Agnes Chao, MD, a third year fellow in the Division of Neonatology, was recently invited to join the Robert J. Lefkowitz Society. She was also awarded the Marshall Klaus Perinatal Research Award for her work with Eric J. Benner, MD, PhD, the George W. Brumley Jr. MD Distinguished Assistant Professor of Developmental Biology, on the therapeutic potential of oxysterols in neonatal white matter injury.
Robert J. Lefkowitz Society
The Lefkowitz Society provides a home for MD and MD/PhD post-graduate trainees who are in the Duke University School of Medicine, including the Internal Medicine and Medicine-Pediatrics residency and fellowship programs, and who are pursuing careers with a primary focus on basic and translational research as physician-investigators.
The Society helps members discover opportunities to develop successful research projects and find appropriate research mentors and investigative teams as early as possible in their academic careers in order to enhance their future research success and productivity. Members will benefit from direct interactions with senior physician-investigators at Duke through a series of dinner programs and other activities.
The Lefkowitz Society is named for Robert J. Lefkowitz, MD, professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiology and recipient of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry 2012. In his 40 years as a Duke researcher, Dr. Lefkowitz has mentored more than 200 trainees who have come through his lab. He has embraced the opportunity to serve as a role model and informal mentor for members of the Lefkowitz Society.
Marshall Klauss Perinatal Research Award
The Marshall Klaus Perinatal Research Award, initiated by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Section on Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine and Johnson & Johnson Pediatric Institute, provides financial support to assist outstanding fellows in initiating or completing their research projects.
As a pioneer in neonatology, Dr. Marshall H. Klaus has made many seminal discoveries in surfactant biology, but he may be best known for his leadership in the humane care of mothers and infants and promoted the term “maternal infant bonding” in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Dr. Klaus mentored numerous leaders—past and current—in neonatology and continues to make a significant impact in the academic development of physicians training in neonatal-perinatal medicine through this award in his name.
The Klaus Award has directly contributed to over 40 publications by trainees in neonatal-perinatal medicine fostering interest in academic neonatology to ensure that scientific and medical progress for our most vulnerable patients continue.