Technological advances such as artificial intelligence, big data, and gene editing have dramatically accelerated the pace of biomedical research and health care. It can be hard to predict what new developments will arise next week, much less in the next 10, 50, or 100 years.

Tomi Akinyemiju, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences. She emphasizes the importance of prevention and health equity in epidemiology and advocates for personalized approaches, leveraging big data and AI for risk prediction, and ensuring equitable access to medical and policy solutions to address health disparities.

Nicole Calakos, MD, PhD, is the Lincoln Financial Group Distinguished Professor of Neurobiology and specializes in synaptic physiology research and Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders. She highlights the transformative impact of big data, AI, and cell modeling on neuroscience research, emphasizing the potential for advances in regenerative therapies and neural prostheses.

Dr. Michael Kastan, director of the Duke Cancer Institute, highlights the progress in cancer diagnosis and treatment, emphasizing prevention, screening, and personalized medicine. He envisions future advancements through genetic and biochemical discoveries, improved technologies, and targeted therapies, fulfilling DCI's mission to revolutionize cancer care.

Kimberly Johnson, MD, MHS’05, HS’00-’02, is the Brenda E. Armstrong, MD Distinguished Professor in medicine and geriatrics. She emphasizes the need to shift health care disparities research from documenting disparities to developing interventions that improve equity, particularly in serious illness care for African Americans.

Geriatrician Heather Whitson, MD, is the Duke School of Medicine Distinguished Professor in Neuroscience, the director of the Duke Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, and the co-director of the Duke-UNC Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. “For me, the true north is to help people maintain function, independence, quality of life, and resilience,” she says.

Dr. Svati Shah, a leader in cardiovascular genetics at Duke, directs the OneDukeGen program, aiming to sequence 150,000 patients to identify actionable genetic variants. Her vision is a future where genetic sequencing at birth enables precise, equitable healthcare, potentially preventing diseases through advanced gene editing and personalized medical care.

Dr. Kevin Saunders, a leader at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute, highlights the advancements in vaccine research, emphasizing the use of computational design, AI, and mRNA technology. Duke is at the forefront with significant progress in HIV, coronavirus, and cancer vaccines, and is developing pan-coronavirus and pan-influenza vaccines.

Dr. Raphael Valdivia, the Nanaline H. Duke Distinguished Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, emphasizes the need to understand the human immune system to address diseases like cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. His research focuses on leveraging AI and genetic engineering to guide immunity, highlighting Duke's strengths in transplant immunology and infectious disease research.

Dr. Aditee Narayan, a leader in medical education at Duke, spearheaded the Patient First curriculum, emphasizing modern, patient-centered care and interdisciplinary collaboration. She envisions future physicians as change agents, equipped with clinical skills and the ability to innovate and address health care disparities.