The Department of Biochemistry and the Department of Cell Biology in the Duke University School of Medicine have united to form the Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, bringing together two closely aligned scientific communities with a shared commitment to discovery, education, and service.
This merger reflects the broader direction of biomedical science, where traditional boundaries between disciplines have become increasingly fluid, and also the growing convergence of the two fields, said Mary E. Klotman, MD, executive vice president for health affairs at Duke University and dean of the School of Medicine. Questions once separated by scale or method are now approached with a common set of tools and a common vocabulary, and the faculty of both departments have long collaborated across that boundary. “Formalizing the connection creates a single department built around multidisciplinary science and prepares our labs to solve complex problems for the rapidly changing future,” she said.
The new department unites two scientific communities with deep roots in the School of Medicine: Biochemistry established in 1930, and Cell Biology founded in 1988. Each has built a distinct identity and a strong faculty, and together they carry a tradition of scientific excellence that includes Nobel Prize-winning discoveries and internationally recognized research programs.
Both departments maintain active research portfolios, thriving training programs, and long records of national and international leadership, and both share a culture that fosters creative thinking, mentorship, and innovation. That culture extends to graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and staff, whose training and professional development remain central to the new department’s mission.
Scott Soderling, PhD, the George Barth Geller Distinguished Professor of Molecular Biology, chair of the Department of Cell Biology, and interim chair of the Department of Biochemistry, will serve as chair of the new department.