News and Events

This week's Faculty Spotlight shines on Brian H. Eichner, MD, an assistant professor of pediatrics in the Division of Primary Care. Eichner talks to us about his research in primary care as well as his involvement in resident and student education, continuing education, and advocacy in the area of gun violence prevention. Notably, he has most recently become involved in a partnership aiming to improve school outcomes in Latinx patients with ADHD. In this interview, Eichner also discusses his perceptions of the greatest challenges and opportunities in the field of primary care today as well as his most significant mentor—Dr. Jeff Baker.

Heather Van Mater, MD, was recently named chief of the Division of Rheumatology in the Department of Pediatrics, effective November 1, 2020.

Duke State Relations and Duke University Communications hosted a virtual briefing for North Carolina lawmakers on Thursday, October 1 to discuss a variety of COVID-19 related issues. Over 20 legislators and legislative staff attended the briefing.

This week's Faculty Spotlight shines on Brian Smith, MD, MPH, MHS, associate professor of pediatrics in the Division of Neonatology and Quantitative Sciences. Smith talks to us about his research as principal investigator of the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Coordinating Center. He also discusses his perception of the greatest challenges and opportunities in the field of neonatology. He talks about his two greatest mentors and offers advice for trainees.

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. 

In this week’s Spotlight interview, Heather Van Mater, MD a pediatric rheumatologist, talks about her role as co-director of the Pediatric Autoimmune Brain Disease (ABD) program, where she works closely with colleagues in neurology and psychiatry. She also talks about how she became interested in medicine and her current research focused on autoimmune brain diseases. She shares what she most enjoys about her work as well as her passions outside of Duke and offers some advice for trainees.

A new drug offers hope for young boys with the progressive neuromuscular disease Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) by potentially offering an alternative to high-dose glucocorticoids that have significant side effects. Interim results from a 24-month clinical trial at Duke Health and other institutions suggest that the drug, vamorolone, may retain or improve the effects of current steroid treatments but reduces health risks associated with long-term steroid use. 

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.

For the first time at Duke, the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health, is awarding a Center of Excellence in Genome Science (CEGS) grant, to a group of Duke researchers, providing $14 million of research support over five years.

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.