Division News

Faculty Promotions January 2023

Congratulations to the following faculty members for their recent appointment or promotion in the Department of Medicine.

Don’t Overlook Family Health History for Heart Disease Month

Since February is “American Heart Month”, much focus will be on these conditions that affect millions of Americans in the coming weeks.  That’s a good thing, as the trends have not changed in the last several decades.  According to the CDC’s Health, United States Data Finder in 1980, heart disease was the leading cause of death for adults 45-64 years old and 65 years and older.

Increased Out-of-Pocket Expenses and Decreased Non-cancer Care after High-deductible Health Plan Enrollment

It has been well-documented that the type of health insurance can impact patients’ decisions about seeking care, thereby potentially affecting health outcomes. A new study published in JAMA Oncology by Frank Wharam, Duke Professor of Medicine, and colleagues has confirmed that shifts to high-deductible health plans (HDHP) are associated with reduced visits to non-oncologists among cancer patients. In addition, and not surprisingly, their out-of-pocket medical expenses increased substantially.

Wahid, Recipient of 2024 SHM Excellence in Research Award

Congratulations to Dr. Lana Wahid, Assistant Professor of Medicine, for being selected as the recipient of the NC Triangle Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM) Chapter Excellence Award (Excellence in Research Award). SHM promotes networking, education, and collaboration in the hospital medicine community. Dr. Wahid presented her a poster with several other Duke investigators at last fall’s SHM meeting at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center in Research Triangle Park. Dr. Wahid leads the Hospital-Based Clinical Trials & Research Program at Duke, launched in July of 2022.

Sustained Decline in Cardiovascular Events During Pandemic Reported by Duke Researcher based on Analysis of Health Insurance Claims

With the rapid onset of COVID hospitalizations in spring 2020, the number of hospitalizations for other conditions was anticipated to decline due to staffing and space constraints, reallocation, and patient fears, among other factors.  And decline it did, as reported by Duke Professor of Medicine Frank Wharam and team in a recent research letter published in JAMA Health Forum.

GIM Staff Spotlight: Avi Alkon

Avi Alkon has been at Duke for over 15 years and is a Database Analyst in our division. Learn more about him in our interview!

Faculty Promotions November 2023

Congratulations to the following faculty members for their recent appointment or promotion in the Department of Medicine.

Tyffany Locklear joins GIM as Research Program Leader

The division of General Internal Medicine (GIM) is happy to welcome Tyffany Locklear as Research Program Leader. She will help provide operational oversight to the Division's research portfolio including several funded projects and act in a support role to programs/faculty conducting exempt protocols within GIM. While serving as a primary liaison between research teams, division leadership and the departmental Clinical Research Unit (CRU), Tyffany will play a key role in developing collaborative grant proposals, research study protocols, manuscript preparation and study reports.


Transformational Leader Quinn Capers, MD, to Deliver June 16 Greenfield Lecture

Academic medicine transformation leader Quinn Capers, IV, MD, the Rody P. Cox Professor of Internal Medicine (Cardiology) and associate dean for faculty diversity at the University of Texas Southwest School of Medicine, will deliver the June 16 Greenfield lecture with a talk entitled “Diversifying the Physician Workforce – Why We Can’t Wait.” 

The event will be held in person only beginning at 8 a.m. in Duke North, 2002. Breakfast will be served outside of the room starting at 7:45am. 

Faculty Promotions May 2023

Congratulations to the following faculty members for their recent promotion in the Department of Medicine.

GIM Division Update with Interim Chief Dr. William Yancy

By William Yancy, MD

Interim Chief, Division of General Internal Medicine

The Division of General Internal Medicine at Duke strives to improve adult patient, family, community, and population health through exemplary patient care, education, and research. Perhaps most importantly, we have maintained core values of excellence, integrity, kindness, and commitment to health and health equity for our patients and our communities.

Dr. Wilder Leads Three-Year Study to Improve Health Literacy in Underserved Communities

Dr. Julius Wilder will lead a three-year investigational health equity patient education study to examine how diverse populations respond to various patient-education tactics such as print, digital, and video, with the goal of identifying the most effective methods and communication infrastructures for communicating relevant and important health information to diverse communities.

Q&A Spotlight: Distinguished Professors Christopher Granger and Rana Gupta

Duke University has awarded Distinguished Professorships to 44 faculty members, six from the Department of Medicine. Over the coming weeks, join us in recognizing these Distinguished Professors through our Distinguished Professor Spotlight. This week, we feature Christopher Granger, MD, and Rana Gupta, PhD.