Collaboration Finds Cures

Priya Kishnani, MD, MBBS, discusses the power of innovation and discovery and how Duke researchers are leading the way to develop ground-breaking treatments for rare diseases like Pompe disease. Dr. Kishnani is the C.L. and Su Chen Professor of Pediatrics. This professorship was given by Y.T. Chen, MD, PhD, and his wife, Alice, in honor of Y.T.’s parents.  Y.T. Chen completed his residency at Duke and soon thereafter accepted a faculty position in pediatrics. At Duke, Chen conducted painstaking research that ultimately resulted in the first effective treatment, now used worldwide, for Pompe disease, a rare and formerly fatal glycogen storage disease in infants. Chen and his wife, Alice, have generously supported medical genetics research in the Department of Pediatrics with gifts including a professorship, an associate professorship, a fellowship, and an endowment to launch and operate the Y.T. and Alice Chen Pediatric Genetics and Genomics Research Center at Duke.

October 16, 2018