FALL 2014
Mind Over Matter
MIGUEL NICOLELIS’S QUEST TO HARNESS THE POWER OF THE BRAIN
DUKE SCIENTISTS ARE CHANGING THE LIVES OF CHILDREN WITH RARE GENETIC DISEASES MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN
dvocacy for medical research has always (AAMC) Council of Faculty and Academic Societ- Abeen important, but never as important as ies, which is charged with identifying and taking now, when the federal investment in research on critical issues facing academic medical centers. has faltered for more than a decade. The public In July, Vice Dean Raphael Valdivia, PhD, and I has come to take medical advances for granted, visited North Carolina House and Senate offices DukeMed Alumni News expecting new treatments and cures, and de- in Washington, D.C. While our congressmen and is published two times a year by manding rapid responses to emerging infectious senators seemed less than optimistic about the the Duke Medical Alumni Association. diseases. We don’t make it easy to understand future of federal funding for research in the Unit- Issues are available online at medalumni.duke.edu. that these advances come from years of pains- ed States, we were pleased to hear that they are Your comments, ideas, and letters taking investigation. If an institution like Duke trying to think creatively and strategically about to the editor are welcome. doesn’t educate the public about research and new ways to support research, such as new kinds Please contact us at: its contributions to society, and if we don’t make of industry partnerships. DukeMed Alumni News 710 W. Main Street, Suite 200 the case for increased funding to our legislators, Durham, N.C. 27701-3973 who will? On September 18, Raphael returned to Washing- 919-385-3100 ton to participate in “Rally for Medical Research e-mail: [email protected] This past year I have been pleased to see our Hill Day.” He joined other researchers and leaders Editor faculty and staff members become even more from Duke including Richard Brennan, PhD, and Marty Fisher passionate about ad- Steve Patierno, PhD, and researchers from across Assistant Editor vocating for increased the country to call on our nation’s policymakers Jim Rogalski support of research. to make funding for the National Institutes of Contributing Writers Health (NIH) a top priority and to raise awareness Bernadette Gillis, Dave Hart, In April, our Govern- about the importance of sustaining investments Angela Spivey ment Affairs Office in medical research. Associate Editor hosted Project Medical & Art Director Education in the Trent The prognosis for medical research is guarded, David Pickel Semans Center for Health due to constraints on federal spending as well Photography Education. Eight legisla- as concerns that sequestration will resume early Stuart Franklin, Joe Fudge, Jared Lazarus, Deb Lindsey, tive aides from the North next year and with it, further automatic cuts to Frances Micklow, Megan Morr, Carolina delegation the budget of the NIH. This is an important time Jim Rogalski, Les Todd, participated in a two-day for voters and for Congressional offices to hear Duke Photography
event aimed at educat- from the medical community, and I hope that we Cover photograph ing lawmakers about at Duke—our faculty, staff, students, alumni and Murillo Rogério Constantino the interrelated missions friends—will be a loud and passionate voice for Produced by of academic medical the critical work that we must do to fulfill a prom- Duke Medicine Development centers and the key role of biomedical research in ise of better health for our country and the world. and Alumni Affairs. advancing health. Copyright Duke University, 2014 With warm wishes, DMDAA 1446
Also this spring, School of Medicine faculty members Laura Svetkey, MD, and Janet Horton,
MD, hosted a meeting at Duke to bring our Nancy C. Andrews, MD, PhD Dean, Duke University School of Medicine faculty and staff together to better organize our Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs advocacy efforts. Laura and Janet currently serve Nanaline H. Duke Professor of Medicine Professor, Pediatrics on the Association of American Medical Colleges Professor, Pharmacology and Cancer Biology
Nancy C. Andrews, MD, PhD Edward G. Buckley, MD Scott Gibson, MBA Raphael Valdivia, PhD Judy Seidenstein Dean, Duke University School Vice Dean for Education, Executive Vice Dean for Vice Dean for Basic Science, Chief Diversity Officer, of Medicine Duke University School of Medicine Administration, Duke University School of Medicine Duke University School of Medicine Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Duke University School of Medicine Duke University Theodore N. Pappas, MD Mark Stacy, MD Billy Newton Vice Dean for Medical Affairs, Ann Brown, MD, MHS Vice Dean for Clinical Research, Vice Dean for Finance and Duke University School of Medicine Vice Dean for Faculty, Duke University School of Medicine Resource Planning, Duke University School of Medicine Duke University School of Medicine Jill Boy Director of Communications, Iain Sanderson, BM, Bch Duke University School of Medicine Vice Dean for Research Informatics, Duke University School of Medicine CONTENTS
IN BRIEF Student’s Research Spurs 02 Kastan Elected to American New Cancer 14 Academy of Arts and Approach Sciences Bigner Wins Lifetime Achievement Award International Society Honors Williams
03 Hospitals Earn Top Safety Scores Faces of Change Video Wins Gold
04 Duke LifePoint Expands
05 Emeriti Faculty Honored
06 Duke Hospital Earns Top Ranking Lefkowitz Lecture Series Begins
07 Heart Center Celebrates Milestones
08 Three Named Schweitzer Fellows AOA Honors Faculty, 16 Students 9
Harnessing the Power 09 First ”Bionic Eye” Implanted at Duke Google Collaboration of the Brain Explores Health On the Trail of Page 16 10 FDA Reviews Mystery Illnesses Single-Dose Antibiotic 24 Partnership to Speed Drug Development
11 Polio Treatment Shows Promise for Tumors 28 Class Notes 32 Osmonds Launch Health Series 12 Andolsek Named 29 Murry, PhD’88, MD’89, Assistant Dean Advances Heart 34 Burnett, MD’12, Pushes for Regeneration Marijuana Law Reform 14 Award Funds Autism Study 30 Ward, MD’07, 35 House Staff Notes Combines Skiing and Obituaries Orthopaedic Surgery 34
DukeMedAlumniNews | 1 NEWS BRIEFS
Bigner Receives Lifetime Achievement Award
The Society of Neuro-Oncology Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor (SNO) has honored Darell Bigner, Center at Duke, was a founder of PhD, MD, with its Lifetime SNO and an original member of its Achievement Award. Bigner, who journal, Neuro-Oncology. SNO is is the Edwin L. Jones Jr. and Lucille the only international brain tumor Finch Jones Cancer Research and clinical research society. Professor and director of the
Kastan Elected to American
Academy of Arts and Sciences
Michael Kastan, MD, PhD, executive director of Duke Cancer
JAREDLAZARUS Institute, is among four Duke University faculty members who Darell Bigner have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Kastan, who holds the William W. Shingleton Professorship in Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, became director of Duke Williams Receives Lifetime Cancer Institute in 2011. Prior to Achievement Award that, he was director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center Redford Williams, MD, professor of psychiatry and at St. Jude Children’s Research behavioral sciences and director of the Behavioral Hospital. A pediatrician and Medicine Research Center in the School of Medicine, laboratory scientist, he is has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from a leading expert on the the International Society of Behavioral Medicine. role of abnormal DNA A former president of the society, Williams has repair mechanisms in been a member of the Duke medical faculty since human cancer. 1972, following a fellowship at the National Insti- tutes of Health. He has been a leader in research aimed at identifying psycho- social factors that increase the risk for medical disorders, the biological and behavioral mechanisms that contribute to disease, and the development of interventions that ease the damaging effects of those risk factors. Redford Williams Williams is the author of 10 books, including Anger Kills and LifeSkills, and is an international authority on how hostility and anger contribute to heart disease and other life-threatening illnesses. Most recently he has begun to evaluate the role of genetic factors, particularly polymorphisms of genes involved in reg-
ulating functions of the neurotransmitter serotonin, JAREDLAZARUS as they affect psychosocial risk factors on health and disease. His work is funded in part by the NIH, including grants in excess of $50 million since 1974.
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Health System Hospitals Earn Top Safety Marks
Duke University Hospital, Duke Region- al Hospital, and Duke Raleigh Hospital were awarded “A” scores for hospital safety from the Leapfrog Group, an in- dependent national nonprofit funded by employers and other large purchas- ers of health benefits. Evaluated and graded every six months, the three hospitals have earned the highest grade consistently since fall 2012. They JIM ROGALSKI JIM are graded on overall performance in Jean Spaulding, the first female African American medical student at Duke, keeping patients safe from prevent- was among those featured in the Faces of Change video. able medical errors, including injuries, accidents, and infections. Faces of Change Video video link featured Delano The Leapfrog Group uses 28 pub- youtube.com/ Meriwether, licly available measures of hospital Wins CASE Gold Award watch?v=6BZ_WCji0zk MD’67; Jean safety data, including data from the A video produced for the Faces of Spaulding, Agency for Healthcare Research and Change Event, held in March of MD’72, HS’73-’77; Charles Johnson, Quality, the U.S. Centers for Disease 2013 to honor the 50-year history MD, HS’65-’67; Brenda Armstrong, Control and Prevention, the Centers of African Americans in the School WC’70, HS’75-’79; Haywood Brown, for Medicare and Medicaid Services, of Medicine, won a national 2014 MD; Eddie Hoover, MD’69, HS’69-’71; the Leapfrog Hospital Survey, and Circle of Excellence Award from CASE James Gavin III, MD’76, PhD; Tamera the American Hospital Association’s (the Council for Advancement and Coyne-Beasley, MD’91, HS’91-’95; annual survey. Support of Education). The video was John Rich, MD’84, HS’84; Kafui More than 2,500 U.S. hospitals were produced by Jim Rogalski, director Dzirasa, PhD’07, MD’09; Kwadwo assigned scores in spring 2014, with of video production in the Office of “Kojo” Owusu-Akyaw, T’10, MD’14; 32 percent receiving an “A” grade. Development and Alumni Affairs, and and Chikoti Mibenge Wheat, MD’13. NEWS BRIEFS
Duke LifePoint Adds commitment to working collaboratively with local hospitals to help them achieve their quality and safety goals and meet their Five New N.C. Community operational needs.” Hospitals to First-of-its-Kind Duke LifePoint began with a focus on hospitals in North Network, Expands Nationally Carolina and surrounding states. Maria Parham Medical Center in Henderson was the first hospital to join the Duke LifePoint Duke LifePoint has added five hospitals throughout North Car- system. Person Memorial Hospital in Roxboro and Twin County olina to its network, including Wilson Medical Center in Wilson, Regional Healthcare in Galax, Va., soon followed. Rutherford Regional Health System in Rutherfordton, Haywood As interest in Duke LifePoint began to grow, its leaders real- Regional Medical Center in Clyde, Harris Regional Hospital in ized that the joint venture Sylva, and Swain County Hospital in Bryson City. It also contin- offered a unique affiliation “We saw an ued its national expansion with the acquisition of Conemaugh option not just for commu- Health System in Johnstown, Pa. nity hospitals in the South- opportunity to In keeping with Duke University’s founding commitment east, but also for regional provide support to to improve the health of communities through advances in referral centers across the community hospitals research, education, and care delivery, in 2011 Duke University nation. Marquette General Health System (DUHS) entered into a joint venture with LifePoint Health System in Mich- that were increasingly Hospitals, a company that operates community hospitals in igan’s Upper Peninsula interested in non-urban areas across the country. This joint venture, Duke joined the system in 2012. improving their LifePoint Healthcare, was a first-of-its-kind partnership in which Recently, Rex Burgdorfer an academic health system and a hospital operator would seek of Juniper Advisory, an clinical quality and to jointly own and operate hospitals. investment banking firm operations.” Duke LifePoint Healthcare was created following a nearly with a health care empha- decade-long collaboration between Duke and LifePoint that sis, cited Duke LifePoint as William J. Fulkerson Jr., MD began at Danville Regional Medical Center in Danville, Va. leading the hospital indus- Executive Vice It was through this successful collaboration that DUHS and try’s “most important trend President of LifePoint leaders discovered a common commitment to health in the last two decades.” Duke University care quality and service. They began to see how Duke’s safety “Duke LifePoint Health- Health System and clinical quality resources and expertise could be combined care has been a great success,” said LifePoint Chairman and CEO William F. Carpenter III. “LifePoint is proud to call Duke our partner and excited for the opportunities ahead as we seek additional ways to combine our collective strengths to enhance health care quality and delivery across the nation.” Henderson One of the unique aspects of the Duke LifePoint model is that Roxboro all hospitals participate in the Duke Lifepoint Quality Program, DURHAM Wilson Clyde which is designed to facilitate continuous performance improve- Bryson City Rutherfordton ment in patient safety and quality with a goal of achieving high Sylva quality, safe care. Over the last four years, the hospitals in the network have achieved over a 15 percent improvement in total inpatient Optimal Care Scores. In addition to the Duke LifePoint joint venture, Duke and LifePoint are collaborating to enhance quality care and patient safety nationwide. They have established a national quality with LifePoint’s operational and financial resources and exper- program to develop and vet best practices and advance quality tise to strengthen hospitals and improve health care delivery in and safety at LifePoint and Duke LifePoint hospitals. They also communities. are working together as part of the U.S. Department of Health “As the health care landscape continued to evolve, we saw and Human Services Partnership for Patients initiative as a Hos- an opportunity to provide support to community hospitals that pital Engagement Network (HEN). Together, they are helping were increasingly interested in improving their clinical quality hospitals make health care safer and less costly by targeting and and operations,” said William J. Fulkerson Jr., MD, executive vice reducing preventable injuries and complications from health president of Duke University Health System. “Duke LifePoint care-acquired conditions. The LifePoint HEN is one of the high- combines the strengths of both organizations and our shared est performing HENs in the country.
