Basic Science News at Duke School of Medicine

A research team led by the Duke Human Vaccine Institute has activated specific immune cells that induce broadly neutralizing antibodies in a study using monkeys. The next phase of the work will now move to testing in humans.

While previous studies suggest Parkinson’s disease begins in the gut and spreads to the brain, how the process occurs has been elusive. Now, a pre-clinical study led by Duke Health researchers provides new evidence that bolsters the gut-brain connection.

Lee Zou, PhD, joined the Duke faculty in March 2023 as chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology in part because of the very collegial environment he found in Durham.  

He was previously professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School and scientific co-director of Massachusetts General Cancer Center. Both Harvard and Duke have excellent scientists, he said, but at Duke he sees more opportunities to build collaborations.  

Cancer patients who receive radiation during their treatment – and about half do -- may face a lesser-known challenge: bone loss. 

The vital treatment for cancers of the head and neck, breast, cervix, prostate, and even eyes can harm the cells that keep bones strong. 

Around 300 people from the Duke community and entrepreneurial colleagues from across the Triangle came together to celebrate Duke inventors and innovations at the 5th Annual Invented at Duke event.

Nanoplastics interact with a particular protein that is naturally found in the brain, creating changes linked to Parkinson’s disease and some types of dementia.

Scientists and clinicians at the Duke University School of Medicine have discovered new details about how lung tissue heals after injury caused by toxins such as air pollution or cigarette smoke.

Clinicians, researchers, and educators at Duke University School of Medicine and across Duke Health are using artificial intelligence (AI) to schedule surgeries more efficiently, give students immediate feedback on academic writing, and help speed up drug discovery. Duke is at the leading edge of efforts to maximize the benefits of AI in health care while putting effective guardrails in place to minimize potential risks. “We have a huge potential to reduce physician burden, increase health care efficiency, and improve the patient experience,” said Michael Pencina, PhD, director of Duke AI Health and chief data scientist for Duke Health. “But we need to be very intentional about what AI will be doing.”

The North Carolina American Society for Microbiology (NC-ASM) annual meeting, hosted by the Duke Microbiome Center, attracted more than 300 researchers from across the Southeast.

Using a technique that has shown promise in targeting cancer tumors, a Duke team has found a way to deploy a molecular warhead that can annihilate the bacterium that causes Lyme disease.