Basic Science News at Duke School of Medicine

Study pinpoints a single brain connection in songbirds that helps turn practice into skill, offering one of the clearest explanations yet of how the brain learns complex behaviors like speech and music.   

Broken or disrupted circuits in the brain contribute to many neurological disorders. A new custom-built biological “wire” developed at Duke University School of Medicine points the way toward a new treatment approach — bypassing broken brain connections, rather than relying on long-term medication or external stimulation.

Scientists are finding that the gut may play a major role in how the body ages, sending signals that affect the brain, mood, and overall health. Duke researchers discovered special cells in the gut that can quickly detect bacteria and communicate directly with the brain, influencing things like eating behavior even without illness or inflammation. This “gut-brain conversation” could help explain how diet and gut microbes shape aging and may lead to new ways to protect brain health.

Study reveals ascites is more than a patient symptom, but an active player in helping ovarian cancer spread and grow.

Duke University School of Medicine celebrated excellence in graduate student education and discovery science at its 2026 Office of Biomedical Graduate Education (OBGE) Graduate Student Awards ceremony, an event that was expanded this year to recognize trainees at multiple stages of their research careers.  

Amy S. Gladfelter, PhD, Duke Health Distinguished Professor of Cell Biology and Biomedical Engineering in the Department of Cell Biology, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences in recognition of her distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.

A study from cancer biologists at Duke University School of Medicine suggests a new way to predict which patients are most likely to benefit from a promising class of experimental cancer drugs called ATR inhibitors.   In clinical trials, these therapies have shown efficacy in a subset of tumors with mutations in the DNA-repair protein ATM kinase. But why ATR inhibitors work in some but not all ATM-mutant tumors has been unclear. 

Duke University School of Medicine researchers identify previously unknown area of the brain that acts like a conductor, coordinating the hands and mouth into one smooth feeding motion.

Team from Duke University School of Medicine and Duke NUS identify an enzyme that helps explain why muscles weaken in some cancer patients.

Serious fungal infections are becoming more common and harder to treat as fungi develop resistance to drugs. A new Duke University study reveals, for the first time, how the antifungal drug caspofungin really works: instead of simply sticking to a fungal enzyme, it jams the process while the fungus is actively building its cell wall. Understanding this hidden mechanism helps explain why the drug sometimes fails and could lead to better antifungal treatments in the future.