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Emeriti Faculty Honored
One hundred and thirty emeriti and current faculty and adminis- trators gathered in June for the annual Emeriti Faculty Dinner cel- ebration, hosted by then-Chan- cellor for Health Affairs Victor Dean Nancy Dzau, MD; Dean Nancy An- Andrews hosted drews, MD, PhD; and then-dean the dinner of the School of Nursing Cather- honoring emeriti faculty. ine Gilliss, PhD, RN, FAAN. This year’s honorees were War- Emeriti honorees ner M. Burch Jr., MD; John R. with Dean Rice, MD; John L. Weinerth, MD; Andrews. Thomas M. Murphy, MD; Joseph M. Corless, MD, PhD; Phyllis C. Leppert, MD, PhD; and Joseph C. Farmer Jr., MD (posthumous). Videos were produced about the honorees in attendance and shown at the event. LES TODD LES
4th Annual CLINICAL SCIENCE DAY
A half-day CME-accredited program for faculty, staff, trainees, and students, featuring a poster competition.
Keynote Speaker William C. DeVries, MD EBONY BOULWARE, MATTHIAS SALLIE PERMAR, JULIE ANN SOSA, JOHN BARTLETT, MD, MPH GROMEIER, MD MD, PHD MD, MHA MD Chief, Division of Gen- Associate Professor Associate Professor Professor Professor eral Internal Medicine Department of Department of Department of Department of Saturday, Department of Surgery Pediatrics Surgery Medicine Medicine Preston Robert Tisch Professor Associate Director of November 8, 2014 Brain Tumor Center at Department of Research 7:30 AM – 12:30 PM Duke Medicine Medicine Duke Global Health Director of Health Institute Great Hall Services Research Trent Semans Center for Health Education
Box lunches provided for those who preregister. For more information and to register visit 2014 Clinical Science Day Registration. NEWS BRIEFS
Duke Hospital Again Top Ranked
Duke University Hospital ranked 14th nationally this year and continues to rank number 1 in Raleigh-Durham and North Carolina. Among the many guests paying tribute to Nobel laureate Bob Lefkowitz (far right) were, Specialities ranked among from left, Chancellor Emeritus Ralph Snyderman, MD; Dean Nancy Andrews, MD, PhD; the top 10 include: Provost Sally Kornbluth, PhD; and former Chancellor Victor Dzau, MD.
’67; Lewis “Rusty” Williams, MD’78, th Cardiology and Lefkowitz Honored 4 heart surgery PhD’77; and R. Sanders, “Sandy” Wil-
with Distinguished liams, MD’74, HS’77-’80,. The three are Lecture leading a fundraising effort to establish th Pulmonology 6 a permanent Nobel Prize winner Bob Lefkowitz, MD, make a gift endowment to was honored in May with a series of Please contact Sarah fund an annual Ophthalmology Nicholson at th events that culminated with the Inau- lecture in hon- 6 919-385-3160 gural Lefkowitz Distinguished Lecture, or of Lefkowitz. delivered by Jeffrey M. Friedman, MD, Other events during the weekend th Urology 7 PhD. Friedman is an investigator with included a reunion dinner for former the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Lefkowitz trainees and a day-long and the Marilyn M. Simpson Professor scientific symposium. th Nephrology 9 in the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics For more information about the at The Rockefeller University. fundraising effort for the Lefkowitz Dis- The inaugural lecture was made tinguished Annual Lecture or to make th Orthopaedics 9 possible with the generous support your own gift, please contact Sarah of Ralph Snyderman, MD, HS’65- Nicholson at 919-385-3160. NEWS BRIEFS
TRANSPLANTS JAREDLAZARUS 1,000 Duke heart transplant patients and their families gathered Duke Heart Center In his remarks O’Connor to celebrate the 1,000th heart transplant at Duke, an noted that the Heart Center accomplishment achieved by only a handful of transplant Celebrates 25 was the original vision of chair centers nationwide. Years, 1,000th emeritus Joe Greenfield, MD, Transplant who recognized the need for anesthesia, surgery, and A series of events for former cardiology to work more closely trainees, faculty, staff, do- together. He appointed a nors, and patients was held committee—Tom Bashore, MD, in September to celebrate Jerry Reves, MD, and Robert the 25th anniversary of Duke Jones, MD—to conduct a Heart Center. The celebration national survey of other heart culminated in a dinner with centers and come back to Duke 1 2 keynote speaker, Nobel Prize with a recommendation. That winner Bob Lefkowitz, MD. The resulted in the formation of the Heart Center is also celebrating Heart Center and the naming the 1,000th heart transplant at of Reves, chair of the Depart- Duke, the first institution in its ment of Anesthesiology, as the five-state United Network for founding director. Organ Sharing (UNOS) region Over the years, a close level to achieve this milestone, an ac- of collaboration and teamwork complishment shared with only came to define Duke Heart a handful of transplant centers Center, which has encouraged 3 4 nationwide, according to Heart innovation and led to Duke’s Center Director Christopher current national U.S.News & 1 Mary Fulkerson, Bill Fulkerson, MD, and Victor Dzau, MD; O’Connor, MD. World Report ranking of 4th. 2 Katina Rogers, Bob Lefkowitz, MD, and Joe Rogers, MD; 3 Rob Calif, MD, Ernie Mario, PhD, and Art Pappas; 4 Christopher O’Connor, MD
DukeMedAlumniNews | 7 ALUMNI & EDUCATION NEWS
Call For Awards Nominations!
Are you celebrating a reunion in 2016? Nominate a deserving classmate for a prestigious Duke Medical Alumni Association Award. Did you graduate or complete your residency in the last 10 years? Nominate a peer for our newest award, Early Career Achievement. The deadline for 2016 award nominations is Au- gust 15, 2015, and all nominations remain active for three years. DISTINGUISHED FACULTY_ Honors faculty members who have brought distinction to themselves, credit to the school and university, and benefit to their communities through their vocation. Arthika Chandramohan, Trevor Dickey, and Stephanie Ngo DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI_ Three Medical Students and Faculty Honors alumni who have made significant con- Students Named Elected to AOA tributions to medical education, research and practice through professional achievements and/or Schweitzer Fellows dedicated service. Three Duke faculty members and School of Medicine students eight medical students were named HUMANITARIAN_ Arthika Chandramohan, Trevor to the Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Recognizes lifelong service to society or to human- Dickey, and Stephanie Ngo were Medical Honor Society this year. Each kind and honors those who have provided extraor- named 2014-15 North Carolina fall, three faculty members and a dinary service to their community, demonstrating Albert Schweitzer Fellows. They small number of medical students are leadership through global or local service. were among 29 fellows from elected to AOA. The criteria include North Carolina who will spend scholastic achievement, leadership WILLIAM G. ANLYAN, MD,_ the next year learning to effec- capabilities, ethical standards, fairness LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT_ tively address the social factors in dealing with colleagues, demon- Recognizes achievement of an exceptional nature that impact health and develop- strated professionalism, achievement in any field, vocational or voluntary, covering an ing lifelong leadership skills, fol- and/or potential for achievement in entire career. lowing the example of the famed medicine, and a record of service to EARLY CAREER ACHIEVEMENT_ physician-humanitarian. the school and community at large. Chandramohan will work at Faculty members elected are: Honors recent graduates of Duke University Lincoln Community Health Cen- Joseph Heitman, MD, PhD, James B. School of Medicine (within 10 years of graduation ter, providing health education to Duke Professor of Molecular Genetics or completion of training at Duke) for outstand- diabetic patients, incorporating and Microbiology and director of the ing achievement or service in professional or diabetic retinopathy screening Center for Microbial Pathogenesis; volunteer life. into general exams, and pro- Allan Kirk, MD’87, PhD’92, HS’95, DISTINGUISHED SERVICE_ viding links to care. Dickey and chair of the Department of Surgery; Ngo will be working through the and Sallie Permar, MD, PhD, associate Recognizes outstanding volunteer work and/ Student Action Health Coalition professor of pediatrics, assistant pro- or fundraising efforts on behalf of the School Outreach and Church World fessor of immunology, and assistant of Medicine and/or University, as well as efforts Services to expand the Refugee professor of molecular genetics and made to ensure the welfare of the institution. Health Initiative specifically to microbiology. HONORARY ALUMNI_ reach families in Durham. Students elected are Inas Abooba- kar, Nicholas Berlon, Charles “Russ” Recognizes outstanding individuals who, while not Horres III, Matthew Kearney, Whitney graduates of the School of Medicine, have made Lane, Alexander Lazarides, Michael significant contributions to its educational mission. McNeil, and Laura Platt.
8 | DukeMedAlumniNews RESEARCH
First “Bionic Eye” Implanted at Duke Eye Center
In September, Duke eye surgeon Paul Hahn, MD, PhD, implanted a device commonly called a “bionic eye” into a North Carolina man suffering from the degenerative blinding disease retini- tis pigmentosa. It was the first such surgery in North Carolina and one of only six other robotic eyes implanted nationwide. The Argus II was developed at the University of Southern California by a team led by Mark Humayun, MD’89, HS’90-’93, PhD, an alumnus of the School of Medicine and Duke Eye Center. Humayun was on campus to observe during the surgery. The $145,000 device, called the Ar- gus II, was approved by the FDA early in
2014. Technical- more info ly called a ret- dukemedicine.org/ inal prosthesis blog/#!/duke-implants- KHANNASAMIHA bionic-eye system, it con- Retinal surgeon Paul Hahn MD, PhD, uses optical coherence tomography to obtain a high sists of a tiny resolution scan of the eye implant in the patient’s eye. Looking on, from left, are Alexandria video camera mounted in a set of dark Dandridge, Mark Humayun, MD’89, HS’90-’93, and Dong Heun Nam, MD, PhD. eyeglasses. The camera sends images through a wire to a small computer that “It will be nice to about 60 pixels of sight, compared to can be worn on a belt. The computer a few million from a typical cellphone processes the images into electronic walk down the camera, but he is excited to regain signals that are then sent back up the sidewalk and know some level of independence. wire and transmitted wirelessly to a tiny where the curb is.” “It will be nice to walk down the panel of electrodes surgically implanted sidewalk and know where the curb is,” in the eyeball. The implant emits minute Larry Hester he said. pulses of electricity that are transmitted Implant Patient Hahn says he hopes the device will via the optic nerve to the brain, which be improved over time and expanded perceives them as a kind of rudimentary had lost much of his peripheral and to help people with more common eye form of vision. night vision and could no longer drive diseases, such as macular degeneration The patient, 66-year-old Larry Hester, or read. The device will give him only and diabetic retinopathy.
