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Duke University scientists have caught the first glimpse of molecules shuttling along a sort of highway running the length of neural stem cells, which are crucial to the development of new neurons. This new view has given them an intriguing clue that a protein deficient in Fragile X syndrome, an autism-related disorder that causes intellectual disability, is responsible for moving at least some of this molecular cargo up and down the stem cells. The findings appear online Dec. 1 in Current Biology.

Three members of the Duke University faculty have been named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). They are among 391 new fellows this year and are being recognized for their efforts toward advancing scientifically or socially distinguished science. They are:

Although both group and individual therapy can ease post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in active-duty military service members, individual therapy relieved PTSD symptoms better and quicker, according to a study led by a Duke University School of Medicine researcher.

Shyni Varghese will join the faculty of Duke University’s engineering and medical schools in summer 2017. With a triple appointment in the Departments of Biomedical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, and Orthopaedic Surgery, Varghese will be the first MEDx Investigator.

Cancer rewires the metabolism of tumor cells, converting them into lean, mean, replicating machines. But like Olympic athletes who rely on special diets to perform, tumor cells’ amped-up metabolism can also make them dependent on specific nutrients for survival.

At this year’s annual meeting of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC),  Kathryn Andolsek, MD, MPH, Professor of Community and Family Medicine, was elected chair of the AAMC’s Group on Resident Affairs (GRA). GRA promotes exemplary leadership for high-quality graduate medical education (GME) and is the authoritative source on GME principles and practices in the medical education continuum within the AAMC and nationally.

As part of the $60 million Engineering Roadmap funded and created by the National Football League (NFL) and Football Research, Inc. (FRI), Duke biomechanics experts will direct an international program to spur advancements in protective equipment and technology

  Thirty-six School of Medicine faculty members have been named Duke Health Scholars and Duke Health Fellows. This inaugural program was created with a transfer of funds from the Duke University Health System. Its aim is to support the research efforts and enhance the academic success of early to mid-career clinician-scientists in School of Medicine clinical departments. 

This week, a memoir written by Ralph Snyderman, MD, former chancellor for health affairs at Duke University and dean of the School of Medicine from 1989 to 2004, will be released. "A Chancellor's Tale: Transforming Academic Medicine" chronicles Dr. Snyderman's tenure including the creation of the Duke University Health System, as well as dramatic transformations in modern medicine.  Grace Mok, a reporter for Duke University's student newspaper, The Chronicle, spoke with Dr. Snyderman.

Three members of the Duke University School of Medicine faculty have been named to the prestigious National Academy of Medicine, an independent advisory organization made up of leading professionals in health, medicine and the natural, social, and behavioral sciences. The three from Duke -- Allan D. Kirk, M.D., Ph.D., Donald P. McDonnell, Ph.D., and Robert M. Califf, M.D. -- were among 79 new members elected from both the United States and abroad.