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.

Rosalyn “Roz” Bernstein Mannon, MD’85, HS’85-’90, professor of medicine, pathology, and microbiology and vice-chair for research in the Department of Medicine at the University of Nebraska, says more research is needed to understand how sex and gender affect transplant immunology, access, and outcomes. As past chair of Women in Transplantation, she has helped programs to fund such research internationally and to advocate for women in transplant around the world.

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. 

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.

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).

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.

A diverse team of Duke faculty and community advocates created LATIN-19 (Latinx Advocacy Team and Interdisciplinary Network for COVID-19) in March 2020 to advocate for and bring awareness to the needs of the Latinx community in North Carolina during the COVID-19 crisis.

The Class of 2024 White Coat Ceremony marked a milestone for the students who have finished the didactic portion of the program and set out to begin a year of clinical experiences before graduating next May.