Duke-Stanford-Google X healthy people who will undergo a typical primary care exam, including the collection of body fluids like blood and saliva. After Collaboration to Study What it the pilot study is assessed, Duke and Stanford will collaboratively Means to be Healthy refine, design, and conduct a much larger definitive study. “The biochemical fingerprint of a healthy individual would be A first-of-its-kind study led by Google X in collaboration with a hugely important contribution to medical science, and it’s pos- researchers at Duke and Stanford will study what it means to sible that this study could bring that within reach,” said Robert be healthy, down to the molecular and cellular level. Called the M. Califf, MD, the Donald F. Fortin Professor of Cardiology and Baseline Study, it aims to establish a fundamental understanding vice chancellor for clinical and translational research at Duke Uni- of a healthy physiology and hopefully yield powerful insights into versity School of Medicine. “This could speed the pace of clinical how diseases are understood, detected, and treated. research for decades to come and enable the development of Google[x] is now conducting a small pilot study with 175 new tests and techniques for detecting and preventing disease.”
DukeMedAlumniNews | 9 RESEARCH
Duke and Bristol- MPH, DCRI executive director. Researchers may request clinical Myers Squibb trial data on any BMS-sponsored Collaborate to interventional studies on medicines Open Data Access approved in the U.S. and/or European Union and completed after January Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) 2008. Requests and Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) have will be submit- entered into a novel collaboration ted through a to promote open access to clinical BMS-hosted information from company-sponsored web site and research studies. forwarded to The collaboration will expand the DCRI for transparency for BMS and use existing review by an resources to expand access to a independent broader set of clinical trial information scientific review Eric Peterson New Single-Dose Antibiotic from company-sponsored studies committee, Heads to FDA for Review and enable an independent scientific including experts on biostatistics, re- review through DCRI of requests from search ethics, patient privacy, and the In the battle against stubborn skin infections, researchers. The DCRI will also review clinical specialty of the research. including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus final manuscripts produced from the “We believe our commitment aureus (MRSA), a new single-dose antibiotic data for scientific integrity and con- to providing broader, more timely is as effective as a twice-daily infusion given sistency with the original proposed access to clinical trial information for up to 10 days, according to a large Duke- research. through this collaboration…can serve led study. “This program is a great leap as a model for strengthening public Researchers said the advantage of the new forward for open science and is highly confidence in medicines, as well as drug, oritavancin, is its potential to curtail consistent with the DCRI’s mission to advancing science and improving what has been a key develop and share knowledge that public health,” said Francis Cuss, MB driver of antibiotic resis- improves the care of patients around BChir, FRCP, executive vice president tance: the tendency for the world through innovative clinical and chief scientific officer at BMS. patients to stop taking research,” said Eric Peterson, MD, antibiotics once they feel better. This allows the surviving bacteria Duke, UNC, WUSTL phase cancer clinical trials spon- to develop resistance to sored by the NCI to help speed drug the drugs designed to Partner to Speed development. More than 90 percent G. Ralph Corey fight them. Drug Development of new therapies don’t get past the “The prolonged ac- first phase. tivity is what makes oritavancin distinctive,” A partnership formed by Duke “We are in an exciting era of can- said G. Ralph Corey, MD, lead author and Cancer Institute, UNC Lineberger cer therapy, with new and improved Gary Hock Professor of Global Health in the Comprehensive Cancer Center, and anti-cancer agents being developed Department of Medicine. “This drug has a the Siteman Cancer Center at Wash- and tested at a rapid pace,” said long half life, which allows for a single-dose ington University in St. Louis will Michael Kastan, MD, PhD, executive treatment.” become part of a national network director of Duke Cancer Institute. Cory, a professor of medicine and in- to accelerate the pace of cancer “These new clinical trials are partic- fectious disease, led a three-year study of drug development. ularly exciting for North Carolinians. oritavancin that encompassed two clinical Working within the National Cancer patients in the Triangle will trials enrolling nearly 2,000 patients. Find- Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Experi- be the immediate beneficiaries…” ings from the trials were published in June mental Clinical Trials Network, the Collectively, the three institutions in The New England Journal of Medicine three centers will receive a grant manage 18,000 new cancer cases and will be presented to the U.S. Food and of $350,000 in the first year, with each year and have enrolled more Drug Administration as part of the drug’s renewals possible for five years. than 3,200 new patients into early approval application. Together they will conduct early phase clinical trials.
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Polio Treatment for Brain Tumors Shows Early Promise
Most patients with glioblastoma live only in 2012. Lipscomb, who came seven to nine months after their tumors to Duke with her mother after become resistant to treatment and begin being told she had only six to grow again. But thanks to a daring months to live, became the experimental treatment developed and first to enroll. tested at Duke, 22-year-old Stephanie The polio virus was adminis- Lipscomb, a nursing student and native tered directly to her brain tumor of Seneca, S.C., is cancer-free two years using a catheter. At first, she after her tumor recurred. endured massive swelling, and The treatment, pioneered by Matthias it looked like her tumor was Gromeier, MD, uses a modified form of growing. But in just a few days, the polio virus to kill tumor cells. Now tests revealed scar tissue where being offered to other patients through a the cancer cells had been—the clinical trial at Duke’s Preston Robert Tisch swelling was just her immune Brain Tumor Center, the polio virus treat- system’s response to the virus. ment is the result of more than a decade Patient Stephanie Lipscomb The tumor was shrinking. of work. Gromeier initially studied the tumors. He demonstrated that it would Gromeier reviewed Lipscomb’s virus to learn how it causes disease. He grow and spread in brain tumor cells in MRIs with her Duke clinical physician, genetically altered it so that it wouldn’t culture, and that in mice, it would lock Annick Desjardins, MD, and went to all cause disease in animals in an attempt to onto tumor cells and kill them. of her follow-up appointments. “For 16 discover its mechanism of action. Then, After years of conducting animal to 18 months, I thought about her every he noticed the altered virus suppressed studies, Duke launched the clinical trial day,” he says. SHAWN ROCCO SHAWN Matthias Gromeier, MD, spent nearly two decades working on a modified polio virus vaccine that is showing promise against the most aggressive form of brain tumor.
DukeMedAlumniNews | 11 ALUMNI & EDUCATION NEWS
Andolsek Named HOST Program Seeks who have ques- volunteer tions about Please visit medalumni. Assistant Dean for Alumni Volunteers the residency duke.edu or contact Premedical Education program or Karen Bernier at karen. Helping our Students Travel (HOST), [email protected] the community Kathryn Andolsek, MD, MPH, HS’76- matches fourth-year medical students where they are interviewing. They may ’79, has been named assistant dean with alumni volunteers to help with for premedical education. In this role, travel to residency interviews around offer meals, transportation, and tours. she will serve the country. Alumni volunteers provide Virtual hosts counsel students, over as the primary lodging for medical students in their the phone or by e-mail, who have liaison between homes and/or offer advice to the stu- questions about the residency program Duke University’s dents about life after medical school. or the community where they are pre-medical HOST gives alumni an opportunity to interviewing. school education reconnect with the School of Medicine Most hosting opportunities will be programs and and hear firsthand about what it’s like between November and January. If you the School of to be a Duke medical student today. would like to volunteer or need more Medicine. She will Two types of alumni hosts are needed. information, please visit medalumni. be the academic Physical hosts provide overnight duke.edu or contact Karen Bernier at Kathryn Andolsek leader and faculty accommodations for a student for one [email protected]. director of the or two evenings and counsel students new Masters of Biomedical Science degree program, aimed at preparing Duke students who are interested in a New Master in web link agerial and executive posi- career as a health care professional or dchi.duke.edu/education/ Clinical Informatics tions in health in the biomedical sciences. For the past health-informatics-pro- Degree Offered grams-available-at-duke/ care, such as 30 years, Andolsek has been a leader mmci-folder chief medical in graduate medical education at Duke, The School of Medicine is now home information first as residency program director for to the Master of Management in officer, analyst, or management con- the Department of Community and Clinical Informatics degree program, sultant. Kevin Schulman, MD, MBA, is Family Medicine and then as associate which welcomed its first cohort of director of the 12-month degree pro- director for graduate medical educa- students this fall. Originally launched gram. Classes will be offered every tion from 2001-2014. in Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, other Friday and Saturday to accom- it blends business and informatics modate working professionals. courses to prepare students for man- visit connect RE kindle PHILANTHROPY NEWS
Philanthropic Award to Based on previous research, Kurtzberg diatrics and pathology. She is chief of the and Dawson hypothesize that cord blood Division of Pediatric Blood and Marrow Fund Autism Study may promote repair of dysfunctional or Transplantation, director of the Carolinas Duke Medicine has been awarded damaged areas of the brain. Cord Blood Bank, and co-director of the $15 million to support an innovative Established by Bernie Marcus, the Stem Cell Laboratory. research program that explores the use co-founder of The Home Depot, The Dawson is a professor in psychiatry and of umbilical cord blood cells to treat au- Marcus Foundation has a long-estab- behavioral sciences in the Department of tism, stroke, cerebral palsy, and related lished interest in autism, stroke, cerebral Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, with brain disorders. palsy, and other neurological conditions, secondary appointments in the Depart- The award from The Marcus Foun- and in stem cell research. ment of Pediatrics and the Department of dation, an Atlanta-based philanthropic Kurtzberg holds professorships in pe- Psychology and Neuroscience. organization, will fund the first two years of a planned five-year, $41 million project by Joanne Kurtzberg, MD, chief scientific and medical officer of Duke’s Robertson Cell and Translational Therapy Program, and Geraldine Dawson, PhD, director of the Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development. Kurtzberg and Dawson hope to devel- op transformative cell-based therapies that can potentially restore brain function in people with the disorders, for which there currently are no cures. If successful, the study could identify therapies for further evaluation in clinical trials to po- tentially decrease disabilities and improve the quality of life for millions of children and adults.
The project will consist of a series of clinical trials using umbilical cord blood
cells to treat a total of 390 children and JAREDLAZARUS adults with autism, 100 children with Joanne Kurtzberg and Geraldine Dawson want to develop transformative cell-based cerebral palsy, and 90 adults with stroke. therapies that can potentially restore brain function. visit Nov. 12-15 connect Medical Alumni Weekend 2015 kindle From Basic Research to a Better Treatment
MD/PhD candidate Erik Knelson says he’s “addicted” to being in the lab. But he also loves seeing patients. Pursuing both in Duke’s Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) has led him to an exciting discovery—that an ancient blood-thin- ning drug may do double duty as a way to treat a got mad. He attended a guest lecture at which a drug company scientist rare pediatric cancer. criticized academic researchers who don’t think about translating their As part of the MSTP, Knelson (his family science or about drug development. “I was sort of offended because we pronounces the K) attended two years of medical had just finished this great study,” Knelson says. “But then I realized school, then began his PhD studies. He con- he was right, and that really the only way it would mean anything to ducted research in the lab of Gerard Blobe, MD, patients is if there was a therapeutic angle.” PhD, professor of medicine and of pharmacology Knelson knew that the receptor he’d been studying is what’s called and cancer biology. Knelson focused on under- a heparan sulfate proteoglycan; it’s shaped like the anti-clotting drug standing the type III TGF-beta receptor, which heparin. So he had thought about testing heparin in neuroblastoma cells Blobe had previously studied for its role in breast to see if the drug would have the same cancer-inhibiting effect as the cancer, colon cancer, and prostate cancer. A receptor. But he hadn’t actually tried it. neuroscience major for his undergraduate degree, Riled up by the lecture, Knelson went back to the lab that same Knelson wanted to understand the receptor’s role afternoon and tried applying heparin to some neuroblastoma cells. Sure in neuroblastoma, a rare but devastating tumor enough, the tumor cells started sending out tiny extensions—the first step of nerve tissue. Others had shown that levels of in differentiation, and in becoming less aggressive cancer cells. this receptor are decreased in neuroblastoma Then Knelson and his collaborators in the Blobe lab hit upon the idea of cells. Why would that be? using a form of heparin that is modified so that it doesn’t cause bleeding. Knelson spent more than two years studying With a Google search and a few e-mails and phone calls, Knelson got in the receptor in neuroblastoma cell lines and in touch with the CEO of a company that already makes such a product. mice. For instance, he decided to find out what The company agreed to supply the drug. The team showed that the Mwould happen if he overexpressed the receptor modified heparin stopped the growth of neuroblastoma in cell lines and in in neuroblastoma tumor cells. He found that mice better than a current neuroblastoma treatment, retinoic acid, which the receptor makes neuroblastoma cells start to works by encouraging differentiation. Within six months of that first differentiate—to begin to grow into mature cells. experiment with heparin, the team was submitting another publication to That was a good thing. Neuroblastoma is a cancer JCI, this time pointing toward a possible new therapy for neuroblastoma. of immature neurons, and forcing neuroblastoma Now Knelson has finished his PhD and is back in his last year of cells to differentiate and act more like adult medical school, seeing patients on elective rotations. Meanwhile, the neurons makes the cancer less aggressive. Knelson Blobe lab continues to develop the heparin treatment, conducting more published his work in 2013 in the Journal of studies in mice and aiming to find funding for a clinical trial. The Clinical Investigation (JCI). scientists hope that modified heparin can be combined with retinoic acid The work could well have ended there; this or other agents to improve neuroblastoma treatment. Right now survival was a good achievement for Knelson. But then he rates in children with advanced neuroblastoma are less than 40 percent. Knelson and team conducted the heparin work in a frenzy of only six “I loved this to eight months. But the two years of basic science he had done prior to experience of that laid the foundation. “It was our certainty about the mechanism that led to the insight to use heparin and enabled us to get the project done so designing a quickly,” he says. “I loved this experience of designing a targeted therapy targeted therapy based on basic science work.” Knelson plans to become an oncologist and researcher. based on basic This work was funded by grants from Alex’s Lemonade Stand and the science work.” National Institutes of Health.
