News and Events

Josie Dunnigan became one of the first children in the United States to have what’s known as a double-switch procedure to re-direct blood flow and re-assign the left ventricle with the task of pumping blood out to the body. Since her first heart surgery in 2001 at the age of one and a half, Josie and her family had moved to North Carolina and her mother sought out Dr. Piers Barker for her daughter’s continued care. From 2006 onward, Dr. Barker has served as Josie’s primary cardiologist, seeing her through a total of six heart surgeries by the age of 21.

The 2021 Department of Pediatrics Research Retreat will be held on Tuesday, April 20. This annual event offers the opportunity for all members of the department to engage in collaborative discussions and showcase current research.

This week’s Faculty Spotlight shines on Timothy Driscoll, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics in the Division of Transplant and Cellular Therapy. Driscoll talks to us about how he became interested in medicine as early as elementary school and how he became interested in pediatric transplant and cellular therapy in particular. He also shares his reflections on the biggest current challenges and opportunities in the field and his work outside of Duke with medical missions to the impoverished people of Guayaquil, Ecuador.

The School of Medicine faculty and staff were among the recipients of Duke University’s prestigious 2020 Presidential Awards, which recognizes individuals and teams from the University and Health System who best demonstrate the values that define and shape Duke as an institution: respect, inclusion, excellence, trust and discovery.

Duke University School of Medicine rose to No. 3 among 122 medical schools in the nation for research – tying its highest standing – in the U.S. News & World Report annual ranking of graduate programs released today. 

Twin 9-year-old girls at Duke Health became the first in the United States to participate in a Pfizer and BioNTech Phase 1 study to evaluate safety, tolerability and immunogenicity of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in preventing COVID-19 among healthy children below the age of 12.

Three new scholars, including Rachel Cason, MD, a first-year nephrology fellow in the Department of Pediatrics, have been accepted to the Duke CTSA TL1 Post-Doctoral Training Program. The TL1 Program provides two years of funded time to support the research training of outstanding junior scientists.

Duke Health leaders have selected ten high-potential innovation projects, including two from the Department of Pediatrics, to be implemented as part of the Duke Institute for Health Innovation (DIHI)’s annual call for project ideas in the areas of novel strategies to improve value of care delivery, advance health equity, amplify digital solutions for care and monitoring, strengthen provider and staff experience and well-being and enhance patient engagement and experience.

Duke pediatric epileptologists are combining existing virtual and augmented reality technology to create a mixed reality experience to improve surgical accuracy and taking a new look at an established dietary therapy to help improve outcomes for children and adolescents with hard-to-control epilepsy.

New and competing renewal awards made to faculty in the Department of Pediatrics for the month of February 2021 are announced.