The Duke Department of Medicine is proud to celebrate and recognize our staff, faculty, and trainees who have made distinctive contributions to the department's mission of driving new knowledge to improve the health of our population locally and globally by awarding the following awards.
Research Staff Excellence Award
The Research Staff Excellence Award recognizes sustained excellence in implementing clinical or laboratory research studies by front-line research staff in the Department of Medicine (DOM). These staff are “at the coal face” of research studies, collecting data from research participants, performing laboratory experiments, implementing research protocols, recruiting participants, managing research teams, and troubleshooting wayward assays. These staff succeed when scientific pursuits meet research realities while adhering to the best practices for research ethics and rigor. There will be one award for clinical research staff and one for laboratory research staff.
Eligibility
Staff working primarily with DOM faculty in front-line research positions, such as:
- Clinical research coordinators, research nurses, etc. (Clinical Research)
- Laboratory managers, research scientists, technicians, etc. (Laboratory Research)
Nominations
- Submitted by members of the DOM community
- Self-nominations will not be accepted
- Provide a summary, in 500 words or less, to support your nomination, explaining how this individual meets the criteria for the award
Research Support Excellence Award
The Research Support Award recognizes sustained excellence in the administrative and programmatic support of research studies in the Department of Medicine. These staff members who support research projects help to manage complex regulatory thickets, navigate byzantine internal systems, balance competing priorities, create order from chaos, connect team members, identify latent creative solutions, and ultimately enhance the rigor and the feasibility of research projects in the DOM.
Eligibility
Staff working primary with DOM faculty in a research support position, such as:
- Grants management, research practice managers, regulatory affairs, research effort management, etc.
Nominations
- Submitted by members of the DOM community
- Self-nominations will not be accepted
- Provide a summary, in 500 words or less, to support your nomination, explaining how this individual meets the criteria for the award
Research Mentoring Award
The Research Mentoring Award recognizes a Department of Medicine (DOM) faculty member who is developing the next generation of academic MD or PhD scientists. Recipients will have success in directly and primarily guiding mentees during transition from trainee to funded junior faculty (e.g., a K mentor) or in launching mentees to independence (e.g., mentee gains independent funding).
Eligibility
- All Duke Department of Medicine faculty members
- Those who have received a Duke School of Medicine Research Mentoring award in the past are not eligible
Nominations
- Submitted by members of the DOM community
- Self-nominations will not be accepted
- Provide a letter of nomination, in 1,000 words or less, to support your nomination, explaining how this individual meets the criteria for the award
- Letters of support from secondary nominators can be aggregated and uploaded by the primary nominator at the time of submission
Rising Star Research Excellence Award
The Rising Star Research Excellence Award recognizes junior faculty in the Department of Medicine for their burgeoning excellence in producing new insights into important biomedical problems. These insights may be delivered using clinical, translational, or basic research approaches and are demonstrable by high-quality peer-reviewed publications, acquisition of competitive external funding, and the development of sustainable research programs that enhance Duke’s research enterprise.
Eligibility
- Assistant and Associate Professors (without Tenure)
Nominations
- Submitted by members of the DOM community
- Self-nominations will not be accepted
- Provide a letter of nomination, in 1,000 words or less, to describe the faculty member’s outstanding contributions to research.
Distinguished Research Publication Award
The Distinguished Research Publication Award recognizes scientific insights with the highest potential for a positive impact on human health. Although the importance of novel insights is often only appreciated in the fullness of time, these publications deliver definitive insights on important biomedical problems using rigorous approaches, creative hypotheses, novel interpretations, and careful investigation.
Eligibility
- All DOM faculty or trainees who have not received this award in the prior three years
Nominations
- Self-nominations are accepted of one publication per year
- The publication must have been published or accepted for publication within the last year prior to the DOM annual Research Day
- Include a pdf of the published/accepted manuscript
- DOM faculty or trainee must be first or senior author (can be shared in either position)
- Preference will be given to publications in which the DOM author’s contribution was primarily accomplished at Duke
- Provide a letter of (self) nomination, in which in 500 words or less you describe how the publication’s insights may positively impact human health, either in the short- or long-term
Award Selection & Presentation
Selection
Award selections will be made at the discretion of the Research Day committee appointed by the Chair and Vice Chair for Research.
Presentation
Award winners will be notified prior to the annual Department of Medicine Research Day held each Fall.