—Angela Spivey JAREDLAZARUS
14 | DukeMedAlumniNews PROFILE
DukeMedAlumniNews | 15 16 | DukeMedAlumniNews over Mind Matter
MIGUEL NICOLELIS’S QUEST TO HARNESS THE POWER OF THE BRAIN
iguel Nicolelis, MD, PhD, emerged from the Mtunnel of the Arena de Sao Paolo into the brilliant Brazilian sunlight. The scene before him was breath- taking: dancers twirled around an enormous planet-like soccer ball pulsing with multicolored lights at midfield, music blared over the stadium’s speakers, and the stands were a cheering, roaring sea of yellow and green, the Brazilian national colors. Nicolelis was nervous. He and a team of over 150 collaborators had been racing the clock for almost a year and a half in order to get to this moment. If they failed, Above, one of they would fail in front of nearly 70,000 people in the the initial rough stadium and hundreds of millions around the world sketches of the watching the 2014 FIFA World Cup Opening Ceremony robotic exoskeleton on television. by Miguel Nicolelis. At left, paraplegic “It was the most intense feeling I’ve ever had as a Juliano Pinto, scientist,” says Nicolelis, a distinguished Duke School of controlling the Medicine Professor of Neuroscience and co-director of exoskeleton, kicks the Duke Center for Neuroengineering. “I was running a soccer ball at the FIFA World Cup. an experiment in front of a billion people. We knew there was a significant chance of something going wrong: a
BY DAVE HART
DukeMedAlumniNews | 17 Nicolelis chose a vast stage for the exoskeleton demonstration: the 2014 FIFA World Cup Opening Ceremony in Sao Paolo, Brazil. MindOver Matter hydraulic line malfunctioning, a circuit to the exoskeleton’s legs, and on his failing, anything. It’s like launching a head he wore a special cap equipped rocket. You do everything you can to with electroencephalogram sensors. If make sure everything works, but until it all went as planned, the device would happens you don’t know.” allow Pinto to do something that not One person in the long ago would have been called a 25-member team with miracle. Nicolelis in the stadium Most of us walk or run or kick a seemed unusually calm and soccer ball just by thinking about it: confident. Juliano Pinto, a our brain sends the “kick” signal to 29-year old Brazilian, had our legs, and they kick. In Pinto, or been confined to a wheel- any other paraplegic, the channel that chair, with no movement or carries that signal has been severed. feeling in his legs, ever since Nicolelis and his collaborators designed he had suffered a complete and built the exoskeleton and EEG cap lesion of the upper thoracic to bypass the broken connection; the spinal cord in an automobile sensors should read Pinto’s neuronal accident six years earlier, signals and transmit them to the leaving him totally paralyzed exoskeleton, which should respond from the mid-chest down. accordingly: in this case, by making a Several assistants helped Pinto out kicking motion. The person attached to of the golf cart that had carried him it essentially wills it, and by extension through the tunnel and into an extraor- his legs, into motion. dinary device called a robotic exoskel- Pinto placed his arms on the exo- eton, a full-length frame fitted with skeleton’s armrests. Sensors there lit hydraulic lines, mechanical joints, and a series of blue lights, indicating that digital circuitry. His legs were strapped the exoskeleton was correctly receiving
18 | DukeMedAlumniNews neuronal signals to control signals neuronal and use that systems (BMI) Interface at developing Duke Brain-Machine ofyears work helab and his have done and doctoral degrees in Sao Paolo. medical his and earned raised, born, It didn’tgrant. Nicolelisthat was hurt a $14with programs, million ancillary along project, the with funded government Brazilian the because that’s where Worldthe Cup and was, because Cup Brazil demonstration in patientsthe for Worldthe trained laboratory, built the exoskeleton, and Paolo. Sao de Arena to led ultimately that research the conducting Duke at spent has he decades two the of sense, larger a in work—and, ceaseless almost of 17 of months culmination the sented their legs and walk again. ablebe to power minds to their use one day might paralysis patients with of body,the limitations which in liberatedbe from physical the might peoplewhich in of a future glimpse gentlethat tap offered a indeed—but it was Cupa humble standards, kick rolledwhich By several feet. World ball, forward the to with contact make about swung and then 30 degrees Pinto’s leg right flexed backward FUTURE THE OF A GLIMPSE mind over matter, he kicked. “Kick.” a in remarkable feat And, of Pinto’s feet. at ball asoccer placed and knelt PhD, graduate student, Solaiman Shokur, A former Duke team. his signaled At appointedthe moment Nicolelis ceremony.scripted into tightly the precisely 18 and 33 minutes seconds 2014, was supposed to place take kickoff of ceremonial the World Cup onphone. his timer the Pinto’s kick, waves. brain his Nicolelis checked But waswholethe onbuilt thing the established team He and his repre Cup World the Nicolelis, For Pinto concentrated. He thought, -
5 foot 7 inches “Weknew what we minutes.” 30 about by it made tellpeopleI we it? cut we did close How complexdevice. a such built never had we but do, to wanted Straps support the person’s legs and are are and legs person’s the support Straps gyroscopes, support and bend the legs. by stabilized braces, metal Motorized person the supports A harness legs. robotic the for commands into cap the from signals the decodes computer The the mechanical legs. move that hydraulics the powers A battery thousands of brain cells. and monitor electricity conduct that contacts plastic of flexible array an are electrodes The to a computer. them relays and signals brain up picks electrodes with fitted A cap metal alloys metal MATERIALS: WEIGHT: legs. having of sensation the develop will person the and arms, the in vibrations with legs the of movements associating starts brain the time Over arms. person’s the to attached sensors to data that relay and pressure and texture detect foot the on Sensors brain. the to back sent are signals The like much screen. a touch pressure and movement up pick that sensors with dotted HOW IT WORKS
154 pounds 154
MiguelNicolelis DukeMed Lightweight Lightweight AlumniNews
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19 manipulate external devices. “This entire story was done here,” says Nicolelis. “That’s something I feel very good about, because it came almost exactly 20 years after I came to Duke. The entire thing, from the early exper- iments in rats and then monkeys and now this, was done at our brain control lab at Duke. I think it’s something we ought to celebrate as an institution, because the intellectual development of this entire story belongs to this place.”
BRAIN POWER That story grew out of work Nicolelis originally did with his postdoctoral fellowship advisor, John Chapin, at Philadelphia’s Hahnemann University after he came to the U.S. in 1989, and it expanded after he arrived at Duke as an assistant professor in 1994. In the late 1990s, Chapin and Nicolelis devised tiny sensors that, when implanted in
specific neuronal regions of rats’ brains
and connected to a BMI, allowed the TODD LES rats to operate a robot arm without Senior research scientist Mikhail A. Lebedev and Nicolelis track the progress on physically touching any controls, using computers as a patient’s neuronal signals communicate with the machine. only their brain activity. In subsequent experiments, Nicolelis Nicolelis began thinking about creating PHANTOM LIMB and his colleagues moved from rats an exoskeleton that could allow such Nicolelis was going out on a limb. He to primates and expanded the range patients to move their legs with brain had no brain-controlled exoskeleton, and complexity of their actions. An activity alone. not even a prototype, and even if he owl monkey named Belle used her Shortly after the Idoya experiment, could make one, he had no proof that it brain activity via a BMI to move two Brazil was awarded the World Cup. To would work. He needed collaborators sets of robotic arms at once, one in Nicolelis, a lifelong Brazilian soccer fan, and money, lots of both. For the first, he the lab where she sat at Duke and the the tournament represented an extraor- established the Walk Again Consortium, other at the Massachusetts Institute of dinary opportunity. a team of more than 150 scientists and Technology. A rhesus monkey named “The Brazilian government wanted to engineers from around the world. For Aurora learned to play a video game showcase the country,” he says. “They the second, the Brazilian government using only her thoughts. And in 2008, wanted to highlight things besides music agreed to provide some $14 million to Nicolelis and his colleagues made inter- and soccer, like innovation, science, fund the project. national news when they had a rhesus medicine, and technology, things that But all of that took time—the funding monkey at Duke named Idoya propel a could give hope to millions of people wasn’t approved until January of 5-foot-tall humanoid robot to walk on a around the world. I was able to visit 2013—and the clock was ticking: World similar treadmill—7,000 miles away, in the president and make a presentation Cup 2014 would begin on June 12, Kyoto, Japan—just by thinking about it. to her. I said, ‘I can help a paraplegic 2014, exoskeleton or no exoskeleton. Perhaps the most obvious potential Brazilian patient kick off the World Cup “We had 17 months, and we had to clinical application of the concept using a brain-controlled exoskeleton.’ go from nothing,” Nicolelis says. “We would be to restore the transmission She loved it, and she decided that we had to build a robot. We had to figure of signals from brain to limbs via BMI should go for it.” out the interface. We had to train the prosthetics in patients with paralysis. patients. We knew what we wanted to do, but we had never built such a
20 | DukeMedAlumniNews complex device. How close did we cut matter of thinking, “Walk.” It required it? I tell people we made it by about 30 enormous concentration, especially at minutes.” first, and after they mastered the basics “But the biggest The team built a lab in Sao Paolo Nicolelis and his team began putting and pitched into the work to design them through their workouts in a sort of discovery of this whole and build the exoskeleton and support virtual World Cup atmosphere. project, to me, was systems. They identified eight patients, “We would give them a lot of the importance of six men and two women, all of whom distractions: flashing lights, recordings were paralyzed below the waist, and of the loudest, most obnoxious soccer the tactile feedback. began training them on the exoskeleton. fans we could find,” Nicolelis said. “We Without that, the There were a thousand hurdles. wanted to know they could do it in the patients felt like they But the biggest single technological real world. But it becomes natural, like were floating.” challenge turned out to be a fundamen- learning to ride a bike. At the beginning tal, though perhaps not immediately you had to think very hard about every Miguel Nicolelis apparent, issue: giving the patients not movement, but then it falls into place. only the power of movement, but also The brain adapts.” the sense of touch. In Sao Paolo, all eight patients learned “Everybody thinks, ‘Let’s restore the to walk using their thoughts and the motor component, let’s get the legs to BMI exoskeleton. Pinto became the move,’” says Nicolelis. “But the biggest most adept, so he was chosen to make discovery of this whole project, to the World Cup kick. me, was the importance of the tactile As the Opening Ceremony got feedback. Without that, the patients underway, deep within the stadium felt like they were floating. They felt Pinto did one last practice kick. Perfect. ungrounded, unsupported by the earth, Then he, Nicolelis, and the rest of the and it was pretty scary. They found it team headed for the light at the end of very unsettling.” the tunnel. Nicolelis’s team solved that problem by developing a system of sensors ‘NOT JUST A KICK’ attached to the patients’ forearms that In the end, a lot of things did not go as vibrated whenever their knees bent planned, says Nicolelis. The stadium or their feet touched the floor. Their announcer was supposed to direct the brains quickly adapted to interpret the crowd’s attention to Pinto. That didn’t sensation in the arms as the feeling of happen. their legs moving and their feet touching The television announcers were also the ground. supposed to alert viewers to the kick, “When the foot is planted on the and the broadcast was supposed to cut ground, they feel the pressure in the to Pinto for a full 30 seconds to show arm,” Nicolelis says. “After you do his approach, the kick, and the celebra- that for a few minutes, your brain gives tion. Those things didn’t happen, either. you the illusion that you’re feeling your The TV broadcast cut to Pinto too feet as you walk. In a way, we create a late, and without any introduction. It phantom limb sensation.” happened so quickly that many viewers missed it entirely. Juliano Pinto, a 29-year-old Brazilian FALLING INTO PLACE Nicolelis hasn’t gotten answers to man paralyzed from the chest down, As the World Cup drew near, what went wrong. But the goofs didn’t prepares to make his historic kick. everyone—scientists, engineers, and really matter, he says, because all the patients—stepped up the pace even important things went right. Pinto more. It was exhausting work, maybe kicked the ball, then yelled and thrust especially for the eight patients. Making his right arm skyward in triumph. For their legs move was not a simple a moment, everyone in the team seemed
DukeMedAlumniNews | 21
MindOver Matter overwhelmed; for them, too, after so much THE INDISPENSIBLE MACHINE work and sweat and worry, it was all over The World Cup demonstration, which drew so fast. a great deal of publicity, also attracted its Nicolelis approached Pinto. The young share of critics. They point out that other man was beaming, and he had tears in his researchers are doing groundbreaking eyes. “I felt it,” he told Nicolelis. “I felt work in BMI, robotic prosthetics, and the ball.” even exoskeletons too—just not in front of “When he said that, that’s when I broke,” international TV audiences. Some scientists Nicolelis said. “Because that’s what we have questioned whether the scientific wanted. We wanted him to have a whole progress the project represents matches the experience, not just a kick. I’ll never forget attention it’s gotten. it. We were all crying.” Nicolelis says the discoveries and successes the Walk Again Consortium NEXT STEPS achieved represent significant scientific and Back when Nicolelis arrived at Duke two technological gains and plant the seeds for decades ago, he never dreamed that his future advances. The project will inform work would eventually lead him back to Sao and influence the next generation of BMI Paolo and one of the world’s biggest stages. devices, he says, perhaps most importantly “Are you kidding?” he asks. “This in the area of tactile feedback. Brazilian kid gets hired at Duke What is clear is that the breakthroughs in University, where my neighbors are all BMI in the past 20 years have implications from Caltech and MIT and Harvard. I almost beyond calculating.
