Meet Physicians and Scientists

Researchers and staff at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute and the Duke Regional Biocontainment Laboratory are working around the clock to develop therapies and a vaccine to combat COVID-19.

Researchers at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute are leaders in research aimed at developing vaccines that teach the human immune system to respond to diseases like influenza, HIV, and cytomegalovirus (CMV) which impact hundreds of thousands of people globally. The Immune Resiliency Initiative, which is part of Duke’s larger Science and Technology endeavor, encompasses this work. Duke Human Vaccine Institute is part of the Duke University School of Medicine and Duke Health.

Like a lot of alumni, David N. Howell, learned from a number of influential mentors when he was a student and trainee at Duke. Unlike most, he married his mentor, Sara E. Miller, and together they made a substantial gift to create The Rollie Assistant/Associate Professorship of Correlative Pathology.

National cancer databases provide a ton of valuable information for researchers, but institutional data is often more granular, including details such as specific chemotherapy regimens, radiation doses, treatment durations, and recurrence rates. The Duke Breast Database (DB2), a big data initiative, is invaluable for health researchers like Oluwadamilola “Lola” Fayanju, MD, assistant professor of surgery and the principal investigator for the database.

Heather Whitson, MD, HS’01-’04, takes the reins at the Duke Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development as Harvey Cohen, MD, HS’65-’67, ’69-’71, steps down after almost four decades.

Three leading researchers team up to explore new targets in the search for the origins of Parkinson’s disease.

With sepsis, time is of the essence. Left untreated, the illness—a runaway immune response to infection—can quickly become life-threatening. Duke hospital medicine physician Cara O’Brien, MD, is partnering with the Duke Institute for Health Innovation to lead a multidisciplinary team of physicians, nurses, and biostatisticians that is using data science to rapidly identify at-risk patients, speed treatment, and improve outcomes.

Two pediatric heart specialists have made it their mission to improve the lives of some of Duke's most vulnerable patients.

Through the Regeneration Next Initiative, Duke researchers are gaining insights into how to stimulate heart muscle to regrow after injury.

'Big Data' is transforming medicine, and Duke is at the forefront