Duke doctors join national institute
The Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences has announced the induction of three Duke University Medical Center researchers: professor of pediatrics and immunology Dr. Rebecca Buckley, Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and professor of biochemistry Dr. Paul Modrich and Duke Center for Human Genetics Director and James B. Duke professor of medicine Dr. Margaret Pericak-Vance.
The IOM aims to advance and disseminate scientific knowledge to improve human health by providing objective and authoritative information and advice concerning health and science policy and elects its members based on professional achievement.
Buckley's research focuses on the fundamental causes and optimal treatments of genetically determined immunodeficiency diseases. She pioneered the use of one kind of stem cell transplant as a successful treatment for Severe Combined Immunodeficiency disease.
Modrich's research concentrates on the machinery by which the cell repairs errors in the replication of DNA in the cell's nucleus to prevent mutations and thereby stabilize the genome. Inactivation of this "mismatch repair" system is the cause of several common forms of hereditary colon cancer and has been implicated in the development of sporadic cancers in a number of tissues.
Pericak-Vance's research focuses on dissecting the underlying genetic causes of human diseases, including autism, Lou Gehrig's disease, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, age-related macular degeneration, Parkinson's disease and various muscular dystrophies. Her work led to the discovery of apolipoprotein E as the major susceptibility gene for Alzheimer's disease.
Fair appointed Teradata Center executive co-director
The Teradata Center for Customer Relationship Management has appointed Robert Fair as executive co-director and John Deighton, the Harold M. Brierley professor of business administration at Harvard University, as visiting scholar.
Fair, currently chief marketing officer at Teradata, joins executive director Rick Staelin and executive co-directors Martha Rogers and William Boulding in the leadership and management of the center, a customer relationship management think tank.
As a visiting scholar, Deighton will be working with the center primarily on customer relationship management research.
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