DukeMed Alumni News

Health experts at Duke University School of Medicine are scrutinizing the myriad ways in which shifting environmental conditions, from sweltering temperatures to severe storms, shape our well-being.  In university laboratories, North Carolina homes and on the coastlines of faraway places, they've learned not everyone is equally at risk. Their efforts involve pinpointing solutions to help those susceptible to environmental disruptions, which could affect respiratory and cardiovascular health, food security, infection resilience, and mental health.

In a new study, scientists at Duke University School of Medicine have identified a potential new front in the battle against fungal infections, a growing health threat. By determining two structures of a crucial enzyme involved in fungal survival, scientists have pinpointed a pathway that could be key to developing new antifungal drugs.

Mary E. Klotman, BS’76, MD’80, HS’80-85, is Executive Vice President for Health Affairs at Duke University, Dean of Duke University School of Medicine, and Chief Academic Officer for Duke University Health System. She was appointed dean in 2017, after serving for seven years as chair of the Department of Medicine, and re-appointed in 2022.

R. Sanders “Sandy” Williams, MD’74, HS’77-’80, is a professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiology at Duke University School of Medicine. He was Dean of the School of Medicine from 2001-2007 and Senior Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs from 2001-2010. He currently serves in advisory roles on issues including Duke Science and Technology and research translation and commercialization.

Nancy Andrews, MD, PhD, is Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at Boston Children's Hospital and Professor in Residence in Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. She was Dean of the School of Medicine and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at Duke University from 2007-2017.

When James B. Duke signed the indenture of trust that transformed Trinity College into Duke University, he expressed his wish that the new university would include a school of medicine. His goal was to improve access to quality health care in North Carolina. He achieved that, and much more. Over the past 100 years, the School of Medicine has grown from a visionary philanthropist’s dream to the position it holds as one of the world’s premier academic health institutions. The school’s story is one of excellence and innovation in health professions education, world-class patient care, biomedical research, and community partnership.

Ralph Snyderman is chancellor emeritus of Duke University and James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Medicine. He was dean of the School of Medicine from 1989-1999 and chancellor for health affairs from 1989-2004. He currently serves as executive director of the Duke Center for Personalized Health Care. He reflects on his eventful tenure as dean, which saw the creation of the Duke University Health System, Duke Clinical Research Institute, and other initiatives that positioned Duke as one of the nation’s most innovative and important academic health centers.

Edward Holmes was vice chancellor for academic affairs and dean of the School of Medicine from 1999-2000 and now serves as CEO and president of the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine, vice chancellor and dean emeritus of University of San Diego Health Sciences, and Distinguished Professor at the University of California. During his time as dean, he says, he worked to build deeper and more effective collaborations not only within the health system but across the rest of campus — efforts that, among other things, helped elevate Duke to a leading position in the field of genome sciences.

Duke Science and Technology Scholar Amy Gladfelter, PhD’01, a professor in the Department of Cell Biology, studies extremely large cells, such as that of the human placenta, whose outer layer is one huge cell with billions of nuclei. The insights she’s gaining into these cells’ organization and function sheds important light on cell biology, diseases of pregnancy, and cancer.

A program led by Duke University School of Medicine students is helping people who have a history of homelessness make the transition to stable housing easier. In the process, the students are gaining a better understanding of the impact housing can have on health.