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When William Dawson took over the Performing Arts program at Duke Hospital, he became the first full-time staff Musician in Residence and Semans/Byrd Performing Arts Coordinator. As a teacher, band director and international performer, Dawson understood the effect music could have on one’s mood and emotions.

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Duke University News Office to host op-ed and commentary writing workshop School of Medicine faculty are invited to attend a campus-wide workshop hosted by the Duke University News Office on how to write powerful op-eds and commentary pieces. The workshop will take place from 9-11 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 16, in Room 217 of Perkins Library. Faculty who participate in the workshop will begin writing a commentary piece, with feedback provided by the instructor and the other attendees.

Annual Scholarly Writing Retreat May 21-24, 9am-4pm at the King’s Daughters Inn in Durham, NC.  

Last November, 240 Duke University School of Medicine alumni, along with more than 260 family members, arrived in Durham for the annual Medical Alumni Weekend.  Attendees traveled from as far away as Costa Rica to reconnect with friends, marvel at the changes unfolding on Duke’s campus and in Durham, and dive headlong into an event-filled weekend celebrating their connection to the school and to each other. And, as part of their celebration, they gave. The reunion classes demonstrated tremendous generosity, giving more than $4 million to support Duke Medicine. 

Someday, waiting lists for organ transplants will be a thing of the past.  “One day, patients will have access to regenerative medicine treatments that will circumvent the complications of organ donation,” says Sharlini Sankaran, PhD, executive director of Duke’s Regeneration Next Initiative. “We will be able to use our bodies’ own innate repair mechanisms to eliminate the wait time, cost, and limited supply of organ transplantation. Instead of transplanting organs, we will know how to repair our own.”

With the establishment of one of the world’s first biomedical engineering departments in 1967, Duke University‘s preeminence at the intersection of medicine and engineering a half-century later could be considered inevitable.

How often do you receive a call just to hear the voice on the other end say, “Thank you”? Well, that’s exactly what 728 Medical Annual Fund donors heard when they picked up the phone on Friday, October 13, as part of the 5th annual Thank-A-Thon. The calls were made by 19 School of Medicine student ambassadors and volunteers, and were part of a much larger coordinated display of gratitude that involved representatives from eight units of Duke Health. 

Sorting sweet potatoes into food boxes for families in need is not exactly how medical students typically spend a Saturday morning, but for the Duke University School of Medicine students who signed up to volunteer for Duke in Durham Day this past November, they didn’t want to be anyplace else. “They loved it,” says Julia Salinaro, MSIII, vice president of service for the Davison Council.

Entrepreneurism is in the air. The qualities of a successful entrepreneur typically include discipline, creativity, high risk tolerance, and flexibility. What may not be exactly second nature are the skills to develop a network, the legal expertise to patent a discovery, or an understanding of how to secure funding to launch a start-up.