An internationally recognized expert in cardiovascular medicine, health outcomes research, health care quality, and clinical research, Dr. Robert Califf now heads the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Wilhelm Delano “Del” Meriwether was the first – and only – African American medical student at Duke in 1963, and Duke’s first Black M.D., in 1967, when he graduated with honors.

Geeta Swamy, who is the Haywood Brown, MD Distinguished Professor of Women’s Health, is mindful of the challenges faced by women — especially expectant mothers — in embattled regions across the nation and globe.

Duke pediatric cardiac surgeon Joseph Turek performed the first combination heart transplant-thymus procedure surgery on baby Easton Sinnamon using a method pioneered decades earlier at Duke by physician-scientist Mary Louise Markert. Easton Sinnamon is now a toddler and a thriving example of the immediate and local difference Duke’s doctors are making

During Duke's centennial year, the university celebrates the impact of alumni like Shree Bose, M.D./Ph.D ’23. Bose is now a resident at the University of Chicago and was included in Forbes “30 under 30.”

Dean Emeritus Nancy Andrews, MD, gave the Daubechies Lecture, providing a historical and personal perspective on how women’s opportunities and challenges have evolved over the past half century, how women continue to face inequities today, and how we can work toward a better future.

Wilburt C. Davison – Dave to his friends – served as the founding dean of the medical school for its first 30 years, and was chair of Pediatrics from 1927 to 1954.

Joanne Wilson, the fourth Black woman admitted to the Duke University School of Medicine , has a long history as a pioneering physician and EDI leader. She is also now the president of the American Clinical and Climatology Association — the first Black president, and fourth woman in the 130-year history of that organization.

Armstrong, the second Black woman in the U.S. to become a board-certified pediatric cardiologist, was Associate Dean of Admissions for the School of Medicine for more than twenty years.

In 1962, surgeon David Coston Sabiston, Jr., performed a heart artery bypass that would provide a roadmap for cardiac surgery for decades.