Duke University School of Medicine

01/12/2026

A Duke Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences team is partnering with organizations in western North Carolina to help support young people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families in the wake of Hurricane Helene. The initiative is funded by the North Carolina Department of Healt...

01/09/2026

01/07/2026

If you feel burning, tingling, or sharp pain in your hands or feet, your nerves may be running low on energy. These long nerve fibers need a constant power supply to work properly and when they don’t get it, they can misfire.

That’s when everyday sensations — walking across the room, holding a mug, typing on your phone — can start to hurt.

New Duke School of Medicine research shows that tiny support cells actually help “recharge” nerves by sharing healthy mitochondria, the cell’s energy source. When that system breaks down, pain often shows up first in the hands and feet, the farthest stretch of nerve fibers.

Researchers are now exploring whether boosting this energy flow could calm irritated nerves and bring real relief, in some cases for up to 48 hours.

🔗 Read more at the link in our comments.

📸: Jack Newman

01/05/2026

A must-read if you’re having surgery in the new year: everyday stress – the kind most of us brush off – can have a big impact on how older adults recover from surgery.

Researchers at Duke School of Medicine discovered that seniors who carried more worries into the operating room were more likely to experience confusion after surgery, known as delirium, harder-to-control pain, and longer hospital stays.

Here’s the surprising part: It wasn’t how intense the stress felt but simply the number of stressors piled up together. More than 4 in 10 adults over age 65 faced high stress and most often selected family issues, communication with the health care team, and getting good sleep from a checklist of concerns. Caregiving and the prospect of losing independence also worried them.

When given a chance to write about other anxieties, patients said they were concerned about bills, home repairs, caring for pets, spouses and grandchildren, and keeping up with meaningful moments like vacations and golfing.

Dr. Leah C. Acker, the study’s senior author, says this offers an often-overlooked opportunity: actually asking patients what’s weighing on them before surgery and addressing it. The screening only takes minutes, but it gives doctors a window into what matters most to patients.

“You don’t know what someone is carrying unless you ask — and ask in a structured way.”

12/31/2025

✨ Closing Out 2025: Oct–Dec Highlights ✨

The final months of 2025 brought discoveries and innovations at Duke University School of Medicine that are shaping the future of health care. Here are a few highlights:

💊 Cleaner, greener drug production: Researchers in Kenichi Yokoyama’s lab identified two enzymes that can create azetidine — a key ingredient in antibiotics, antivirals, and cancer therapies — using water instead of toxic chemicals. This breakthrough could cut costs and reduce environmental impact.
Read more → https://medschool.duke.edu/news/new-enzymes-promise-cheaper-cleaner-drug-production?utm_campaign=SoMnews&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

📈 Faster access to urologic care: Duke Urology slashed median wait times from 54 days to just 17 by rethinking triage, expanding telehealth, and using data-driven strategies led by Karen Baker, MD, MMCi.
Read more → https://medschool.duke.edu/stories/getting-you-sooner-how-duke-urology-used-data-streamline-care?utm_campaign=SoMmagnify&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

🧪 Obesity, immunity, and cancer risk: New research from Erika J. Crosby, PhD, reveals how obesity alters immune responses to breast cancer, and how GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic may reverse that risk by recalibrating the immune system.
Read more → https://medschool.duke.edu/stories/obesity-weakens-cancer-immunity-can-glp-1-drugs-turn-it-back?utm_campaign=SoMmagnify&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

Explore more breakthroughs in our newsroom: https://medschool.duke.edu/newsroom/news

📸: Photos by Eamon Queeney

12/30/2025

✨ Looking Back: Jul-Sep Highlights ✨

Summer was a season of impact and innovation at Duke School of Medicine. Here are a few highlights:

🚑 Turning the tide on opioid overdoses: In Wake and Durham counties, EMS teams are saving lives by administering buprenorphine in the field—an approach led by Duke emergency medicine physicians Andrew Godfrey, MD, and Anjni Joiner, DO, MPH. This program offers immediate treatment and a pathway to recovery, reshaping EMS as a critical bridge to long-term care.
Read more → https://medschool.duke.edu/stories/opioid-addiction-treatment-delivered-front-lines?utm_campaign=SoMmagnify&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

🎯 Precision care for complex cancer cases: When Ron Klarin faced lung cancer that had spread to his brain, Duke’s team used stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS)—a high-dose, targeted radiation technique that spares healthy tissue. Through the Duke Center for Brain and Spine Metastasis, patients receive advanced imaging and precision therapies for some of the most challenging cases.
Read more → https://medschool.duke.edu/stories/personal-fight-precision-approach?utm_campaign=SoMmagnify&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

🤖 Smarter drug discovery with AI: Bruce Donald, PhD, and Yuxi (Jaden) Long developed PATH, a new algorithm that predicts how molecules bind to proteins—an essential step in designing effective drugs. PATH is faster, more accurate, and more transparent than previous models, opening new possibilities for cancer and HIV therapies.
Read more → https://medschool.duke.edu/news/new-ai-model-makes-drug-discovery-faster-smarter-and-more-transparent?utm_campaign=SoMnews&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

