student participation at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

NSU students, faculty and staff provide leading expertise and contribute to shape the future in a range of fields from materials to biotechnology, to modeling, to simulation and computing, to the arts and the social sciences. NSU is home to several centers and institutes, where the researchers collaborate across disciplines to discover innovative answers and approaches to challenging problems.

We invite you to explore our accomplishments that, occasionally, have also been highlighted by the mass media. Full descriptions can be found in NSU Research magazine or the media reviews below.

Dr. Joseph C. Hall was appointed Vice President for Research at Norfolk State University in the Fall of 2009, and Interim Vice President for Research in the Fall of 2008. Under his tenure as VP for Research, NSU saw a steady increase in research initiatives.

Dr. Hall also serves as the Director of the Center for Biotechnology and Biomedical Sciences at Norfolk State University since its inception in the Fall of 2005. He came to Norfolk State in the Fall of 1997 as an Associate Professor, being promoted to Professor in 2009. Previously, he was an Assistant Professor in the North Carolina State University and The Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Hall was awarded the prestigious NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award by President George Bush in April of 1991.

Dr. Hall's is internationally known as a leading expert in the field of non-hormonal approaches to male contraception development (i.e., a non-hormonal male birth control pill). He and his collaborators demonstrated that transition-state analogues of acetylated amino sugars were very potent, competitive inhibitors of the fertilization process. His current efforts are mainly focused on improving the efficacy of these compounds as well as discovering new potential male contraceptives compounds, with the help of computer-assisted drug discovery (CADD) tools.

Another of Dr. Hall’s research objectives is to understand and elucidate the underlying mechanism of how cancer cells evade the mammalian immune system. A significant research question is: Do sperm cells and tumor cells use the same strategy to protect themselves from cell-mediated immune responses?. These responses are determined by specific types of cell surface proteins, hence a primary focus of his research is to identify, purify, characterize, and compare the structure/function relationship of gamete and somatic cell surface proteins of normal and cancer cells.

Dr. Hall is also involved in the study of the biocompatibility/toxicity of nano structured materials (i.e., nanoparticles), hence a research objective of his laboratory is to synthesize and characterize bi-functional nanoparticles (i.e., nano materials that are both diagnostic and therapeutic).

In addition to his positions at

Norfolk State University, Dr. Hall was the Founder, CEO and Chief Scientist of Innovative Reproductive Technologies (IRT), from the Spring of 1997 to the Fall of 2005. IRT was a research and development company focused on the development of diagnostic assay for infertility and male contraceptive development.

	Research at NSU A list of Research Centers at Norfolk State University as well as the Centers of Excellence. Learn More
	Office of Sponsored Programs Shepherds programs and funds into and through the University and to assists in developing and maintaining the intellectual base required to attract external funding. Learn More
	Enterprise & Empowerment Foundation NSU's own Foundation providing brands and services that promote applied research and technological innovations. Learn More

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