News

When the novel coronavirus began to spread across China, researchers at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute (DHVI) sprang into action and they haven’t slowed down since. They are collaborating with each other and with other institutions to unlock the secrets of the virus that causes COVID-19 and to develop tests, vaccines, and treatments.

Sallie R. Permar, MD, PhD, professor of pediatrics, immunology, molecular genetics and microbiology, and pathology; associate dean of physician-scientist development; and founding director of the Children’s Health and Discovery Institute, has received the 2020 Oswald Avery Award. The Oswald Avery Award for early achievement is granted in recognition of outstanding achievement in an area of infectious diseases by an individual member or fellow of IDSA who is 45 or younger.

Coleen Cunningham, MD, professor of pediatrics and pathology at Duke University Medical Center, has been appointed chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine (UCI) and senior vice president and pediatrician-in-chief for the Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC), effective March 1, 2021.

The Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI), in partnership with the Center for Health Equity Research at UNC-Chapel Hill and Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, has received an $80 million award to serve as the coordinating and data collection center for a four-year program that will overcome barriers and increase uptake of testing among underserved and vulnerable populations across the U.S. 

The 2020 flu season is upon us and like many, we have concerns and questions. For answers, we talked to Tony Moody, MD, associate professor of pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases and professor of immunology at Duke University Medical Center.

Catherine M. Wilfert, MD, died on Sunday, September 13, 2020. Dr. Wilfert graduated with distinction from Stanford University and summa cum laude from Harvard Medical School as one of five women in her class in 1958. She was a professor of pediatrics and microbiology and division chief of pediatric infectious diseases in the Department of Pediatrics at Duke University School of Medicine for many years until the mid-1990s.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has awarded RTI International, a nonprofit research institute, in partnership with the Duke Human Vaccine Institute (DHVI), the coordinating center role for the newly established Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases (CREID) network. The CREID Coordinating Center will serve as the network’s operational hub to streamline and accelerate research response to emerging infectious disease outbreaks.

Sallie Permar, MD, PhD, and Stephen Patrick, MD, MPH, MS, have recently been jointly awarded the fifth annual Gale and Ira Drukier Prize in Children’s Health Research. The award honors early-career pediatricians whose research has made important contributions toward improving the health of children and adolescents.

A multi-disciplinary scientific advisory board will provide rapid readouts of data on epidemiology, infection transmission rates, and other research. The pilot project, which is funded by the NIH, creates a model with potential to expand to additional school districts across the nation.

Emmanuel (Chip) B. Walter, MD, MPH, pediatric infectious diseases specialist, is principal investigator on a clinical trial for a SARS-COV-2 (COVID-19) vaccine. Geeta Swamy, MD, maternal-fetal medicine specialist, is co-investigator.