The three largest universities in the Triangle were recently awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation to better facilitate collaboration between nanotechnology students, manufacturers and researchers.
Duke scientists’ recent breakthrough in brain mapping technology has enabled them to make an improved model of a mouse’s brain, which can then be used to help determine the origins of neurological disorders, and improve treatment in humans. Using an innovational approach of diffusion imaging, a team here at Duke succeeded in creating a three dimensional map of the circuitry inside of a mouse’s brain at a resolution 100,000 times greater than that of a clinical MRI scan.
The School of Medicine’s Physician Assistant Program will celebrate its 50-year heritage and accomplishments Saturday.
Duke’s Franklin Humanities Institute is implementing initiatives that focus on using the humanities to improve healthcare. Deborah Jenson, the new Franklin Humanities Institute (FHI) director and professor of French, Romance Studies and Global Health is leading efforts to integrate healthcare and humanities.
The national spotlight has again fallen on the anti-vaccine movement after controversial claims from Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ben Carson during the second GOP debate. The scientific and medical communities agree, however, that vaccines do not cause autism and are effective tools for public health, said Jeffrey Baker, a pediatrician and director of Duke’s History of Medicine program.
You have heard of the old adage: “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” But new research could inspire a new saying: “worms a day keeps the doctor away.” Duke scientists are planning clinical trials to investigate whether ingesting helminths, which are intestinal worms, can treat depression and other neurological diseases. Currently, the public is knowledgeable that the community of different types of bacteria living in human bodies, called the microbiome, is important to health.
This weekend, the first Triangle Health Innovation Challenge (ThInC), a health hackathon, brought together a diverse set of individuals to collaborate and propose innovative solutions for the biggest issues in medicine, from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to diabetes. “Our mission was to foster grassroots innovation in healthcare among students and young professionals in the Triangle,” said Steven Doerstling, UNC ‘17, who is a founder of ThInC. ThInC was inspired by Lina Colucci, a Duke Robertson Scholar ‘08, who is now a Ph.D.
Graduate of Duke School of Medicine and now Assistant Professor Damon Tweedy recently published his book, Black Man in a White Coat. In light of the national racial questions and campus events , the book is an interesting reflection on Tweedy's experiences through medical as a black student as well as a larger commentary on the discriminatory "facts" that medical institutions uphold.
Duke scientists have discovered a breakthrough method of delivering cancer drugs that drastically improves their efficiency. This summer, a team led by Ashutosh Chilkoti—chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering—published a study describing the new technique where nanoparticles are modified to package and deliver a common chemotherapy drug called paclitaxel.
Missy Cummings is a professor in the department of mechanical engineering and director of the humans and autonomy lab at Duke.
The Duke Medical School last week announced the launch of a new Center for Statistical Genetics and Genomics, hoping to bring together statisticians, bioinformaticists and other quantitative scientists to work on genetic issues. The center, directed by Andrew Allen, a professor of biostatistics and bioinformatics, will focus mainly on how genetics and genomics can affect disease.
Researchers at Duke University have paired with collaborators from across the globe in the hopes of bringing the trained eye of a psychiatrist to the lens of an iPad camera through an app designed to screen for autism. The application first displays a series of short videos that are meant to evoke emotional responses in its users.
Teams of Duke researchers at the forefront of the immunotherapy field are exploring the potential of polio, a fatal disease, to fight cancer. Investigators in the Duke Medical Center hope to use a modified poliovirus to teach the body’s immune system to find and destroy cancerous tissue when it normally cannot.
Not eating your vegetables may, in fact, be a very big deal. Nancy Zucker, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Duke University School of Medicine, has conducted research that supports the claim that picky eating can lead to anxiety disorders.
This flu season, students' chances of staying healthy may get a boost from an unexpected source—their cell phones. The researchers—statistician Katherine Heller from Duke and epidemiologist Allison Aiello from UNC—tested their application, iEpi, with a group of approximately 100 students at the University of Michigan.
Duke faculty and students are working to change the tradition of how undergraduates get their start in research on campus. Sheila Patek, associate professor of biology, has been leading efforts in developing an online platform called MUSER – Matching Undergraduates to Science and Engineering Research – that allows students to submit an application to the website and browse through the list of projects that faculty have posted, rather than requiring students to find mentors or research projects on their own.
Duke Marine Lab is taking to the skies. The Duke University Marine Laboratory, located in Beaufort, N.C, recently opened its Marine Conservation Ecology Unmanned Systems Facility earlier this month.
A group of Duke pulmonary researchers has had a string of recent paper retractions from several scientific journals. Six of the retracted papers have two authors in common: Erin Potts-Kant—who was arrested in 2013 on charges of embezzling more than $14,000 from Duke—and William Michael Foster, Research Professor of Medicine at the Duke University Medical Center.
Duke scientists and students are moving forward in their efforts to introduce a new method of delivering drugs that prevent the transmission of HIV from mothers to infants. The “Pratt Pouch”—which resembles a ketchup packet—allows mothers in developing countries who cannot give birth in hospitals or clinics to administer an antiretroviral drug directly to their newborn babies.
After more than a decade of diminished funding, a bill awaiting Senate approval could revive the National Institutes of Health’s budget. The 21st Century Cures Act draft—which the House of Representatives passed in a bipartisan 344-77 vote last month—stipulates that the NIH will receive a total increase in funding of $8.75 billion over the next five years and the Food and Drug Administration will receive an increase of $550 million over the next five years. Certain aspects of the bill, however, are controversial among politicians, scientists and the public—especially its streamlined drug and medical device approval process for the FDA.
