The fortified Toyota Land Cruiser slipped and bounced in the muddy hollows of the rain-drenched Mongolian steppe. The driver, a native Mongolian man named Inka who spoke little English, slowly engineered the vehicle along what just two days earlier was a dusty pair of dirt tracks.

Peter Kohler, MD’63, HS’64, president emeritus of Oregon Health and Science University, traces many of the foundations of his life and career back to his time at Duke.

Norman C. Shealy, BSM’56, MD’56, HS’56-’57, PhD, wakes up at 5 a.m. every weekday for a workout before heading into the clinic. “A light day is an hour of exercise,” he says. “Ninety minutes is more typical.”

For Jane Trinh, MD’02, HS’02-’06, and her husband, Peter Grossi, MD’02, HS’02- ’08, Duke University School of Medicine was the place where they met in the middle.

Witnessing her mother battle cancer while going through a divorce was tough for Gabrielle Lasanta. A high school student at the time, she wasn’t sure if her newly single mother, burdened with the cost of cancer treatments, could afford to send her to college. But Lasanta’s mother wouldn’t hear of her forgoing a college education. They had come too far as a family.

Gabrielle Harris’s life was forever changed in November 2012. That was when her grandmother died suddenly from a stroke. It was also when she made an important career decision that she hopes will ulti­mately make lives better for stroke survivors and their families.

According to Google Maps, the walking distance between Duke University School of Medicine and the Pratt School of Engineering is 0.8 miles, or about 1,800 steps. You can cover it in less than 15 minutes.

Much like his mother, who is a musician, Jason Dictson has always had a passion for the arts. It led him to earn a degree in vocal performance and opera from Portland State University. However, a major life event put him on a much different path, driving him to pursue a career as a nurse practitioner.

Like a team in a science fiction movie, the six-lab squad funded by a 2017 MEDx Biomedical research grant is striking in its combination of diverse skills and duties.

Liane Lau spent several years working in publishing in New York and Philadelphia and was quite successful at it. However, deep down she knew she wanted to do something more meaningful.