Every breakthrough matters—whether it’s saving lives in the field or pushing science forward. Discover more news from Duke University School of Medicine: https://medschool.duke.edu/newsroom

📸: Photo 1 by Eamon Queeney; Photo 2 by Huth Photography

12/23/2025

✨ Looking Back: Apr–Jun Highlights ✨

Spring was a season of discovery at Duke School of Medicine. Duke researchers pushed the boundaries of science and medicine with discoveries that could transform health. A few highlights:

🔬 Cancer biology redefined: A study led by Hui-Kuan Lin, PhD, revealed an unexpected role for the protein ALDH4A1 in energy production. Without it, cells switch into a survival mode linked to cancer growth, pointing to a promising new target for treatment.
Read more → https://medschool.duke.edu/news/how-little-known-protein-powers-energy-production-and-fights-cancer?utm_campaign=SoMnews&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

🤖 AI-powered protein design: A team led by Rohit Singh, PhD, introduced Raygun, an AI tool that can “shrink” or “enlarge” proteins by adding or deleting amino acids. This innovation could accelerate the development of therapies for diseases like cancer.
Read more → https://medschool.duke.edu/stories/honey-i-shrunk-proteins?utm_campaign=SoMmagnify&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

🧪 Decoding the gut’s chemical language: Shuo Han, PhD, and her team introduced a powerful metabolomics protocol that democratizes microbiome research. Published in Nature Protocols, it helps scientists worldwide uncover how gut bacteria influence health.
Read more → https://www.biochem.duke.edu/news/secret-life-gut-bacteria

Visit our newsroom for more exciting discoveries from Duke University School of Medicine: https://medschool.duke.edu/newsroom

📸: Images 1 and 2 by Eamon Queeney

12/19/2025

Duke University School of Medicine is pleased to announce that Bradley S. Marino, MD, MPP, MSCE, MBA, will join as chair of the Department of Pediatrics and pediatrician-in-chief, effective March 30, 2026.

Dr. Marino is a nationally recognized leader in pediatric cardiology and critical care medicine. He brings extensive experience from Cleveland Clinic Children’s, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. His research has advanced care for children with congenital heart disease and improved outcomes for high-risk populations.

We extend our gratitude to Ann M. Reed, MD, for more than a decade of exceptional leadership and thank Kyle Rehder, MD, who will serve as interim chair beginning January 1, 2026.

🔗 Read more: https://medschool.duke.edu/news/bradley-s-marino-named-chair-pediatrics

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Marino!

12/18/2025

We are proud to recognize Jacquetta Melvin as associate program director of the Duke Physician Assistant Program!

With her expertise and dedication to education and patient care, we look forward to seeing the impact she will make in her new role.

Read more here:

In November, following April Stouder, EdD, MHA, PA-C, who transitioned to Program Director and Division Chief, Jaquetta Melvin, MPH, PA-C, was promoted to Associate Program Director. Alongside her new role, Melvin continues to serve as Director of Clinical Education and is an Assistant Professor in....

12/18/2025

12/18/2025

When Tiffany Adams, PT, DPT, MBA, PhD, and Tomeico Faison, OTD, OTR/L, FAOTA, were students, navigating loans and budgeting felt overwhelming.

Today, as leaders within health professions programs at Duke, they’ve turned that challenge into an opportunity, creating the Duke OTD & DPT Financial Leadership Series to give students the tools they never had.

🔗 Read more at the link in our comments.

12/17/2025

✨ Looking Back: Jan–Mar Highlights ✨

The first quarter of 2025 was full of discoveries at Duke University School of Medicine that remind us why innovation matters. A few of the highlights:

🧠 Hope for Alzheimer’s – Our lecanemab clinic — the largest in North Carolina — is giving early-stage patients more time and hope, while raising awareness for the research still needed to fight this disease.
Read more → https://medschool.duke.edu/stories/alzheimers-clinic-provides-time-and-hope?utm_campaign=SoMmagnify&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

🧬 Stopping resistant cancers – A study led by Kris Wood, PhD, and graduate student Shane Killarney found that blocking the enzyme PKN2 may help prevent aggressive cancers from becoming resistant to treatment, potentially improving patient outcomes.
Read more → https://medschool.duke.edu/news/shutting-down-dark-kinase-may-defeat-treatment-resistant-cancers?utm_campaign=SoMnews&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

🔍 Seeing the unseen – Duke Eye Center researchers uncovered a hidden structure in the retina that went unnoticed for decades. This breakthrough could reshape our understanding of vision and genetic eye diseases.
Read more → https://medschool.duke.edu/news/duke-researchers-identify-new-retinal-structure?utm_campaign=SoMnews&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

Every discovery brings us closer to a healthier future.
Discover more breakthroughs from Duke University School of Medicine in our newsroom: https://medschool.duke.edu/newsroom/

📸: Images 1 and 2 by Eamon Queeney