|
|
| | What Duke Experts Are Saying...
| |
What About All the Other Diseases?
Dr. Sallie Permar, an associate dean and professor of pediatrics, immunology, molecular genetics and microbiology at Duke University School of Medicine, recently authored an op-ed highlighting some of the opportunity costs in medical research due to COVID-19. She emphasizes that while it is necessary for us to shift towards COVID-19 research, it also means we are, "losing ground in the fight against Alzheimer's disease, obesity, preexisting global epidemics... and the next global pandemic virus."
"We can and should take immediate steps to ensure we see the next threat coming our way much sooner, so we don't again find ourselves locking down years' worth of research in a freezer, with only 48 hours warning." - Dr. Permar
| |
Research Turns Viruses Into Marvels
Duke's Vice President for Research, Lawrence Carin, recently authored a blog about how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted the U.S. research enterprise. He highlights the work of several Duke researchers who are working to understand the novel COVID-19 virus and emphasizes the important role of fundamental research that is funded by federal research agencies like the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Defense (DOD).
| |
Duke Experts Address COVID-19 Testing Issues
On April 21, Duke University Communications hosted a media briefing on how ending social distancing too soon could have 'disastrous results' with three experts: Thomas Denny, Chief Operating Officer at Duke Human Vaccine Institute; Dr. Christopher Woods, co-director of the Hubert-Yeargan Center for Global Health and chief of the infectious diseases division at Durham VA Medical Center; and Dr. Michael "Dee" Gunn, professor in immunology at Duke University School of Medicine.
"The thing the federal government could best do right now is come up with a plan. The American people are very willing to sacrifice for the common good, but we need a coherent plan that everyone can follow." - Dr. Gunn
| |
| | How Duke is Fighting COVID-19...
| |
Duke Pushes Through COVID-19 Challenges. Amidst the great challenges presented by COVID-19, Duke University is standing strong to its essential missions of teaching, learning, research, patient care and service to our community. Duke continues to provide significant leadership locally, regionally, nationally and globally in this time of great uncertainty. The university is following four core pillars during COVID-19: saving lives, discovering treatments and cures, anchoring our communities and reinventing education. The next year will be a difficult one, and Duke is grateful for the support and leadership of policymakers at all levels of government.
| |
COVID-19 Engineering Response Team
The Duke COVID-19 Engineering Response team has been working on projects to address Duke Health's identified clinical equipment needs. As the team finalizes and implements devices, it will make designs available for use. Users can now check the team's website for a complete list of their projects (completed and in progress).
| |
College Athletics Roadblock Recap
On Monday, April 20, Duke along with dozens of universities participated in a COVID-19 Twitter Roadblock, designed to catch the attention of Twitter users nationwide. The campaign supported the great research occurring at universities across the country and reached nearly 20 million followers. The roadblock's unified message was posted by a wide range of college athletics programs:
"We stand with our colleagues here at Duke and America's leading research universities as they take the fight to COVID-19 in our labs and hospitals"
| |
How 2 Fuqua Students Funded Medical Supplies
Before COVID-19 became a global pandemic, two Fuqua School of Business students raised more than $4,000 for medical supplies to send to Wuhan, China. Ying Bao and Daewe Kim worked together to raise money and put it towards air sterilizers, heartbeat monitors and noninvasive ventilation equipment for several hospitals in Wuhan. Kim cited the "team Fuqua spirit," explaining that the project's success wouldn't have been possible without the help provided by Chinese Fuqua alumni.
| |
Scanning Electron Microscope at Home
Holly Leddy, an electron microscope specialist in the Shared Materials Instrumentation Facility (SMIF) at Duke brought home a scanning electron microscope when her lab was closed due to COVID-19 precautions. Leddy is also a member of the Research Triangle Nanotechnology Network, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), which has a mission to provide educators with lesson plans and much more. With her new at-home microscope, Leddy created "Take-Out Science," an educational program for a K-12 audience that streams each Tuesday afternoon.
| |
Universal Love for The Planet. The Duke Nicholas School of the Environment Celebrated the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day on April 22. Dean Toddi Steelman wrote a message recognizing the day's origin in 1970, where two thousand colleges and universities celebrated the first Earth Day. "Earth Day should be a time of reflection and commitment for us all. In recognizing this, I have called upon our faculty and staff in three defining areas as we seek to have international impact with our science, our teaching and outreach," Steelman wrote.
| |
Want More Duke in Your Life?
The Duke Daily is a daily email sharing top daily stories from across the university, produced by our office of University Communications. If you are interested in this newsletter, you sign up here!
| |
A Virtual Last Day of Classes
Wednesday, April 22 was the Last Day of Classes (LDOC) for Duke students. Under normal circumstances, that means games and exhibits set up throughout campus, a concert on the main quad and a lot of free pizza. This year's festivities were a bit unusual due to COVID-19, culminating in a virtual Zoom concert headlined by Two Friends.
| |
|
|
|
|
