A Bold New Effort Aims to Harness the Mechanisms of Resilience

Duke University in 2019 initiated a university-wide effort to elevate and sustain excellence in the sciences with new funding for research, recruitment of nationally recognized scholars, and retainment of highly regarded scientific leaders at Duke. Launched with a $100 million investment from The Duke Endowment — divided equally between the university and the School of Medicine — Duke Science and Technology (DST) positions Duke to maximize the potential of revolutionary advances in fields such as genomics, data science, and artificial intelligence.

The effort focuses on three broad thematic pillars: Resilience: Fortifying the Body and Brain, which seeks to harness the body’s intrinsic mechanisms to fight disease; Computing, involving fields such as artificial intelligence and machine learning; and Materials Science, which seeks to engineer new materials to solve challenges in disparate fields.

School of Medicine researchers are leading in efforts to advance the Body and Brain Resilience pillar, focusing on four broad areas where Duke has significant strengths: brain, cancer, immunology, and viruses. Seven DST Scholars have been recruited as faculty in the School of Medicine.

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School of Medicine DST News and Videos

Why Some Cancers Become Resistant to Therapy

Nuo Li, PhD in his lab

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.
Nuo Li, PhD in his lab

Neuroscientist Nuo Li Joins Duke to Lead Cutting-Edge Brain Research

Duke University School of Medicine has welcomed Nuo Li, PhD, as an associate professor in the Department of Neurobiology, and 2024 Duke Science and Technology Scholar. Li and his lab members bring a wealth of expertise in understanding the complexities of how the brain makes decisions.
Chantel Evans, PhD

Chantell Evans Named a HHMI Freeman Hrabowski Scholar

Chantell Evans is one of 31 inaugural recipients of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Freeman Hrabowsky Scholarships, a new award of up to $8.6M over 10 years for outstanding early career faculty dedicated to EDI.
Trudy Oliver, PhD

Trudy Oliver Tracks a Deadly, Shapeshifting Tumor

Trudy Oliver, PhD, studies a type of cancer that has a 5-year overall survival rate of just 7%. Its biological drivers are different from most other cancers, so it’s harder to develop targeted treatments. On top of that, research into this tumor is under-funded.