Inspirational Stories

As teams throughout Duke’s hospitals, clinics, and research labs actively monitor and respond to the developing COVID-19 pandemic, Duke Health’s COVID-19 Response Fund to support the area of greatest need has received a generous gift from the Biogen Foundation.

Dr. Kristin Schroeder and her team in the Duke Global Health Institute have been working in Mwanza, Tanzania, to improve outcomes for children with cancer. They are finding that success is not always a matter of resources or equipment, but in finding creative ways to overcome the roadblocks that keep families from accessing cancer care.

Haller, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, says the journey leading up to and after her adult daughter’s kidney transplant in 2017 was at times difficult—from being on dialysis to waiting for a donor, to learning to adjust to life after the transplant.

Breast cancer survivor Monica Crooks is coming up on 5 years cancer free, and she wants donors to the Duke Cancer Institute know that she couldn't have done it without them!

Duke’s lung transplant team brought Gavin Maitland back from the brink of death. Now he’s raising money to help the program save more lives.

Special program offers support, better-integrated care for children with medical complexity.

Frankie Antonelli, a young man with Down syndrome, has overcome many challenges to become a college student.

After life-changing surgery, Faith Newsome aims to offer hope and a voice for young people with obesity.

The odds were against Collier before he was even born. Prenatal tests at Duke Children’s showed a problem with his lungs, and when his mother went into premature labor, the neonatology team was ready. Collier arrived at 32 weeks weighing 4 pounds, 3 ounces—and he was crying. No one expected him to be able to cry. Collier was quickly taken away to be placed on a ventilator.

The Shingleton Society--Duke Cancer Institute's Annual Giving Society--honored Sam Poley with the 2018 Shingleton Award for Community Partnership for his efforts to raise money for, and awareness of, Duke Cancer Institute and its fight against prostate cancer.