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Class of 2024 OTD student Karol Guerrero recently shared an update on her current fieldwork assignment at Colorado State University. What kind of work are you doing?  

Viviana Martinez-Bianchi, MD, FAAFP, director of community engagement and associate professor in the Duke Department of Family Medicine and Community Health and has been selected as President-elect of the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA).

DPT faculty emerita Elia (Emy) Villanueva passed away Saturday, Oct. 21, in Chapel Hill after a long battle with Alzheimer’s.  Her dedication to patients, students, and faculty and her contributions to shaping the DPT program for more than 40 years impact lives today. Read her obituary. 

A new internship program aims to alleviate a shortage of African American physicians. North Carolina Central University and Duke University jointly developed the Mentored Internship Program, which allows an undergraduate from NCCU to work as an intern in the division of nephrology at Duke University School of Medicine for one year.

The Duke Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) recently launched the Center for Precision Health (CPH), the result of a collaboration between CTSI and the Precision Genomics Collaboratory which focuses on how genomic research can transform patient health.

Giselle Y. López, MD, PhD, received the Spark Award from the Association for Women in Science (AWIS), in recognition of her strong leadership skills and for her vocal advocacy for diversity and inclusive scientific practices.

This October, Duke Divinity School celebrated the 15th anniversary, the quinceañera, of the founding of the Hispanic House of Studies with a series of events on Oct. 12, including a panel discussion, worship, lecture, and a documentary and art exhibit featuring renowned artist Enrique Chiu.

Samantha Wilkison Pharmacology Vadim Arshavsky, Ph.D. 10/9/23 Defining the Local Landscape of Retinal Ganglion Cell Axons

Changes are afoot this year for the School of Medicine’s Chancellor’s Awards! To start, the awards, which include domestic scholar awards for incoming students, international scholar awards for second-year students, and research excellence awards for students nearing thesis defense, will undergo a name change to become the Dean’s Awards. While the awards were originally established and funded by the Chancellor of the School of Medicine, they are now generously supported by Executive Vice President for Health Affairs and Dean of the School of Medicine Mary E. Klotman, MD.

From September 28-30, 2023, I had the honor and privilege of attending the 2023 AAPA Leadership and Advocacy Summit (LAS) in Washington, D.C. I joined over 200 advocates from 41 states and was one of 75 students and 129 first-time attendees! PAs and PA students visited 191 Congressional offices to promote PA representation and discuss two pieces of vital PA-relevant legislation.