Leadership transition in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology

Joseph Heitman, MD, PhD, James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology (MGM), will step down as chair of the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology on August 31, 2026, after 17 years of dedicated leadership. Dr. Heitman will continue advancing the school’s missions as a professor of molecular genetics and microbiology, cell biology, medicine, and pharmacology and cancer biology.

Under Dr. Heitman’s leadership, the department has built upon its longstanding strengths in research, education, and scientific discovery while advancing Duke’s national and international reputation in the biomedical sciences. 

Dr. Heitman is an internationally recognized leader in fungal biology, genetics, and infectious disease research. Since joining the Duke University School of Medicine faculty in 1992, he has deepened our understanding of microorganisms and their impact on human health. His research has led to new discoveries in fungal genetics, cell signaling, antimicrobial drug resistance, microbial evolution, and the biology of sexual reproduction. Among his many achievements are seminal discoveries: TOR and FKBP12 as the targets of the immunosuppressive and chemotherapy drug rapamycin, the role of calcineurin in fungal virulence, fungal unisexual reproduction, and novel mechanisms by which pathogens develop stable or transient drug resistance.

 Dr. Heitman has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Squibb Award, AMGEN Award, Stanley J. Korsmeyer Award, the Edward Novitski Prize, the Distinguished Mycologist Award, and the Lucille Georg Medal. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the German National Academy of Sciences-Leopoldina, the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians.

Raphael Valdivia, PhD, chair of the Department of Integrative Immunobiology and Nanaline H. Duke Distinguished Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, will serve as interim chair of MGM. 

Effective October 1, Dr. Heitman will be appointed to a Duke Health Distinguished Professorship, replacing his James B. Duke Professorship, recognizing his contributions to science and medicine.