just wanted to survive.” “I cannot even imagine what all the He still has some mementoes to remind applications might be, but obviously him of those early days. Underneath a there’s a huge list of possibilities,” says FUDGE JOE window in his office at Duke’s Bryan Nicolelis. “Eventually I’d expect the Research Building stands a cracked black robotics to become much lighter, almost leather couch, and on the floor is a small like a suit. We’ll need new, softer materi- boxy television set. als and new controls.” “Those were the first things I bought Whatever technological breakthroughs when I came to the U.S.,” he says. “My await, the only really indispensible machine first encounter with the American Dream is the soft one encased inside the human Nicolelis, Pinto, and was that color TV and this couch to sleep skull. It is the extraordinary adaptability other members of on. I learned English by watching David of the brain that has made possible any of the team celebrate after the successful Letterman’s old show on that TV.” the BMI work Nicolelis and others have demonstration. As for the future, he and his colleagues spent the last two decades working on. are planning a second exoskeleton proto- Discoveries about the remarkable plasticity type that will incorporate much of what of the human brain have changed the entire they learned from the first one. The next field of neuroscience, Nicolelis says. one should be lighter and more maneuver- “When I came to the U.S. in 1989, the able, he says. brain was still seen as a piece of engineer- “The patients told us they don’t need ing,” he says. “After childhood, people some of the things we thought they would, thought, it was fixed, carved in stone. But so we can remove those and bring the it’s not like that at all. It is never stable. It’s weight down,” Nicolelis says. “And we constantly in flux. And that has dramat- want to make it fully autonomous, so that ically changed the way we approach the a person could really walk around and turn brain, intellectually and medically. That’s and accelerate and slow down.” the main message of the 20 years of work I’ve done here.”
22 | DukeMedAlumniNews Partnering to Fight Cancer
“We wanted to make sure Duke has the funding to keep good people.”
Elizabeth Harden, MD’78, HS’81-’84, and Richard Hoefer, DO, have known the value of a good partnership since they met 30 years ago, while both were serving in the Air Force in Texas. They’ve been a couple ever since, in life and in work. Harden, a medical oncologist, and Hoefer, a surgical oncologist, work in different practices in Newport News, Va., but they regularly collaborate on the same patients. “You can’t be a good medical oncologist by yourself,” Harden says. “You need surgeons, radiologists, radiation oncologists.”
Duke Cancer Institute’s mission to bridge boundaries to provide multidisciplinary cancer care led Harden and Hoefer to make an estate gift that supports both of their professional passions, in the form of an endowed pilot fund and a professorship. “Bench research that gets translated to the bedside gives me the tools I need to take care of my patients,” Harden says. A professorship rounds out their gift. “We wanted to make sure Duke has the funding to keep good people.” Hoefer says. Planned Giving Harden’s Duke education and training influence her daily. “The To learn more, please contact: Duke colleagues I met and continue to work with and the excellence Joseph W. Tynan, JD demanded of us made me the doctor I am today,” she says. Executive Director of Gift and Endowment Planning 919-385-3114 or [email protected] Diagnosis, At Last By applying a research tool to bafing clinical cases, Duke scientists are changing the lives of children with rare genetic diseases. by Angela Spivey
Cara Greene, just turned two, rocks on a toy fire engine at next-generation genetic testing. By sequencing only the a park near Duke University Medical Center. “I’m riding genes that actually code for proteins (the exome, which is on a fire truck,” she exclaims with joy, raising her hands where most genetic diseases arise), scientists can save time in the air. and expense. Poring over exomes in minute detail has led to Just four months earlier, Cara’s arms were practically answers that have made a big difference in some families’ paralyzed. Her parents and doctors were baffled as to how lives. As a result, Duke has been named one of six clinical to help her. sites in the Undiagnosed Diseases Network, sponsored by A research study led by Duke geneticists David Goldstein, the National Institutes of Health. Each site will receive PhD, and Vandana Shashi, MD, changed that. grants of about $7.2 million over four years to investigate Cara is just one child the Duke team has helped using baffling cases. C Goldstein and Shashi hatched their first collaboration on a drive back from a National Institutes of Health meeting in Washington D.C. Flights to Durham were canceled because of bad weather. The two, who hadn’t met before, rented a car along with Duke psychiatrist Joe McEvoy, PhD. Talking about her clinic, Shashi mentioned her frustration when she had exhausted all of the clinical genetic testing available but still couldn’t find an answer. That happens with about half of the patients seen in most genetics clinics. Goldstein brought up exome sequencing and how it would one
David Goldstein, PhD, is the Richard and Pat Johnson University Professor of
Cardiovascular Genomics, a professor of molecular genetics and microbiology, and director of the Center for Human Genome Variation. JAREDLAZARUS
Vandana Shashi, MD, is associate
LES TODD LES professor of pediatrics. At Last
JAREDLAZARUS
Cara Greene, here with her parents Clayton and Kristen, can play again after Duke geneticists diagnosed and treated the rare genetic disorder that had almost paralyzed her arms.
DukeMedAlumniNews | 25 day change medicine. They had the whole study planned by Just three weeks after Petrovski began poring over the the time they got back to Durham. data, he e-mailed Shashi. Cara had two mutations in a gene associated with a rare condition called Brown-Vialetto-Van IN LATE 2013, CARA WAS A BUSY TODDLER pushing Laere syndrome (BVVLS) that can strike anywhere from her stuffed animals around in a stroller. Just two weeks infancy to young adulthood. Both of Cara’s mutations would before Thanksgiving, she had a high fever. Shortly after she knock out a protein that transports riboflavin (a B vitamin) recovered, she began having abnormal eye movements—fast inside cells. Previously there was no good treatment for the back-and-forth and up-and-down motions (nystagmus). disorder, but just in the past two years, other researchers A neuro-ophthalmologist at Duke Eye Center ruled out a have discovered that high doses of riboflavin helped a few brain tumor. Over the next few weeks, Cara’s fingers began patients dramatically. trembling while she sat in her high chair trying to pick up Because the exome testing was part of a research project, food. Her parents, Kristen and Clayton, who lived in Raleigh, normally the findings would not be presented to the patient’s N.C., at the time, brought her to Duke every week for an family until they were confirmed by an independent clinical appointment or test. Because of the fever that preceded the lab. But even an expedited clinical test would take three trouble, pediatric neurologists suspected an autoimmune weeks. Shashi didn’t want to wait that long. “Cara was disease. But none of Cara’s symptoms completely matched the continuing to deteriorate,” she says. “We decided we needed possible diagnoses. Then, in January, a test showed that her to act on this quickly.” The team explained the urgency to the retinas weren’t functioning properly. Cara’s doctors admitted chair of the Institutional Review Board (the organization at her to the hospital. They called in Shashi because the retina Duke that approves research involving human participants), abnormality suggested a genetic disorder. and an exception was granted. Shashi talked with Kristen and Clayton about sequencing Cara’s exome via a commercial clinical lab. But no one THE TEAM GAVE THE GREENES THE NEWS THAT SAME was convinced that the problem was genetic because it had WEEK, and Shashi prescribed Cara a high dose of riboflavin started so suddenly. Maybe the retina test result was a false (1,500 times the daily requirement). Kristen was so eager positive. Cara’s doctors and parents hoped they were on the to do something to help her daughter that she picked up the right track with an autoimmune diagnosis. Cara had been prescription at the Duke Children’s Hospital & Health Center started on a treatment for that—steroids and intravenous and gave Cara a dose in the lobby. immunoglobulin. Four months after that first dose, Cara is doing much better. When the Greenes next saw Shashi, in February, the She can play again, though she tires easily. She no longer has treatment had yielded mixed results. Some of Cara’s symptoms trouble swallowing, and she’s regained some of the movement would lessen for a week or so, but then they’d come back. And in her arms. “She really likes to stand in front of a full-length she had new problems. She had begun having trouble swal- mirror and watch herself lift her arms up in the air,” Kristen lowing. She could no longer raise her arms to steady herself, so says. “She looks in the mirror and gives herself a high five.” if she stumbled, she would fall flat on her face. Cara became Why does such a simple treatment work? Shashi explains scared to try to walk. that normally, three proteins control riboflavin transport Shashi offered to sequence Cara’s exome as part of the among cells. Cara’s mutations meant that one of those three collaboration with Goldstein. Exome testing through a was missing. The high dose of riboflavin likely floods the two commercial clinical lab would take three to six months, but remaining working proteins, so they can pick up the slack. Shashi could expedite it if it were done at Duke. In other children, BVVLS has progressed so far that the respiratory muscles weakened, requiring use of a respirator. A WHOLE TEAM OF SCIENTISTS SCOURED THE EXOMES Riboflavin therapy has reversed that for some. Kristen and of Cara and her parents for clues. After DNA sequencing Clayton are thankful that they found a diagnosis for Cara as and computer processing, the scientists ended up with a list soon as they did. They had feared that if Cara’s condition were of mutations that were possible suspects. Slave Petrovski, genetic, there would be little they could do to help her. “The PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in Goldstein’s lab, went over the exome testing saved Cara’s life and is giving her a chance at list gene by gene, narrowing it down based on information life again,” Kristen says. about Cara’s symptoms and the various genes’ functions. After the list was culled to half a dozen or fewer mutations, EVEN WHEN A DIAGNOSIS DOESN’T LEAD to such the entire team reviewed it. “This is a lot of attention to dramatic improvement, simply having a name for a disorder each individual exome, much more than would be done can provide relief, as it did for Matt and Cristina Might of clinically,” Goldstein says. Salt Lake City, Utah. Duke’s diagnosis for their son Bertrand
