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Duke BOOST (Building Opportunities & Overtures in Science & Technology) is a Duke University School of Medicine-based program designed to excite young people –particularly underrepresented minorities, girls, and youth from economically challenged backgrounds – about science, and to inspire them to pursue careers in medicine and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)-related fields.

Duke University’s Physician Assistant (PA) Program ranked number one among PA programs in the country, according to new U.S. News & World Report graduate and professional school rankings released on March 10, 2015.

Joseph P. Mathew, MD, MHSc, MBA, the Jerry Reves, MD, Professor of Anesthesiology, has been named the permanent chair for the Department of Anesthesiology, effective immediately.

Edward Buckley, MD, has been named the permanent chair of the Department of Ophthalmology, effective immediately. This decision was made after an extensive national search. Dr. Buckley has served as interim chair of the department since March of 2014 and has done an outstanding job leading the department during an especially difficult transition in the wake of former chair Dr. David Epstein’s untimely death and through construction of the new Hudson Building.

Duke University School of Medicine ranked among the top ten medical schools in the country, according to new U.S. News & World Report graduate and professional school rankings. The School of Medicine ranked eighth for research.

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has asked Holly Lisanby, MD, chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, to serve as its director for the Division of Translational Research. Dr. Lisanby will step down from her role as chair and take a leave of absence from Duke to begin serving the NIMH this fall, pending final NIH approval. As director for the Division of Translational Research, Dr. Lisanby will be in an exciting position to help set a national agenda for research on mental illness.

Merel H. Harmel, MD, professor emeritus and founding chair of the Duke University School of Medicine Department of Anesthesiology, passed away on Thursday, February 19, 2015. Dr. Harmel served as chair of the Department of Anesthesiology from 1971 to 1983, and had a profound impact on all those with whom he came in contact.

Ebony Boulware, MD, MPH, has been named associate dean for clinical and translational science and director of Duke’s Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH. Dr. Boulware replaces Robert Califf, MD, and will work as contact principal investigator with CTSA co-principal investigators Jennifer, Li, MD, MHS, and James McNamara, MD.

The School of Medicine’s Office for Faculty Mentoring, led by Mark Dewhirst, DVM, PhD, Associate Dean for Faculty Mentoring, launched the Academy of Mentors in the summer of 2014. This new academy provides a platform for senior faculty mentors in the School of Medicine to support junior faculty members as they embark on one of the greatest challenges to establishing oneself in a research field—obtaining independent funding.

Robert Califf, MD, vice chancellor of clinical and translational research at Duke University School of Medicine and a global leader in cardiovascular medicine, clinical and translational research and medical economics, has been named deputy commissioner for Medical Products and Tobacco at the Food and Drug Administration. Califf will begin his appointment, which was announced today by FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, MD, at the end of February.