This collection of stories showcases the transformative work our Duke Latiné/Hispanic employees are doing in their professional lives and within our communities. Send us your stories.
You can also learn more about ongoing activities, volunteer opportunities, and more in the ¡DALHE! quarterly newsletter, which is published four times per year. Check out our most recent issues:
Duke Views: Portraits and Narratives
Lauren Valle, 2025 Duke graduate in biology, was the winner of this year’s Julia Harper Day Award for Documentary Studies (CDS), one of the university’s leading student awards in the arts. Valle’s capstone project, “Unseen Histories: Latinidad in Focus,” consists of large-format black-and-white portraits and personal narratives of 10 student activists. Shown here is Mariana Meza Mantilla, a rising senior, whose studies focus on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Empowering Communities: Duke Medical Students Lead Cancer Awareness Training with El Centro Hispano
On May 7, two Duke medical students partnered with a faculty member from the Department of Head and Neck Surgery & Communication Sciences to support a pilot initiative called LIDERES (Latino Initiative for Delivering Education and Raising Engagement on Screening for Head & Neck Cancer). The students led a two-hour workshop in Spanish focused on head and neck cancer awareness and early detection techniques.
Building a Workplace of Belonging
¡DALHE! is among the many employee-led resource and affinity groups at Duke that bring colleagues together. The groups promote inclusion while fostering connections among colleagues and the wider community.
CTSI Partners with Root Causes, NCCU, El Centro Hispano to Study Food as Medicine
New research finds that delivering medically tailored groceries and nutrition education to underserved communities improves blood pressure and food security.
Harnessing the Body’s Ability to Heal Itself
Biomaterials are all around us. They are the bandages in our first-aid kit, the fillings in our teeth and the capsules that contain the medications we take. Biomedical engineer Tatiana Segura, PhD, and her team are developing biomaterials that harness the body’s ability to heal.
Immersion Trip to Guatemala Deepens Commitment to Global Health
Parris Jones-Hammock, an ABSN student at Duke University School of Nursing, had a transformative experience on a class trip to Guatemala—one that he says has further instilled a desire to give back.
Museum of Durham History Unveils Exhibit on Latiné History at Duke
The Museum of Durham History (MoDH) opened a new Duke student-curated component of its ongoing exhibit “100 Years of Duke” titled "Our History, Our Voice: Latinés at Duke.”
What Comes Next: Integrative Immunobiology
Dr. Raphael Valdivia, the Nanaline H. Duke Distinguished Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, emphasizes the need to understand the human immune system to address diseases like cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. His research focuses on leveraging AI and genetic engineering to guide immunity, highlighting Duke's strengths in transplant immunology and infectious disease research.
Bohórquez, Brinkley-Rubinstein Receive Presidential Early Career Awards
School of Medicine faculty members, Diego V. Bohórquez, PhD, and Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein, PhD, have been honored with Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on outstanding scientists and engineers early in their careers.
Interpretation Services Make Duke Research Accessible to Spanish Speakers
Spanish is the second most common language in the United States and Durham. By law, clinics with patient services must make their services accessible when a language is strongly represented in the community. However, scientific research is not always accessible to Spanish-speaking families. At the Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development, researchers are working to ensure that research outcomes are broadly applicable.