26 | DukeMedAlumniNews person ever discovered who was missing this particular enzyme. A known set of disorders exists, called glycosylation disorders, in which people have genetic mutations that prevent these proteins from being produced. But never before had someone been found with a disorder caused by a muta- tion that prevents the body from getting rid of them when they’ve gone awry. To be sure, Goldstein e-mailed glycobiologist Hudson Freeze, PhD, of Sanford Burnham Institute in California. “He’s probably the biggest glycobiology guy around,” Goldstein says. “We wanted to check our thinking against his.” They asked Freeze: if someone had mutations in these two genes, what problems would it cause? Much of what Freeze described fit Bertrand’s symptoms. When Goldstein and Shashi shared the results with the family, they told them that Bertrand likely had a previously undiscovered genetic disorder—NGLY1 deficiency. But the “The exome testing only sure way to confirm it would be if other patients with the saved Cara’s life same mutations and the same symptoms were found. The Mights got to work. Matt, an assistant professor at and is giving her the University of Utah’s School of Computing, is prominent online. He posted an essay about Bertrand’s diagnosis to a chance at life his personal web site, and the next day, a tech blog asked to Tagain.” republish it. Other sites followed. Within months, the Mights had connected with several other families of children with Kristen Greene Cara’s mother conditions similar to Bertrand’s. So far, largely thanks to the Mights and social media, 15 other people have been diagnosed with NGLY1 deficiency. A scientific paper describing the work was published online March 2014 in the journal Genetics in Medicine. revealed a never-before-discovered genetic disorder and helped It was accompanied by a commentary by Matt Might and the Mights find that they, and Bertrand, are not alone. Matt Wilsey, father of one of the other children subsequently The Mights had been seeking answers for Bertrand since diagnosed with NGLY1 deficiency, detailing how collabora- he was six months old. He had liver damage, developmental tion between physicians and families can accelerate progress. delays, and what doctors thought was a movement disorder. In July 2014, The New Yorker covered the Mights’ story. The family came to Duke in 2009 hoping he could benefit from a bone marrow transplant. Extensive testing ruled that WHEN GOLDSTEIN REACHED OUT TO HUDSON FREEZE, it out. Shashi was part of the team that examined Bertrand, and opened up a new partnership for the Mights. “What impressed the family kept in touch with her and with genetic counselor me about the team at Duke is that they are very willing to Kelly Schoch. “If you meet Dr. Shashi and Kelly, you can’t help collaborate, within Duke or outside of Duke,” Matt says. The but fall in love with both of them,” Cristina says. “We put Mights are now consulting with Freeze on Bertrand’s treat- them on our Christmas card list, and we exchanged e-mails ment and have raised money for his research to understand whenever anything important was going on in Bertrand’s life.” NGLY1 deficiency. Though there are no known treatments Almost two years after she met the Mights, Shashi invited for the disorder, the diagnosis did lead to modifying care for them to participate in the study that she and Goldstein were Bertrand, who attends daily therapy and loves the Sesame conducting. They jumped at the chance. Street character Elmo. With Freeze’s help, Matt and Cristina The Duke team found that Bertrand had two mutations in have changed his regimen of nutritional supplements. “It gives a gene called NGLY1. Animal studies have shown that this him more energy and makes him happier,” Cristina says. gene instructs the body to produce an enzyme that recycles “That is the most important thing for us, that he be happy.” particular types of protein if they are misfolded. As far as the Duke scientists knew, Bertrand was the only
DukeMedAlumniNews | 27 CLASS NOTES
1950s care for children and adults with lower and after that they plan to retire to of Medicine. He spends his time wood- extremity deformities, disabilities, and Southern California. working, reading, gardening, traveling, Wilma Jeanne C. Diner, MD’50, lives in injuries. and enjoying life with his wife and a retirement facility in Little Rock, Ark. Donald Serafin, T’60, MD’64, is a family. “I can honestly say I never used She is not active professionally but stays Richard Gorenberg, MD’64, HS’64- plastic surgeon in private practice in my knowledge of those lipid pathways close with her former colleagues at ’65, has been in private practice for 41 Durham. He also is a staff plastic sur- I had to learn in biochemistry,” he says. the University of Arkansas for Medical years as a gynecologist. He and Caren, geon for Womack Army Medical Center “But I won a nickel from Dr. Stead.” Sciences Medical Center. An ongoing his wife of 51 years, have four children: in Fort Bragg, N.C. He has been married to his wife Nancy event held there each year is the Diner Hayley, a civil rights attorney in New since 1966. They have four sons: a col- Memorial Lecture in Radiology, which York; Peter, an ophthalmologist in San Larry Rogers, MD’65, HS’65-67, , onel in the United States Marine Corps, was established in memory of her late Francisco; Jamie, a comedy writer for has published a memoir of his time a high school principal, an editor for the husband, Jack Diner. Warner Brothers television in Long serving in Vietnam: Sword and Scalpel: New York Times, and a television editor Beach, Calif.; and Michael, a film editor A Doctor Looks Back on Vietnam. His and producer. Their nine grandchildren Donald Tucker, MD’58, BS’59 (med- based in Boston. experiences include reviving a soldier range in age from 2 to 20. icine), HS’58-’62, , of Greenville, left for dead in a makeshift morgue N.C., recently was recognized by his Frederick L. Grover, T’60, MD’64, and resuscitating another by rigging a Melvin L. Elson, MD’69, HS’71-’73, , colleagues, staff, and patients at Phy- HS’64-’66, , of Denver, Colo., stepped defibrillator from an auxiliary generator still sees a few dermatological patients, sicians East with a street named in his down as chair of the University of and strips of radio-antenna wire. For but he spends most of his time traveling honor. The drive leading to the central Colorado Department of Surgery two more information about the book, visit around the world teaching cosmetic office of the practice was dedicated as years ago, but is still an active faculty hellgatepress.com. Rogers practiced procedures; he’s been to 51 countries so “Dr. Donald Tucker Way.” Now retired, member. He focuses his work on quality neurosurgery in Charlotte for 27 years. far. He recently published his third book, Tucker founded the Greenville-based improvement locally and nationally. Skin Scam: Dying to Be Beautiful, and private medical practice 33 years ago. He serves on a national quality forum William David Price, MD’66, retired he does some work with Duke-National Physicians East is eastern North Caro- committee and is actively involved with from solo private ophthalmology prac- University of Singapore in Singapore. lina’s largest private medical-surgical quality databases for the Society of tice in March 2012 and was hired by the He and his wife Betty are preparing to multi-specialty practice. Thoracic Surgeons and the American Veterans Administration in August 2012 celebrate their 50th anniversary. Their College of Cardiology. He also serves on to practice medical ophthalmology in eldest daughter Angela, T’87, lives in Irwin M. Freundlich, MD’59, , writes the Board of Trustees of the Iliff School a demonstration project between the Florida and has two sons. The Elsons that he retired “at long last” in June of Theology. He and his wife Carol have VA and the Department of Defense to have established a scholarship at Duke 2014. He is professor emeritus at the two sons, Fred Jr. and Richard, who see if they could share assets and save University School of Medicine and have University of Arizona. “Much credit live near them in Denver. Both sons are money. He practices in a stand-alone enjoyed meeting some of the recipients. belongs to Duke,” he writes. His first married with two children each. The eye clinic on the Naval Weapons Sta- granddaughter graduated from Denison whole family enjoys skiing together in tion, Goose Creek, S.C., which, along C. Stephen Foster, T’65, MD’69, College in the spring, and he has three the winter and fishing and hiking in the with Charleston Air Force Base, makes is a professor of ophthalmology at grandsons starting or about to start Rockies in the summer. up Joint Base Charleston. He treats Harvard Medical School and president college. He lives in Tucson, Ariz. veterans, active duty service members, of Massachusetts Eye Research and Robert C. Noble, MD’64, traces his retirees and their dependents. Surgery Institution (MERSI). He also 1960s life from growing up in Raleigh, N.C., is CEO of the Ocular Immunology and Angus McBryde, MD’63, , recently to his medical school graduation in his Richard L. Miller, MD’68, and his wife Uveitis Foundation. His wife Frances is a participated in a volunteer humanitarian memoir, Memories. For more informa- Joyce have retired after 38 years of nurse practitioner and partner at MERSI. trip to Vietnam organized by the Amer- tion visit robertcnoble.com. practicing dermatology in a solo prac- She also is a partner in endowing the ican Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society tice. Joyce worked as his office man- annual Stephen and Frances Foster (AOFAS). McBryde, an orthopaedic foot Frederick L. Ruben, T’60, MD’64, , ager. For the time being the couple Lecture at Duke and the Stephen and and ankle specialist who works for Uni- retired after 25 years in academic will reside in Setauket, N.Y. They have Frances Foster Endowed Professorship versity Orthopaedics in Columbia, S.C., medicine as a professor of medicine at three children, Jennafer, T’91; Aaron, in Ophthalmology. was one of a group of AOFAS physicians the University of Pittsburgh, and after T’95; and Stephanie, T’98; and three who evaluated more than 212 patients 13 years as medical director at Sanofi grandchildren, Cameron, Michaela, Donald Marger, T’65, MD’69, writes and performed surgery on 79, all at no Pasteur. He has spent time post-retire- and Logan. that his most recent personal achieve- cost to the patients, during the two- ment volunteering for conservation and ments include taking banjo lessons. week trip. McBryde worked with other community development. He finished his Richard H. Dixon, MD’69, retired He and his wife Carole celebrated their volunteers in Viet Duc Hospital in Hanoi. 10th marathon at the age of 70 and ran after 35 years as a medical oncologist, 48th wedding anniversary in 2014. They He also saw patients and performed his first half-marathon at 74. He and his director of the Penn State Cancer have three children, Richard, T’90, MD; surgeries in the cities of Vinh and Yen wife Mary Kathryn Reeves-Hoche have Center at State College, director of the Michelle; and Brian, T’93; and eight Bai. Facilities and equipment varied, two sons and two grandchildren. They Mount Nittany Medical Center Clinical grandchildren. but he and the other AOFAS volunteers moved to Singapore in June of 2014 for Research Program, and clinical professor provided corrective surgery and other three years for Mary Kathryn’s work, of medicine at the Penn State School continued on page 31 = Davison Club 28 | DukeMedAlumniNews CLASS NOTES
Jennings, MD, emeritus professor of A Leap for Heart Regeneration pathology and former chair of Duke’s Department of Pathology. “I ended up Charles E. Murry, PhD’88, MD’89, “As my work progressed dropping out of medical school and reported in the May 2014 issue of the and it looked like I was getting a PhD and then coming back to journal Nature that he had used human finish my medical training,” Murry says. embryonic stem cells to regenerate heart developing something Sadly, just a month before the Nature tissue in monkeys. Such cells had been that would one day go study was published, Murry’s mother used to grow new heart tissue in smaller died of heart failure. Though he began animals such as mice, but this is the into the clinic, I would heart research long before his mother first time these cells have been grown always think: Is this developed the disease, after she was in sufficient quantities to populate and good enough that I diagnosed, she was always on his mind. beat in the heart of a large primate like “As my work progressed and it looked a monkey. “People had thought it was would try it in my mom?” like I was developing something that possible to do something like this, but Charles E. Murry would one day go into the clinic, I would nobody had taken a deep breath and made the leap,” says Murry, the Arra wanted to learn medicine and become a always think: Is this good enough that I and Eva Woods Professor of Pathology, surgeon.” Duke’s unique curriculum, in would try it in my mom?” Bioengineering and Medicine/Cardiology which the third year of medical school is On September 3, 2014, Murry gave at the University of Washington. spent doing research, changed that. “I a talk about his work, “Regenerating The next goal? Implant the new heart got hooked,” Murry says. He conducted the Heart,” at the Duke Cardiovascular tissue into primates with actual heart research under the mentorship of the Research Center Seminar Series. failure, then measure function with late Keith Reimer, MD, PhD, and Robert —Angela Spivey magnetic resonance imaging, as would be done in human patients. The biggest challenge for Murry’s team will be elimi- nating a serious unwanted side effect of the stem-cell-grown tissue—arrhythmias that developed in the primates, but not in smaller animals with faster heartbeats. Monkeys’ hearts beat more slowly, closer to the rate of a human heart, which is what likely revealed the problem. “This showed the benefit of doing things in large animals that are human sized,” Murry says. “We think the problem stems from putting pretty immature cells into a mature heart, so there’s an elec- trical mismatch. We’re trying to work on approaches to mature our cells in a dish in the right way, so they are better suited for the adult heart.” Murry, who is director of the Univer- sity of Washington’s Center for Cardio- vascular Biology and co-director of its Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative
Medicine, might not have made this breakthrough—or conducted research at all—if it weren’t for his Duke medi- cal education. “Duke changed my career trajectory
180 degrees,” he says. “Before I came to CLARE MCLEAN/UW MEDICINE Duke I didn’t have an interest in be- Charles Murry pulls stem cells used to regenerate heart tissue out of a vessel in his lab at the coming a researcher. I liked science but University of Washington.
