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Understanding intersecting cultural identities — and providing care that respects and affirms those identities — is at the heart of Tyson Pankey’s work as a clinician, educator, and researcher. Pankey joined the Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences faculty as an assistant professor in September 2021, and he wants to help flip the script on how health care providers talk to and care for people in the LGBTQ+ community.
Duke Celebrates 50 Years of Cancer Care — and Looks Toward the Next 50
As Duke celebrates its 50th anniversary of transforming cancer discovery and care, researchers and providers envision a future when all cancers are easily treatable; physicians can detect and stop cancer earlier and earlier; and everyone has the same opportunity to survive cancer.
Undeterred: Erica Taylor Embraces Being a Role Model and Changemaker in Diversity and Inclusion
Orthopaedic surgery has been labeled “the whitest specialty.” But Erica Taylor, MD, is changing perceptions as Duke’s first Black female orthopaedic surgeon. And in her role as a diversity, equity, and inclusion leader at Duke, she’s working to eliminate inequalities and open doors for future health care leaders.
Snakebites and Terabytes: How a Duke Data Scientist is Helping Brazil Get Antivenom Where It’s Needed
The attack came swiftly, as if from nowhere. The man had been working outside his house, in a small community along one of the many rivers that twist through the Amazon forest in northwestern Brazil. He was barefoot, feeling no unease. And then — a rustle in the brush, a flash of slick brown skin and a jolt of pain in his left foot.
A Fountain of Youth for the Brain
Wisdom may come with age, but young people have the advantage when it comes to learning. Duke neurobiologist Lindsey Glickfeld, Ph.D., wants to know why.
More to the point, she wants to know how. What are the mechanics in the brain and how do those mechanics change from childhood to adulthood?
What she discovers could one day help older people regain some ease of learning. Perhaps it could even lead to a treatment that could help stroke survivors relearn important early skills, like walking and talking.
From an evolutionary perspective, young brains need to be flexible so that kids can pick up language, social skills, and physical abilities in a short period of time.
Brains become more stable moving into adulthood, as it becomes more important to retain hard-won skills rather than soak up new ones. Of course, adults are still capable of learning, but it can require more of an effort.