What Comes Next: The Future of Biomedical Science and Health Care

As Duke begins its second century, the School of Medicine looks to the future of biomedical science and health care.
By Mary-Russell Roberson
Mathew Bao
Laboratory technician Mathew Bao in the Pancreatic Cancer Research Laboratory led by Peter Allen, MD | Photo by Eamon Queeney

If we could give James B. Duke, former President William Preston Few, founding Dean Wilburt C. Davison, and the other visionaries who launched Duke and the School of Medicine a tour of the health care campus now, they would be stunned by its size, scale, and complexity. They’d be dazzled by the technological, intellectual, scientific, and clinical advances that power it, and they would be immensely gratified that the institution they dreamed into being is saving lives, advancing knowledge, and improving human health around the world.

In the 100 years since those leaders and others transformed Trinity College into Duke University and founded the School of Medicine, School of Nursing, and Duke University Hospital, the academic health care enterprise has expanded dramatically in every way. The original building that housed all of Duke’s health-related clinical, educational, research, and administrative activities, has multiplied into scores of academic facilities, research buildings, satellite hospitals, community clinics, and other operations scattered across the greater Research Triangle region, all dedicated to scientific discovery, health professions education, state-of-art patient care, and community partnerships. The School of Medicine still has its roots right where it began, in the Durham community, but its reach and influence now literally span the globe.

In the previous issue of DukeMed Alumni News, we traced the School of Medicine’s past, highlighting many of the notable people, events, and achievements who have made it what it is. Now we turn our sights to the future.

Technological advances such as artificial intelligence, big data, and gene editing have dramatically accelerated the pace of biomedical research and health care. It can be hard to predict what new developments will arise next week, much less in the next 10, 50, or 100 years. 

But we’re asking anyway. In the articles that follow, thought leaders across the School of Medicine share their perspectives on where their fields are now, and where they’re headed.

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