DukeMedAlumniNews | 29 CLASS NOTES
Whitefish, a resort ski town near Glacier Love of Skiing, Medicine National Park. “I get both the small town and the larger medical center experi- Takes Ward to Austria ence,” Ward says. “It’s a unique blend.” At both locations Ward treats his fair with U.S. Alpine Team share of skiers and other athletes—about 70 percent of his practice is sports med- icine, which includes performing proce- Hospital reputation, patient population, “Helping people dures such as knee arthroscopies and salary, and family are just a few of the recover and get back treating ligament tears and other injuries. factors medical students and residents of- His day-to-day work is not all athletes ten take into consideration when choos- to whatever they love and their ailments, though. He also treats ing training programs. But Benjamin doing is one of the general problems such as fractures and Ward, MD’07, isn’t ashamed to admit he most rewarding parts performs joint replacements. chose his orthopaedics fellowship at Taos “I enjoy taking care of patients and Orthopaedic Institute for the skiing. of my job.” getting them back to their sport or “I’d known for a long time that I want- Benjamin Ward activity,” he says. “Helping people ed to practice in a ski town,” he says. recover and get back to whatever they Located in New Mexico, the town of love doing is one of the most rewarding Taos is considered by many to be a true different locations once every year. parts of my job.” skier’s paradise. Not that Ward was more The ultimate gig would be to travel Still, Ward foresees a long future treat- focused on powder than on patients. with the U.S. team during the Winter ing competitive skiers, and he just might The fellowship in Taos gave him an Olympics, but he’s pretty low in the se- have an even greater stake in a future opportunity that he just couldn’t pass up: lection pool at this point. He says maybe generation of U.S. women skiers if he has combining his lifelong love of skiing with in about 20 years it will become a reality. his way. His oldest daughter is not quite his desire to help others, many of whom Born in Denver, Colo., and loved skiing just as much as he did. having grown up in Park City, It was an experience that prepared him Utah, Ward discovered his love both for his current job as an orthopaedic for skiing long before medicine surgeon at Kalispell Regional Medical was a consideration. Skiing has Center’s Northwest Orthopedics and been a part of his life for as Sports Medicine in Kalispell, Mont., and long as he can remember. “I’ve for his work with the U.S. Women’s al- been skiing since before I could pine ski team in Austria earlier this year. walk,” he says. In January, Ward volunteered to be a It was during his time as physician for the team as they compet- an undergrad at Dartmouth ed in the Europa Cup, a competitive cir- College that Ward first realized cuit just one step down from the World there was a way to combine Cup. He spent a week with the down- both of his passions. He was hill skiers in Spital am Pyhrn in the a member of Dartmouth’s ski Austrian Alps, monitoring the athletes’ patrol. He also took a semester health, and was on hand to respond to off to volunteer at the 2002 Benjamin Ward enjoyed breathtaking views of the any traumas that occurred. Fortunately, Winter Olympics in Salt Lake Austrian Alps while volunteering for a week as a doctor for the U.S. Women’s alpine ski team in January. the trip was uneventful in that regard, City, Utah, where he helped but it marked the beginning of what prepare the women’s downhill he hopes will be an annual occurrence course by removing new snow off the three years old, but he’s already teaching for him. iced course and maintaining safety nets. her to ski, and she loves it. He and his Ward’s fellowship director in Taos was “I didn’t decide on medicine until wife Katherine also have twin girls who, the one who encouraged him to enter midway through college,” he says. Volun- though only born in April of this year, will the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association’s teering at the Olympics is “what put it all most likely be hitting the slopes pretty physician pool. After completing training together for me. I liked both aspects.” soon. “Hopefully we can get them on at Beaver Creek Resort in Colorado, Ward Today Ward splits his time profession- the team,” he jokes. was added to the pool and now looks ally between the hospital in Kalispell and —Bernadette Gillis forward to volunteering with ski teams in a hospital located about 15 miles away in
30 | DukeMedAlumniNews CLASS NOTES
Martha E. Valiant, MD’69, HS’70-’72, baby girl named Eleanor Anne. Son daughters, Kate Lynn and Liza, both of PhD in mathematics at UCLA; Chris is was named a 2014 Public Health Hero Matthew, E’08, and his wife Kristen live whom are married. playing soccer and riding rickshaws in for Hendry and Glades counties by in California, where he recently received Charleston, S.C.; Jamie is at Northwest- the Florida Department of Health. In his PhD in electrical engineering at Bruce D. Wilhelmsen, MD’79, is in his ern University; and Alastair recently 2013, she was named a “maker,” one Stanford. Son Ben and his wife Megan 30th year of practicing orthopaedics at graduated from high school. of 20 women recognized for making a live in the Twin Cities area, where he is Orthopaedics East in Greenville, N.C. difference and leaving a legacy in South in a PhD program in plant breeding at His Bone Doctors BBQ sauce was the Paul A. Hatcher, MD’84, HS’86-’90, Florida, by local public radio and TV the University of Minnesota. winner of the 2014 Scovie Award for has been practicing urology in Knox- station WGCU. diet-friendly barbeque sauce. ville, Tenn., for 23 years. An associate David F. Colvard, MD’79, HS’79-’83, professor of urologic surgery, he has 1970s has retired after more than 30 years of 1980s an active private urology practice and Albert C. Broders III, MD’74, , is chief private practice in Raleigh. He and his teaches urology residents and medical operating officer, clinical professor of wife Lynn, PhD’79, are spending more students. Outside of work, he enjoys emergency medicine, and emergency time on Bonaire, where he enjoys scuba boating, hiking, and hunting. His wife medicine consultant at University of diving. Colvard has a web site, Dive- Tina, B’82, is a volunteer with an Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Psych.com, and speaks at dive shows animal rescue organization and is a He has been married since 1975 to and writes articles for dive publications, Stephen Minister in Knoxville. Their two Maureen Murry, MD, JD, who has a including Divers Alert Network’s Alert sons, Tadd and Trey, work in investment 25-year career as a malpractice defense Diver magazine. He also is medical banking and private equity in oil and attorney. The couple lives in Dallas. director for the Worldwide Christian gas in Houston, Texas. Scuba Divers Organization (WCSDO). N. Branson Call, MD’74, and his He and Lynn enjoy ballroom dancing, Richard L. Page, T’80, MD’84, HS’87- wife Kathy have been on 160 medical playing tennis, and cycling. They also C. Edward Coffey, MD’80, HS’79-’84, ’89, , is chair of the Department of mission trips to 54 countries, working co-teach the older adult Sunday school has been named president and CEO of Medicine at the University of Wiscon- with local doctors at university training class at their church. They have two Menninger Clinic in Houston, effective sin-Madison and serves as chair of the programs and leaving equipment and children, Daniel and Stacy, who live in Sept. 29, 2014. He will have a faculty U.S. Food and Drug Administration supplies behind. They will be in India Pittsburgh and Chicago, respectively. appointment at Baylor College of Med- circulating system panel. Along with and Burma in fall 2014. The couple icine in the Menninger Department of his wife Jeannie, he is also a part-time became interested in medical mission Anthony J. Limberakis, MD’79, had Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and sailor on Lake Michigan. Jeannie has work when they went to Honduras for the opportunity to be in Jerusalem the Department of Neurology. Coffey published six novels under the name three months during Call’s second year when Pope Francis met with Ecu- was most recently vice president of the Jean Reynolds Page. Their three children of ophthalmology residency. They live in menical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Henry Ford Health System in Detroit and have all finished school. The couple lives Salt Lake City, Utah. Constantinople. Limberakis is a Greek concurrently served as CEO of Henry in Middleton, Wis. Orthodox archon (the highest honor for Ford Behavioral Health Services and John H. Dorminy III, MD’74, writes a layman in the Orthodox Church) in chair of psychiatry for the Henry Ford that he has 12 grandchildren and 1 the Ecumenical Patriarch’s delegation. Medical Group. great grandchild (so far). He resides in He was interviewed about the meeting Fitzgerald, Ga. by the National Catholic Register. Ralph J. Damiano Jr., MD’80, HS’80- Read the article at ncregister.com/ ’89, has been named chief of the Robert Woodward Downs Jr., T’70, daily-news/pope-and-patriarch-gener- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery MD’74, is retired after 30 years on the ate-hope-for-unity-in-jerusalem/. at Washington University School of faculty in the Division of Endocrinology Medicine in St. Louis. With this appoint- at the Virginia Commonwealth Univer- Bruce David Schirmer, MD’79, HS’79- ment, he becomes the Evarts Ambrose sity School of Medicine in Richmond. 85, and his wife Geri have enjoyed Graham Professor of Surgery. Damiano He is enjoying spending time with his spending their entire lives in Charlot- was previously chief of the Section of grandchildren, of whom he has five tesville, Va., since leaving surgical res- Cardiac Surgery. He lives in St. Louis. Paul W. Sperduto, T’80, MD’84, G’87, under the age of 5. idency at Duke. For nearly 20 years he HS’85-’87, , was recently named has been Stephon H. Wetter Professor Fiona Jackson Cook, MD’84, is a a Fellow of the American Society of Anne W. Campbell, MD’79, HS’79- of Surgery at the University of Virginia, clinical professor and director of the Radiation Oncology (FASTRO). Up to 30 ’81, , is a family physician with Allina where he also serves as vice chair of Endocrinology Fellowship Program Fellows are named annually and only Health in Minneapolis, Minn. Her hus- surgery and residency program director. at the East Carolina University/Brody 242 of the more than 10,000 ASTRO band Robb is an occupational therapist In addition, he is president of the Soci- School of Medicine in Greenville, N.C. members have achieved that distinc- at 3M. Their daughter Laura, T’05, is in ety of Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Her husband Paul is chief of the Division tion. Sperduto is a practicing radiation a Maternal-Fetal Medicine fellowship Surgeons, the American Hepato-Pan- of Infectious Diseases at the same insti- oncologist in Minneapolis, Minn., and at the University of Pittsburgh, and creato-Biliary Society, and the Society tution. They have four sons: the eldest, co-director of the Gamma Knife Center she and her husband Mike have a new of Clinical Surgery. The couple has two Nicholas, is married and working on his continued on page 33 = Davison Club DukeMedAlumniNews | 31 CLASS NOTES
So far, the subject matter has ranged Dad Inspires Osmond to Team from ways to identify strokes early to the impact of electronic health records. The up with Sister for Health Series health series has also covered the basics of the Affordable Care Act, and in one For most adults, watching their par- Bismarck, N.D. His sister has a doctorate TV segment, Greg and Amy’s cousin ents age while helping them navigate in communication and is director of Jeremy Osmond, DPT, discussed ways to complex health care systems can be provider relations for North American prevent common injuries in seniors. a difficult and at times bewildering Health Care. She also has experience in While “Healthy Living” covers any process, even for those professionally editing and publishing. health topic important to patients 40 trained in medicine. Combining his expertise in health and and older, Greg says most topics were It’s a lesson Greg Osmond, MD’09, disease with her interest in communi- inspired by his father’s medical experi- HS’09-’13, and his sister, Amy Osmond cation and wellness, the brother-sister ences, along with the family’s desire to Cook, PhD, gradually had to learn in duo partnered with a Provo newspaper better understand the challenges they the years following their father’s brain and area health clinics to publish and encountered tumor and subsequent strokes, and distribute a health and wellness column web link during his care. eventually led them to create a multi- and TV segments featuring interviews drosmond.com When Greg media health series in their hometown with local physicians. Their goal is to was 12 and of Provo, Utah. offer insight and advice on the rapidly Amy 16, their father, Wayne Osmond, “It was born out of frustration with the changing health care landscape. learned he had a brain tumor. His Utah current medical system,” Greg says of the doctors sent him to Duke, where he series, which is called “Healthy Living” “It’s nice to have a underwent two surgeries that suc- and includes a newspaper column and TV public forum to cessfully removed the tumor. Recovery interviews. “We had a lot of questions was tough, but he pulled through and about my father, and a lot of baby boom- connect with others ultimately was declared cancer-free. ers were asking my sister questions.” and hopefully improve However, about a decade after the Greg recently completed a derma- lives in the process.” surgeries, Wayne Osmond started topathology fellowship at Harvard experiencing other problems. He began and now works for Sanford Health in Greg Osmond to lose his balance, short-term memory, and nearly all of his hearing. After he suffered a major stroke three years ago, the family learned that he had been having mini-strokes for years, quite possibly since the brain surgeries. At the time of his father’s major stroke, Greg Osmond was a pathology resident at Duke covering OR cases for Duke neurosurgeon Allan Friedman, MD. Not surprisingly, Greg reached out to Friedman for advice. Yet being closely connected to a world-renowned brain tumor expert didn’t put Greg at an advantage when it came to getting his father’s medical records to Duke quickly. It took two weeks for the records to arrive. “It was frustrating because Dr.
