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.

Emily Wang, MD'03, is a professor of internal medicine and public health at the Yale School of Medicine and Yale School of Public Health.

Denise Jamieson, MD'92, MPH, is vice president for medical affairs and dean of the Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa.

Barton F. Haynes, MD, HS’73-’75, is the Frederic M. Hanes Distinguished Professor of Medicine, professor of integrative immunology and global health and, for 34 years, director of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute (DHVI). He is an internationally recognized researcher who has expanded our understanding of fundamental immune regulation and its role in disease pathogenesis and vaccine development. Haynes’s early work on the biology of the thymus led to discoveries with Louise Markert, PhD’81, MD’82, HS’82-’87, that enabled successful thymus transplantation in children born without a thymus.

Gregory Georgiade, MD'74, HS'73-'78, HS'78-'80, is a professor of surgery in the Division of Plastic, Maxillofacial, and Oral Surgery in the Department of Surgery at Duke University School of Medicine.

Tony Coles, MD’86, has served since 2018 as chair of the board of directors for Cerevel Therapeutics, a company dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of the brain to treat neurological diseases.