Translating Duke Health News

Researchers have cleared a major obstacle in the development of an HIV vaccine, proving in animal models that effective, yet short-lasting antibodies can be coaxed into multiplying as a fighting force against the virus.

So far, 24 grants have been awarded totaling more than 2.8 million in seed funding. Eight School of Medicine departments have participated to recruit 17 strategic hires, called TDH Scholars, with additional recruitments ongoing. Twelve million dollars has been earmarked to support research infrastructure to accelerate discovery, including such things as a biobanking resource, and 24 educational symposia were hosted to bring together basic scientists, clinicians, and population health thought leaders.

Duke Neurologist, Karissa Gable, MD, is investigating the pathophysiologic mechanisms of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), advancing our understanding of this autoimmune disease and opening new potential roles for treatment.

School of Medicine faculty members Anthony Filiano, PhD; Christopher Holley, MD, PhD; and Xiaoping Zhong, MD, PhD, were selected to receive funding  from the Translating Duke Health Initiative (TDHI) for their research in immunology. Each received $75,000.

Scientists from diverse training and backgrounds, including neurologists, basic scientists, environmental engineers, and psychiatrists gathered from around the world at the Washington Duke Inn this May to find new ways to treat, understand, and, eventually, cure Parkinson’s disease.

A key component of the Duke University School of Medicine’s strategic research plan is the establishment of a learning health system. The goal: to ensure that the large amounts of protected health data collected from current and previous patients as well as data realized through research projects can be more effectively used to improve patient care.

Thanks to a successful first year of Translating Duke Health (TDH), twelve new faces have popped up around the School of Medicine’s labs, clinics and meeting rooms.

Project Hope1000, a new Children’s Health & Discovery Initiative (CHDI) research study launches this week, coinciding with World Prematurity Day.

Just a year after its launch in September 2017, the Translating Duke Health Initiative has already funded 14 innovative pilot projects aimed at accelerating knowledge in cardiovascular disease, children’s health, brain metastasis, brain resilience, and immunology.

A new focus on prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is gathering momentum at Duke to accelerate the transition from treatment to prevention, from palliative care to cure.