Robert J. Lefkowitz Society
The Robert J. Lefkowitz Society provides a home for MD and MD/PhD post-graduate trainees who are in the Duke University School of Medicine, and are pursuing careers with a primary focus on basic and translational research as physician-investigators.
Through formal and informal mentoring relationships, the Lefkowitz Society provides promising post-graduate trainees with a greater understanding of how to develop successful academic careers.
The Society helps members grow opportunities to develop successful research projects, and helps them find appropriate research mentors and investigative teams as early as possible in order to enhance their future research success and productivity. Members will benefit from direct interactions with senior physician-investigators at Duke through a series of dinner programs and other activities.
The Lefkowitz Society is named for Robert J. Lefkowitz, MD, Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology and recipient of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2012.
In his 40 years as a Duke researcher, Dr. Lefkowitz has mentored more than 200 trainees. He has embraced the opportunity to serve as a role model and informal mentor for members of the eponymous Lefkowitz Society.
The Lefkowitz Society comprises selected Duke internal medicine post-graduate trainees with either an MD or MD/PhD dual degrees and a significant interest in pursuing a research-intensive academic career.
The Society will engage 5-10 new members per year and membership will extend throughout their training as long as the career focus remains.
- The Society will be overseen by a Program Director. The program director will also assist members in selecting their primary research mentors and identifying funding opportunities.
- Members will be selected through a nomination and review process coordinated by the Society Program Director with input from residency program leaders, department chairs, and division chiefs.
- Potential candidates will be vetted through an interview.
- Following the vetting process, a formal letter signed by the Society Program Director will be issued to each approved candidate, inviting the post-graduate trainee to be a member of the society.
- The Lefkowitz Society will hold up to six dinner meetings per year on campus or at the home of a faculty member. Senior physician-investigators from Duke and elsewhere will be invited to these meetings and asked to share career advice and scientific perspectives. Selected fellows may also be invited and engaged to participate in the process.
- Society members may request financial support to attend scientific meetings over the course of residency training. These requests will be coordinated by the Society Program Director and chief residents to ensure that no scheduling issues affecting patient care staffing arise.
- Society members will also be supported to attend institutional career development activities, such as the grant writing seminar and leadership programs offered by the School of Medicine.
- The Society will coordinate with the OPSD to support an annual physician-scientist symposium to highlight Society members' research activities. In addition, members will be invited to represent the Society at Duke Clinical and Basic Science Days, and other opportunities as they arise.
- Society members will be given priority for selection into fellowship training programs at Duke.
Learn More
For more information, contact Gerard Blobe, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine and Lefkowitz Society Program Director, at gerard.blobe@dm.duke.edu.
Below is a list of Lefkowitz Society members, the medical schools they attended, and their current departments or fellowship programs.
Below are current members, the medical schools they attended, and affiliated fellowship departments.
| Name | Medical School | Department/Fellowship Program |
|---|---|---|
| Alejandro Antonia, MD, PhD | Duke University | Medicine |
| Cesar Lopez Angel, MD, PhD | Stanford University | Pediatrics |
| Berk Aykut, M.D. | Ruprecht-Karls-Universität, Heidelberg (Germany) | Surgery |
| David Bader, MD, PhD | Baylor College of Medicine | Medicine, Hematology/Oncology |
| John Barber, MD | University of North Carolina | Medicine |
| Fahmin Basher, MD, PhD | Medical University of South Carolina | Medicine, Hematology/Oncology |
| Abigail Benkert, MD | Tufts University | Surgery |
| Muath Bishawi, MD, MPH | Stony Brook University | Surgery |
| Sonali Bracken, MD, PhD | University of Connecticut | Medicine/Rheumatology |
| Nicholas Brazeau, MD, PhD | University of North Carolina | Medicine |
| Marcelo Cerullo, MD MPH | Johns Hopkins | Surgery |
| Mark Chen, MD, PhD | Duke University | Radiation Oncology |
| Benjamin T. Cocanougher, MD, PhD | University of Rochester/University of Cambridge | Pediatrics |
| George Cortina, MD, PhD | University of Virginia | Anesthesiology |
