Division News

Task Force Looks at New Second-Year PIONEER Program

The Department of Medicine (DOM) is creating a taskforce charged with developing the internal medicine component of a new program called outPatient Integrated lONgitudinal ExpERience, or PIONEER, for second-year medical students.

The goal of PIONEER is to increase their experience with the outpatient practice of general internal medicine and its subspecialties, as well as increase opportunities for faculty to teach medical students in the clinic setting.

Duke School of Medicine Ranks Fifth in Nation for Internal Medicine

The Duke University Internal Medicine program ranks No. 5 among 124 medical schools nationally in the 2023 U.S. News & World Report graduate program rankings released on March 30. The Duke University School of Medicine ranked No. 6 for research programs and many other departments at Duke were also ranked very highly.  

The Mystery of Long COVID: Brain Fog, Fatigue, Even Sexual Dysfunction

By Steve Hartsoe

Thousands of COVID-19 survivors continue to grapple with symptoms many months after they were first infected. Brain fog, fatigue, even sexual dysfunction are among the symptoms people endure weeks and months after their acute COVID symptoms fade.

On some occasions, the virus reveals a pre-existing disease or causes another to inflict the patient.

But there is still much unknown about so-called long COVID, which ongoing research at Duke University and elsewhere aims to clarify.

Robert M. Califf Confirmed as Commissioner for the US Food and Drug Administration

Robert M. Califf, MD, Duke University adjunct professor of medicine (cardiology) and former director of the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI), has been confirmed as commissioner for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration following a vote by the Senate today. Califf’s appointment to the position will mark his second time heading the agency, which he also led during the final year of former President Barack Obama’s administration.

School of Medicine is Third in Nation for Federal Medical Research Funding

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. 

Duke Researchers Play Key Role in NIH Cellular Senescence Database

A Duke research team will play a key role in mapping cellular senescence in lung tissue as part of an NIH initiative to create a foundational database to identify senescent biomarkers that signal the cessation of cell division.

The $12.7 million, five-year NIH grant to Duke is part of the Cellular Senescence Network (SenNet), a national consortium involving eight tissue mapping centers and 17 universities collaborating in an investigation into the triggers of senescence. The NIH Common Fund supports the SenNet project.