Division News

By Liz Switzer

A new rotation for Internal Medicine residents at the City of Medicine Academy (CMA) in Durham encourages high school students—particularly those from historically excluded groups—to consider careers in medicine and health while giving Duke internal medicine residents a fresh opportunity to engage in greater diversity initiatives while gaining a deeper understanding of the local community.

Kathleen Cooney, MD, MACP, chair of the department, Aimee Zaas, MD, MHS, program director of the Duke Internal Medicine Residency Program, and David Simel, MD, vice chair for Veterans Affairs, have announced the Chief Residents for the 2023-2024 academic year.

By Liz Switzer

Internal medicine hospitalist Lana Wahid, MD arrived at Duke Medical Center in April 2020 with a simple goal: becoming involved in clinical research. By December 2020, she had been named Duke site Principal Investigator of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded ACTIV-4a platform trial to evaluate anticoagulation in hospitalized COVID-19 patients and quickly established the Duke Health System as one of the highest enrolling trial sites in this international collaboration.

With 2022 underway and we are still living a relentless pandemic, our health continues to be of the upmost importance and physical activity has been shown to not only improve health, but help prevent the onset of many diseases. In February we celebrate and raise awareness for Heart Month, a time when the national spotlight is on cardiovascular disease. One cardiologist at Duke focused on heart disease, specifically from a preventative standpoint, is Dr. William E. Kraus.

In celebration of International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we are highlighting some of the inspiring women at Duke’s Center for Applied Genomics & Precision Medicine (CAGPM.) We spoke with them to learn more about their careers and what excites them about genomics.

Duke University School of Medicine was awarded more than $608 million in federal funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2021, ranking third nationally among academic medical centers, up from 10th last year, according to the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research.

The Department of Medicine's award of that total was $174,530,472. 

Dr. Lori Orlando leads the team behind MeTree and studies decision modeling and implementation science as it relates to identifying and managing individuals in clinical settings at increased risk for medical conditions.

The February 8, 2022, session of Duke Medicine LEADS featured Bryan C. Batch, MD, MHS, Nia S. Mitchell, MD, MPH, Julius Wilder, MD presenting on "Perspectives on Health Disparities Research." 

Pearls

More effective and equitable implementation of cancer screening represents a significant opportunity for the National Cancer Program, with the potential to reduce the burden of cancer, according to a report released February 2, 2022, by the President’s Cancer Panel. The Panel’s report, Closing Gaps in Cancer Screening: Connecting People, Communities, and Systems to Improve Equity and Access, presents goals and recommendations to optimize cancer screening informed by a series of meetings conducted 2020-2021.

Fatima Syed, MD, has been selected to serve as the new Director of the Primary Care Leadership Track (PCLT) at the School of Medicine.