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Electronics developed for deep brain stimulation useful for electric vehicles too Technology developed to help neurosurgeons control electric currents during noninvasive brain stimulation could also lead to safer, more efficient batteries for electric cars and solar panels, thanks to seed funding from the Duke University Energy Initiative.

Earlier this summer, Boston-area medical alumni welcomed new Duke SOM graduates who were beginning their training at hospitals in the city. More than 20 alumni gathered at the event to toast the new residents and provide them with insights on living and working in the Boston area.

Alumni Spotlight - Fixing the Unimaginable Pediatric and fetal surgeon Holly Hedrick, MD’91, gives hope for families and babies with complex birth defects By Aliza Inbari

Would you like to be nominated to represent the School of Medicine on your local Duke alumni regional board? The Duke Alumni Association has regional volunteers serving in nearly 40 domestic regions and a dozen international locations.  Volunteers drive the activity of these Duke alumni groups. You can help mobilize alumni in your area by planning programs, hosting and organizing events, or even just suggesting ideas for ways to connect alumni in your community.

Typhoid, Ebola use cholesterol to enter cells   That statin you’ve been taking to lower your risk of heart attack or stroke may one day pull double duty, providing protection against a whole host of infectious diseases, including typhoid fever, chlamydia, and malaria.

Anthony Viera, MD, MPH, has been named the new chair of the Department of Community and Family Medicine, effective October 1, 2017. Dr. Viera is a professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. He also holds appointments as adjunct professor in the Department of Epidemiology and in the Public Health Leadership Program at UNC. This decision was made after a national search, and I want to thank members of the search committee, led by Allan Kirk, MD, chair of the Department of Surgery, for all of their efforts.

Drug-like molecule is being studied as a therapy for cancer, autoimmune disorders. A drug-like molecule developed by Duke Health researchers appears to intercede in an inflammatory response that is at the center of a variety of diseases, including some cancers, rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease.

Biologically speaking, nearly every species on Earth has two opposite sexes, male and female. But with some fungi and other microbes, sex can be a lot more complicated. Some members of Cryptococcus, a family of fungus linked to human disease, can have tens of thousands of different mating types.

  Members of the School of Medicine’s underrepresented minority faculty, staff and students gathered with their families last weekend at an event hosted by Kevin Thomas, MD, assistant professor of medicine (cardiology) and associate dean of underrepresented minority faculty development in the School of Medicine. The goal of the event was to bring individuals together for networking, fellowship, and to experience the sense of community at Duke.

  About the new class and their orientation to Duke  The School of Medicine’s class of 2021 is readying for their Duke experience with a time-honored ceremony and an immersion into the Duke and Durham community. The 116 members of the class received their first white coats — a gift from the Duke Medical Alumni Association— at the White Coat Ceremony on August 4.  The white coat signifies the virtues of altruism, responsibility, duty, honor, respect, and compassion.