Basic Science News at Duke School of Medicine

What Comes Next: Neuroscience

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.

HIV Vaccine Candidate Activates Crucial Immune Function

Researchers at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute successfully created an HIV vaccine candidate that guides key immune cells along an evolutionary pathway to become broadly neutralizing antibodies. Further tests in primates and humans are planned.

One Way Your Brain Beats AI:  Learning Motor Tasks  

Research from Duke Science and Technology scholar Nuo Li, PhD, used a novel technique for tracking learning to reveal that the brain’s storage of certain memories is more complex and stable than previously thought.

Striped Gene Expression Pattern Provides Clues for Neurodegenerative Movement Disorders

Spinocerebellar ataxias are a group of neurodegenerative disorders that impact muscle coordination and control. Due to the complexity of the brain, these disorders have been poorly understood. Duke researchers are now using single-cell RNA sequencing technologies to gain a deeper understanding of how these diseases develop, which may lead to better treatment options for patients.