The Moore family marked dad Matthew’s 40th birthday with a special reunion following his artificial heart implant procedure. Duke Heart surgeons placed the first-in-North-America device in his chest July 12th.

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When we get a cold, or a cut on our hand, we will heal. This concept of resilience is being studied and researched at Duke, and basic science research may hold many of the keys to unlocking the power of the human body to resist infection and disease.

• Read more about Duke Science and Technology: Resilience and the Importance of Basic Science

A portable optical tool that promises to make surgical planning easier and less invasive for children who need surgery for epilepsy will get its first tests in the clinic, thanks to a $300,000 grant from The Hartwell Foundation.

• Read more about Harnessing Light to Measure Brain Function

For most cancers, advances in genomics haven’t changed treatment strategies very much. Sandeep Dave, MD, MS, envisions making personalized treatment a reality for more patients, by developing and making better use of tools that already exist.

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The Duke Endowment of Charlotte, N.C., is supporting Duke University’s efforts to expand its faculty in computation, materials science and the resilience of the body and brain by completing the second phase of a $100 million investment.

• Read more about $100 Million to Advance Duke Science and Technology Research

A potential new vaccine developed by members of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute has proven effective in protecting monkeys and mice from a variety of coronavirus infections — including SARS-CoV-2 as well as the original SARS-CoV-1 and related bat coronaviruses that could potentially cause the next pandemic. The findings were published in the journal Nature.

• Read more about New Vaccine Blocks COVID-19 and Variants, Plus Other Coronaviruses

Twin 9-year-old girls at Duke Health became the first in the United States to participate in a Pfizer and BioNTech Phase 1 study to evaluate safety, tolerability and immunogenicity of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in preventing COVID-19 among healthy children below the age of 12.

• Read more about Duke Enrolls First-in-Nation Children for Pfizer-BioNTech U.S. Clinical Study Trial in Children Under 12

More than 5.3 million individuals — children and adults — permanently live with a brain injury-related disability, according to the Brain Injury Association of America. Two researchers from the Duke University School of Nursing, Tolu O. Oyesanya, PhD, RN, and  Karin Reuter-Rice, PhD, CPNP-AC, FCCM, FAAN, have devoted an aspect of their research toward better understanding the ramifications that brain injuries inflict on patients and their loved ones and how to give them the best health care possible.

• Read more about Duke University School of Nursing Research on Brain Injuries

Answering a long-standing need in the community for enhanced behavioral health services, Duke Health is opening a newly built center at Duke Regional Hospital that will provide a setting specifically designed for the comfort and care of these patients.

• Read more about Duke Regional Opens New Behavioral Health Center and Emergency Department