Basic Science News at Duke School of Medicine

Clare Smith Wins Mary Lyon Award

Clare Smith, PhD, assistant professor of molecular genetics and microbiology is the winner of the 2024 Mary Lyon Award and will present an oral presentation at the International Mammalian Genome Conference in Washington, D.C., in 2024. 

Can Scientists Learn to Prevent Brain Tumors?

David Ashley, PhD, FRACP, MBBS, the Rory David Deutsch Distinguished Professor of Neuro-Oncology and director of the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke, calls his choice to focus his career on brain cancers "a compulsion to defeat this terrible problem."  

Chasing New Targets in Parkinson’s Disease

Colin Duckett, Vice Dean for Basic Science, led a discussion with premier researchers taking a a closer look at the fundamental biology of Parkinson’s disease during the March 30 Dean’s Distinguished Research Series.

Collaboration Seeks Genetic Clues to Chronic Lung Disease

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a disease that causes scarring on the lungs. Over time, as more scarring occurs, patients experience decreased lung function and difficulty breathing. Once diagnosed, most patients die within five years. 

Study Reveals How UV Radiation May Drive Melanoma

Raluca Gordân, PhD, and team investigated how transcription factors may affect the production of genetic mutations, or mutagenesis, by binding to the wrong sites after being exposed to ultraviolet (UV) radiation.