Duke Hospital patient does not have SARS
The Orange County patient suspected last week of having SARS at the Duke University Hospital was cleared of the virus June 13 after tests run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed he had mycoplasma pneumonia.
The patient, who was seen in the Emergency Department June 10, was released soon thereafter. Hospital staff members who came into contact with the patient - whose identity has not been released - are no longer being monitored and none developed symptoms of SARS. The patient is no longer under quarantine, although he is still being monitored by Duke physicians.
Purves takes over as DCCN director
Dale Purves, former chair of the department of neurobiology and George B. Geller professor for research in neurobiology, was named director of the Duke Center for Cognitive Neuroscience. The center is among the University's major initiatives in brain science, drawing on the resources of the University and the Medical Center to produce advances in understanding the relationship of mind, brain and behavior.
"Purves is among the most prominent and talented neurobiologists in the field, and his leadership of the department of neurobiology helped make it among the best in the nation," Provost Peter Lange said in a statement. "He will have significant resources under his control, and I anticipate he will make the center an outstanding place for research and teaching on the brain."
Purves, who takes the helm July 1, plans to recruit more faculty from areas such as English, computer science, psychiatry and philosophy to fulfill the interdisciplinary mission of the center, currently comprised of professors from psychology and neurobiology.
As director, Purves plans to continue his research, which has recently generated new theories about how humans and other animals perceive the visual and auditory worlds and how their brains are organized.
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