| Lauren Covert, M.D. | Georgetown University | Pediatrics, Rheumatology |
| David Elliott, MD, PhD | Duke University | Medicine/Cardiology |
| Nellie Farrow, MD | University of Virginia | Surgery |
| Aurian García González, MD, PhD | University of Massachusetts | Surgery |
| Alex Gooding, MD, PhD | Case Western Reserve | Radiation Oncology |
| Manasa Gurumoorthi, MD | Case Western Reserve | Pediatrics |
| Sam Haddad MD, PhD | American University of Beirut/University of Cambridge | Medicine |
| Taymour Hammoudi, MD, PhD | Emory University | Pediatrics, Transplant and Cell Therapy |
| Stephen Harward, MD, PhD | Duke University | Neurosurgery |
| Nathan Hawkey, MD, MBA | Tulane University | Medicine, Hematology/Oncology |
| Peter Hendrickson, MD, PhD | University of Utah | Radiation Oncology |
| Joyce Hwang, MD, PhD | Harvard Medical School | Medicine, Hematology/Oncology |
| Daniel Joh, MD, PhD | Duke University | Surgery, Plastic Surgery |
| Arvind Konkimalla, MD, PhD | Duke University | Medicine |
| David L Kerr, MD | Duke University | Orthopedic Surgery |
| Aaditya Khatri, MD, PhD | Duke University | Medicine/Pulmonary |
| Michael Kiritsy, MD, PhD | University of Massachusetts | Medicine |
| Joseph Ladowski, MD, PhD | University of Alabama-Birmingham | Surgery |
| Holly Lewis MD, PhD | Emory University | Surgery, Plastic Surgery |
| Annie Liu, MD, PhD | University of Pittsburgh | Surgery |
| Jessica Liu, MD, PhD | University of Pennsylvania | Anesthesiology |
| Zachary Lorsch, MD PhD | Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai | Medicine, Gastroenterology |
| Justin Low, MD, PhD | University of North Carolina | Neurosurgery/Neuro-Oncology |
| William McAlpine, MD, PhD | University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center | Medicine |
| Ryan Meyerhoff, MD, PhD | Duke University | Radiology |
| Alexander Moghadam, MD, PhD | New York Medical College | Psychiatry |
| Yorleny Mora, M.D., Ph.D. | Case Western Reserve University | Radiation Oncology |
| Dimitrios Moris, MD, PhD | University of Athens, Greece | Surgery |
| Tanziyah Muqeem, MD, PhD | Thomas Jefferson University | Medicine/Neurology |
| Michael Mulvihill, M.D. | Duke University | Surgery |
| Marybeth Nedrud, MD, PhD | University of North Carolina | Radiology |
| Bin Ni, MD, PhD | Ohio State University | Medicine, Transplant Infectious Disease |
| Maggie O’Connor, MD, PhD | Drexel University | Surgery |
| Joshua Parsons, MD, PhD | University of Tennessee | Medicine, Infectious Disease |
| Ryne Ramaker, MD, PhD | University of Alabama-Birmingham | Medicine, Hematology/Oncology |
| Vignesh Raman, MD | Dartmouth | Surgery |
| Adrian Randall, MD | Duke University | Medicine |
| Deborah Rose, MD | Loyola University | Neurology |
| Alvin Rucker, MD, MPH | Duke University | Surgery |
| David Severson MD, D. Phil. | Harvard Medical School/Oxford | Surgery |
| Daniel Sexton, MD | Case Western Reserve University | Neurosurgery |
| Brian Shaw, MD | UCSF | Surgery |
| Adam Shoffner, MD | Yale University | Surgery |
| Dan Schuster, MD | Albany Medical College | Surgery |
| Zachary Silver, MD, PhD | University of Miami | Medicine |
| Meredith K. Sooy-Mossey, MD, MS | University of Vermont | Pediatrics, Cardiology |
| Ashley Stark, MD | Georgetown University | Pediatrics, Infectious Disease |
| Lilianna Suarez, MD, MPH | Duke University | Medicine/Pediatrics |
| Russell Thompson, MD, PhD | Washington University St. Louis | Radiology |
| Ashley Thrower, MD | University of North Carolina | Medicine/Pediatrics |
| Bangchen Wang, MD, PhD | University of Nebraska | Pathology |
| Lauren West-Livingston, MD, PhD | Wake Forest University | Surgery |
| Karolina Woroniecka, MD, PhD | Duke University | Pathology |
| Maria Xu, MD, PhD | University of Connecticut | Surgery |
| Derek Zachman MD, PhD | Oregon Health and Science University | Pediatrics |
| Katherine Zhou, MD, PhD | University of Chicago | Medicine, Hematology/Oncology |
Pediatric Scientist Development Program
The Pediatric Scientist Development Program (PSDP) provides intensive training in research relevant to specialty areas of pediatrics. The goal is to prepare entry-level faculty for research careers in academic pediatrics. Physicians presently in pediatric training programs who wish to train in basic, translational, clinical or health services research with an established investigator/mentor are encouraged to apply. A commitment to an investigative academic career is essential.
Candidates completing the PSDP are eligible for sub-specialty boards because PSDP training typically takes place after the completion of the clinical fellowship year(s). Support includes salary, fringe benefits, and research training expenses. The active involvement and support of pediatric department chairs in the nomination and application process, and career development of PSDP scholars, are essential to the program's success.