Although the proposed merger between the departments of microbiology and genetics has yet to win formal approval, initial steps are proceeding, and a preliminary structure of the new department is emerging.
"It is now operationally complete," said Dr. Sandy Williams, dean of the School of Medicine.
The Academic Council and the Board of Trustees are expected to approve the merger sometime in the next few months.
Dr. Joseph Nevins, who will be the new chair of the Department of Molecular Genetics, has already filled "quite a number of new faculty positions," Williams said.
Nevins said the department will not be formally divided into distinct divisions, but will rather be home to several research centers, including microbial pathogenesis, RNA biology, virology and molecular genetics.
"It's a done deal," said Nevins, the current chair of the genetics department. "A major reason for moving this direction was the need and the real strong desire to begin building stronger programs in microbial pathogenesis that would include virology programs and link with genetics. A lot of the understanding for pathogenesis and disease has to do with [not only] genetic variation in organisms, but genetic variation in individuals and people."
The future department is already gathering regularly for faculty meetings, graduate student activities and research meetings.
"When you do a merger of this sort, some things you can do quick, some things have to wait awhile," Nevins said. "We can't go out and advertise we're a new department."
The microbial pathogenesis initiative will come under the leadership of Dr. Joseph Heitman, associate professor of genetics.
The new direction toward microbial pathogenesis comes after a 1999 external review criticized the microbiology department for a small faculty, difficulty recruiting graduate students and internal division. The review expressed concerns about the viability of a doctoral program without significant faculty recruitment.
Dr. Jack Keene, current chair of the microbiology department, will head the center researching RNA biology. Keene said the group, comprised of a dozen faculty members, has been operating in the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Nevins said most of the microbiology faculty will remain in the Jones Building and that the genetics faculty will remain in the Clinical and Research Labs Building, both of which are on Research Drive. He said administrators have discussed building a new research building in five years to physically join the two departments. For now, Nevins said, there is room in both for recruiting new faculty.
The microbiology department was formed in 1993 after splitting from the Department of Immunology and for a long time was a top 10 department with over 70 graduate students. The Department of Genetics was established in 1994.
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