Research

various researchers

Duke University School of Medicine is the vibrant home for the next generation of discovery. Our capacity for innovation stems from knitting together our existing strengths in fundamental basic science and deepening our growing translational capabilities, our integration with Duke’s national recognized clinical enterprise, and our unique scale and depth in clinical research. The combined efforts of the school’s basic and clinical faculty members in 26 departments, and numerous centers, institutes and initiatives make Duke one of the largest biomedical research enterprises in the country with $1 billlion in sponsored research expenditures annually. 

Basic Science Research 

Clinical and Translational Research 
 

Data Science & Information Technology

Research Initiatives   

Research Support   

Duke Research and Discovery @RTP

Duke Research Saves Lives

The words Duke Research Saves Live in a child's handwriting and written in crayon

Duke’s relentless pursuit of scientific innovation transforms groundbreaking discoveries into life-changing patient care and healthier communities. Explore how Duke researchers are changing people’s lives across North Carolina and around the world.

Explore Duke Research

 

Research News

Illustration of a human head with pills inside
What if pain relief and addiction didn't have to go hand in hand? Duke researchers report a discovery that could help scientists design safer opioids. Their Nature study found that a small group of brain cells appear to play an important role in reward learning, the process that can lay the foundation for addiction. The team showed that opioid pain relief could be preserved even when drug-related preferences failed to form.
Rohit Singh, PhD, Kapil Devkota, PhD, Joey Mao, Scott Soderling, PhD, chair of cell biology and George Barth Geller Distinguished Professor for Research in Molecular Biology, and Daichi Shonai,
The tool, called Raygun in a nod to science fiction, can create shorter, longer, and highly modified versions of proteins while preserving their structure and function. The findings, published in Nature, open new possibilities for protein engineering and drug development.
Adolescent standing near a scale
The teen years may be a critical window when the gut microbiome and its influence on weight is still taking shape and more open to change.
David Lawrence, PhD

A new study suggests what’s flushed down the drain can offer a real-time snapshot of what communities are eating.  

  

Nobel Laureates Robert Lefkowitz, MD and Paul Modrich, Ph.D.

Nobel Laureates

Duke University School of Medicine is proud to claim two Nobel Laureates among its faculty. Robert Lefkowitz, M.D., professor of medicine and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, was recognized in 2012 for his work on a class of cell surface receptors that have become the target of prescription drugs, including antihistamines, ulcer drugs and beta blockers to relieve hypertension, angina and coronary diseases. Paul Modrich, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, was recognized in 2015 for mapping, at a molecular level, how cells repair damaged DNA and safeguard the genetic information.