Magnify Magazine

When Charles Johnson, MD, wasn’t busy seeing patients during his early days on the Duke University School of Medicine faculty, he spent time walking the halls and lobbies of the hospital. He did it, as he did most things, with a purpose: to be visible, to help hasten the day when seeing a Black physician at Duke would be considered nothing out of the ordinary.

When the job announcement first popped up in Barb Hooper’s email inbox, she didn’t bother to open it. She was an associate professor at Colorado State, and as director of the Center for Occupational Therapy Education her focus was on the educational component of occupational therapy. The email announcement was for a position to develop a new occupational therapy program at Duke, and Hooper presumed she wouldn’t be quite what they were looking for. 

Residents of Durham’s Hayti community, one of the oldest Black communities in the city, will enjoy a flourishing array of blooming trees along their sidewalks this spring thanks to a joint effort by community members, the City of Durham, local nonprofits, and Duke. Nearly 100 trees were recently planted in southeastern Durham with the goal of protecting the community against the negative health impacts of climate change.