As it opens new spaces, the Duke Aging Center reaffirms its commitment to Duke’s values

After losing a close friend to an aggressive form of leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia (AML), Kris Wood, PhD, associate professor of pharmacology and cancer biology, devoted his research to helping find better treatment options for people with leukemias and lymphomas.

A donor rode her bike more than 1,000 miles to raise money for brain tumor research in memory of a friend.

Third-year Duke medical student Emily Alway grew up near Detroit, but every July, her family would travel to North Carolina for Lumbee homecoming, which includes a parade and a pow-wow. The Lumbee Tribe is the largest Native American tribe in North Carolina, and its members have traditionally lived in Robeson, Cumberland, Hoke, and Scotland counties in the southeastern part of the state.

The Schweitzer Fellows will spend the next year learning to effectively address the social factors that impact health and developing lifelong leadership skills. Schweitzer Fellows develop and implement service projects that address the root causes of health disparities in under-resourced communities, while also fulfilling their academic responsibilities.  

One of the most powerful moments Phil Lister, MD’79, had in medical school came during a lecture by Adhemar "Jim" Renuart, BS’52, MD’56, HS’57. Renuart shared with the students the challenges he experienced as both a doctor and a father to a child with medical issues.

Health care professionals found themselves facing a whirlwind of unknowns at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Among the many unanswered questions was what effect shutdowns, social isolation, and the virus itself would have on children. Despite what some stated at the time, Kurt Newman, MD’78, and his colleagues at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., believed there was cause for concern.

Christine Park and Miranda Morris are recent recipients of the Barr-Spach Medicine and Engineering scholarship. This competitive scholarship is awarded annually to third-year Duke medical students who have been accepted into the MD-MEng dual degree program.

David H. Adams, BS'79, MD'83 is the Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Professor and chair of the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and cardiac surgeon-in-chief of the Mount Sinai Health System. Recognized by peers as one of the top mitral valve surgeons in the world, he established the Mitral Valve Repair Reference Center at the Mount Sinai Hospital, where he and his team have pioneered new techniques of valve repair while setting benchmarks for valve repair rates and quality.

Laura Schanberg, MD’84, HS’84-’92, is a professor of pediatrics at Duke University School of Medicine and a faculty member in the Duke Clinical Research Institute.