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Teams of students proposed solutions to global medical issues and competed for a $4,000 grand prize in the first Triangle Health Innovation Challenge.
NEWS | HEALTH & SCIENCE

University hosts health hackathon for innovation

By Teresa Meng | September 22, 2015

This weekend, the first Triangle Health Innovation Challenge (ThInC), a health hackathon, brought together a diverse set of individuals to collaborate and propose innovative solutions for the biggest issues in medicine, from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to diabetes. “Our mission was to foster grassroots innovation in healthcare among students and young professionals in the Triangle,” said Steven Doerstling, UNC ‘17, who is a founder of ThInC. ThInC was inspired by Lina Colucci, a Duke Robertson Scholar ‘08, who is now a Ph.D.

Dr. Damon Tweedy, associate professor of psychiatry and a graduate of the School of Medicine, recently released a book about his experiences facing racial discrimination throughout his medical career.
NEWS | HEALTH & SCIENCE

Duke’s Dr. Damon Tweedy writes book on race, medicine

By Lucy Zhang | September 17, 2015

Graduate of Duke School of Medicine and now Assistant Professor Damon Tweedy recently published his book, Black Man in a White Coat.   In light of the national racial questions and campus events , the book is an interesting reflection on Tweedy's experiences through medical as a black student as well as a larger commentary on the discriminatory "facts" that medical institutions uphold.

A new method of delivering cancer drugs using nanoparticles has allowed drugs to destroy tumors nearly twice as effectively as current FDA-approved methods.
NEWS | HEALTH & SCIENCE

Duke researchers fight cancer with nanoparticles

By Robyn Guo | September 16, 2015

Duke scientists have discovered a breakthrough method of delivering cancer drugs that drastically improves their efficiency. This summer, a team led by Ashutosh Chilkoti—chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering—published a study describing the new technique where nanoparticles are modified to package and deliver a common chemotherapy drug called paclitaxel.

The Duke Chronicle
NEWS | HEALTH & SCIENCE

Duke Med creates center for statistics and genetics

By Ian Jaffe | September 9, 2015

The Duke Medical School last week announced the launch of a new Center for Statistical Genetics and Genomics, hoping to bring together statisticians, bioinformaticists and other quantitative scientists to work on genetic issues. The center, directed by Andrew Allen, a professor of biostatistics and bioinformatics, will focus mainly on how genetics and genomics can affect disease.

The Duke Chronicle
NEWS | HEALTH & SCIENCE

Duke researchers developing app to screen for autism

By Vir Patel | September 8, 2015

Researchers at Duke University have paired with collaborators from across the globe in the hopes of bringing the trained eye of a psychiatrist to the lens of an iPad camera through an app designed to screen for autism. The application first displays a series of short videos that are meant to evoke emotional responses in its users.

NEWS | HEALTH & SCIENCE

Duke and UNC researchers develop flu-tracking app

By Ian Jaffe | September 2, 2015

This flu season, students' chances of staying healthy may get a boost from an unexpected source—their cell phones. The researchers—statistician Katherine Heller from Duke and epidemiologist Allison Aiello from UNC—tested their application, iEpi, with a group of approximately 100 students at the University of Michigan.

The Duke Chronicle
NEWS | HEALTH & SCIENCE

MUSER website matches students to research

By Abigail Xie | September 2, 2015

Duke faculty and students are working to change the tradition of how undergraduates get their start in research on campus. Sheila Patek, associate professor of biology, has been leading efforts in developing an online platform called MUSER – Matching Undergraduates to Science and Engineering Research – that allows students to submit an application to the website and browse through the list of projects that faculty have posted, rather than requiring students to find mentors or research projects on their own.

The Duke Chronicle
NEWS | HEALTH & SCIENCE

Duke pulmonary researchers hit with paper retractions

By Abigail Xie | August 28, 2015

A group of Duke pulmonary researchers has had a string of recent paper retractions from several scientific journals. Six of the retracted papers have two authors in common: Erin Potts-Kant—who was arrested in 2013 on charges of embezzling more than $14,000 from Duke—and William Michael Foster, Research Professor of Medicine at the Duke University Medical Center.

Bianca Bracht, Pratt '15, spent a summer in Ecuador as an undergraduate helping pharmacists fill "Pratt Pouches" for mothers.
NEWS | HEALTH & SCIENCE

Pratt Pouch delivers drugs to mothers and infants worldwide

By Abigail Xie | August 25, 2015

Duke scientists and students are moving forward in their efforts to introduce a new method of delivering drugs that prevent the transmission of HIV from mothers to infants. The “Pratt Pouch”—which resembles a ketchup packet—allows mothers in developing countries who cannot give birth in hospitals or clinics to administer an antiretroviral drug directly to their newborn babies.

NEWS | HEALTH & SCIENCE

Duke experts weigh in on bill to increase NIH funding

By Abigail Xie | August 25, 2015

After more than a decade of diminished funding, a bill awaiting Senate approval could revive the National Institutes of Health’s budget. The 21st Century Cures Act draft—which the House of Representatives passed in a bipartisan 344-77 vote last month—stipulates that the NIH will receive a total increase in funding of $8.75 billion over the next five years and the Food and Drug Administration will receive an increase of $550 million over the next five years. Certain aspects of the bill, however, are controversial among politicians, scientists and the public—especially its streamlined drug and medical device approval process for the FDA.

The Duke Chronicle
NEWS | HEALTH & SCIENCE

DUHS CEO Washington setting the bar high

By Amrith Ramkumar | August 21, 2015

He has only been at Duke since April, but Dr. A. Eugene Washington, chancellor for health affairs and president and CEO of Duke University Health System, already knows what he wants to accomplish. “We can really make this a model city, county and area from the perspective of population health improvement,” Washington said.

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