David Axelrod, professor of surgery and surgical director of kidney/pancreas and living donor transplant at the University of Iowa, explores the intersection of economics and medicine. Solid organ transplantation, he says, poses a unique set of complex challenges not only medically but also in terms of cost of care, organ allocation, and access to services.

Robert J. Lefkowitz, MD is the Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor of Medicine and a professor of biochemistry, pathology, and chemistry at Duke University School of Medicine. He is also a basic research cardiologist at the Duke Heart Center and a member of the Duke Cancer Institute. He has been a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator since 1976 and has spent most of his 50-year research career at Duke.

Mary Louise Markert, PhD’81, MD'82, HS’82-’84, ’84-’87, is professor emeritus of pediatrics in the Division of Allergy and Immunology and professor emeritus of immunology at Duke University School of Medicine.

In 2022, Kurt D. Newman, MD’78 retired as president and chief executive officer of Children’s National Hospital, after a nearly 40 year career there. During his 11 years as CEO, the hospital soared from No. 18 to No. 5 in the nation in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Children’s Hospital annual rankings, with neonatology maintaining the No. 1 spot for six consecutive years. 

Shelley Hwang, MD, MPH, is the Mary and Deryl Hart Professor of Surgery, vice chair of research of surgery, professor of radiology, and disease group leader of the Breast Cancer Program at the Duke Cancer Institute.

Kevin O. Saunders, PhD’10, is an associate professor in surgery, molecular genetics and microbiology, and in immunology. He is the faculty chairperson for the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee and associate director of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute (DHVI).

Kanecia Zimmerman, MD’07, HS’07-’11, 12-’15, PhD, MPH, is an associate professor of pediatrics in the Division of Critical Care Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics at Duke University School of Medicine.

For decades, medical cancer treatment has generally meant chemotherapy, radiation, or surgery, alone or in combination. Today, new approaches such as immunotherapies and targeted therapies are becoming available, with many more in research and development.

Health challenges across the globe — everything from climate change to infectious disease and better treatment options for patients — precipitate the need for skilled physician-scientists: physicians who see patients in the clinic and who also devote time to scientific research. Duke programs including the Office of Physician-Scientist Development and the Medical Scientist Training Program are helping to meet that need.

As the new chief patient officer at the American Cancer Society, Arif Kamal is working to ensure that cancer treatment goes beyond providing the appropriate therapy and also addresses each patient’s individual circumstances.