Friedman has been following my dad for over 15 years, my parents and I trust his opinion, and we all wanted him to GLASSER IMAGES GLASSER Outside of his work as a dermatopathologist in North Dakota, Greg Osmond has partnered with his sister to ofer health and wellness advice through a multimedia health series back home in Provo, Utah.
32 | DukeMedAlumniNews CLASS NOTES
weigh in on the situation in at the University of Minnesota. He has Barbara J. Martin, T’82, MD’86, in 1990s also done cyclone relief work in India March 2014 announced the publication real time,” he explains. Ideally, Robert J. Green, Jr., T’88, MD’93, , and primary care in Appalachia. He and of her first book, the nonfiction work both he and Friedman would has been appointed vice president of his wife, Jody Laursen Sperduto, T’80, Elixir: The American Tragedy of a Deadly have been able to access and oncology for Flatiron Health, a health PhD’90, live in Wayzata, Minn., and Drug. Martin writes: “The product of discuss his father’s records care technology company. He previously have three children. more than 10 years of research, Elixir is remotely from Duke. was a managing partner at Palm Beach the first detailed account of the scores “I understand the reasons Cancer Institute and helped lead its of American deaths caused by a poison- why hospital systems wouldn’t merger with Florida Cancer Specialists ous antibiotic solution, elixir sulfanil- necessarily want their records in 2013. He served two years as chief amide, in the fall of 1937 and the sur- accessed in this manner,” he medical officer of Cancer Clinics of prising aftermath.” Martin is a formerly adds, “but when it comes Excellence. Flatiron Health allows cancer practicing neurologist. She has worked to the health of your parent, care providers and life science compa- in academia, private practice, medical some of those issues become nies to gain deep business and clinical publishing, drug market research, and much less important.” intelligence through its web-based continuing medical education. She Greg knows he’s not alone platform, OncologyCloud. writes a blog called Pathophilia, cover- in his thinking and that’s why ing the drug and health care industries, Mark Weinberg, MD’96, HS’99, was he and Amy decided to include which can be found at bmartinmd.com. appointed MBA senior vice president the topic of electronic health Tina Alster, BSN’81, MD’86, has been She lives in Evanston, Illinois. of clinical development at RestorGenex records in their “Healthy Liv- selected by the Women’s Dermato- Corporation, a specialty biopharmaceu- ing” series. It was just one way logic Society to receive its prestigious Conrad Lloyd Flick, MD’89, is on the tical company initially focused on devel- for Greg and Amy to make Legacy Award for 2014, honoring board of directors of WakeMed Key oping products for dermatology, oph- sense of the roadblocks they lifetime achievement in the specialty of Community Care Accountable Care thalmology, and women’s health. Prior encountered while helping dermatology. She was honored at a gala Organization. From 2009-2012 he was to joining RestorGenex, he served as their dad. It also gave them celebration at the annual meeting of director of the American Academy of vice president of global clinical science the American Academy of Dermatology. Family Physicians Board. He and his wife the chance to help families at Astellas Pharma Global Development, Alster was chosen for this award based Anita have two children: Alyse, who is facing similar situations. and before that he was vice president of on her many groundbreaking contribu- in the School of Nursing at UNC Chapel Although he still has some medical strategy and medical affairs at tions to the world of dermatology and Hill, and Austin, a sophomore at N.C. hearing loss, Wayne Os- Lundbeck Inc. (formerly Ovation Phar- laser surgery, including involvement State University. mond’s health has improved, maceuticals). Previously he held various in dermatologic academia, clinical re- and Greg happily reports roles in clinical development at Takeda search, and medical practice innovation. Carolyn Maynor, MD’89, HS’89-’95, that his father is now doing Global Research and Development and is a partner with Pinehurst Radiology, much better. He’s also happy Abbott Laboratories. to have an outlet to not only Karen Drexler, MD’86, recently took and her husband, Bobby Ray Maynor on the position of deputy director of Jr., MD’88, HS’88-’91, is a partner with educate himself on ways to 2000s the National Mental Health Program, Pinehurst Medical Clinic in Pinehurst, continually improve his fa- Maxwell A. Prempeh, T’98, MD’03, Addictive Disorders, in the Office of N.C. Their oldest sons are both in col- ther’s health and wellness but HS’03-’06, is the lead physician at the Mental Health Services at the Veterans lege in Boston: Christopher is a member to also help others back home Harbin Clinic, which recently opened Administration’s central office. Prior to of the Class of 2015 at the Massachu- in Provo to do the same. a cardiology office at its facility in accepting that post, she served as direc- setts Institute of Technology, and Ian is Acworth, Ga. Prempeh, board certified “It’s nice to have a public tor of the Substance Abuse Treatment in the Class of 2017 at Harvard. Sydney in internal medicine, cardiology, and forum to connect with others Program at the Atlanta VA Medical is in the sixth grade. interventional cardiology, specializes in and hopefully improve lives in Center since 1994, and was acting chief using state-of-the-art tests and minimal- the process,” Greg says. of the Mental Health Service Line from Grace Emerson Terrell, MD’89, HS’90, ly-invasive procedures to diagnose and See more of Greg and May 2, 2013, to January 25, 2014. She , serves on the board of directors of treat cardiovascular disease. He joined Amy’s work, including their also continues her work as an associate the American Medical Group Associ- the Harbin Clinic in 2010 with the open- blog and videos, at dros- professor in the Department of Psychi- ation and on the board of trustees of ing of its cardiology office in Carters- mond.com. atry and Behavioral Sciences at Emory the certifying commission of Health ville, Ga. In January 2011, he performed —Bernadette Gillis University School of Medicine, where Information Technology. In addition, she the first cardiac intervention in Bartow she directed the Addiction Psychiatry is co-chair of the Office of the National County at the Cartersville Medical Residency Training Program from 2002 Coordinator for Health Information Center, placing a stent in a blood to 2014. Technology ACO work group. She lives vessel and restoring normal blood flow in High Point, N.C. to the heart. In addition to his Duke degrees, he completed an interventional cardiology fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. = Davison Club DukeMedAlumniNews | 33 DEB LINDSEY is he D.C. role, Washington, this in In Affairs National of Office organization’s nonprofit the in based manager policy a as (DPA) Alliance Policy Drug the joined 1, May On Burnett disparities. racial eliminate help and justice that he believes will ultimately advance social him, they are but a small price to pay for work marijuana. of legalization the for advocate to is job full-time whose doctor a meet to gets one that day every not It’s aback. taken are they living, a Malik T’07,Burnett, MD’12, B’12 what out find people some when Initially, but Social, Racial Justice Racial Social, but Fight not about Crime For Burnett, Marijuana But the looks of surprise don’t faze Burnett. To don’t faze Burnett. of surprise looks the But CLASS NOTES CLASS , does for for does , G. G. “Beingableapplyto opportunity,” bothis challengea and public the for it interpret and knowledge medical G. Malik Burnett Malik G.
disparities in Washington, D.C. disparities racial of eliminating hope the with reform policy for drug fights Burnett Malik Alliance, Policy Drug the with position In his new emerging picture of civil rights reform in the 21st century,” he public policy debate” drug on use. public policy new job. “There are generally not a lot of physicians in the the public is both a challenge and opportunity,” of he hissays public health. to crime from conversation the shifting in also but use drug of criminalization the with associated disparities racial the about public the educating in only him—not for out cut work drug decriminalization. tion and the American Public Health Association are calling for health advocacy groups including the World Health Organiza recently legalized the recreational use of marijuana and several the war on drugs.” Twocountry.” U.S. states, Washingtonthe and Colorado, in worst the probably “are D.C., where Burnett focuses his efforts, he says such disparities likely marijuana.are more in no sell to or And than use whites Latinos are more likely to be arrested even though these groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union show that blacks and majority for simple possession. Statistics compiled by groups 750,000 people were arrested for marijuana law violations, the the FBI’s annual Uniform Crime Report, in 2012 approximately by the criminalization of marijuana, Burnett says. According to public health framework.” will go a long way towards reframing drug policy around a enacting progressive policies, and the legalization of marijuana says. “The District of Columbia has historically been a leader in “Being able to apply medical knowledge and interpret it for his has still he knows Burnett attitudes, changing Evenwith But he adds, “More and more people are seeing the failure of A disproportionate number of minorities have been affected
for Initiative 71, which seeks to allow D.C. allow to 71, seeks Initiative for which color. of people of up made predominately are that nities commu caused has drugs on war the feels he damage the rehabilitate help to working Specifically, he aims to build support support build to aims Specifically,he of marijuana. of regulation and taxation the establishing D.C. the of on Council members with 71 work and Initiative to addition in initiatives policy drug other for push also will Burnett Nov.4. on initiative the on vote will Residents adults. other to juana mari notandtheir givesell) homes, (but in plants marijuana immature three and mature three grow marijuana, of ounces two to up possess legally to residents “Marijuana policy reform is part of the —Bernadette Gillis - - - HOUSE STAFF OBITUARIES
1960s cancer and diabetes to epilepsy and mology at the University of Nebraska Carey N. Barry, MD’49, died asthma. DeLand lives in Lafayette, La. Medical Center (UNMC), specializing on March 8, 2014, in Greenville, Edward S. Horton, MD, HS’62-’66, in oculofacial plastic surgery. He also S.C. He was 94. Dr. Barry held received the Master of the American serves as vice chair of clinical affairs many honors throughout his College of Endocrinology (MACE) Award 1980s Ted George, MD, HS’80-83, was a fea- for his department and assistant dean life, including military honors for at the American Association of Clinical tured author at the 14th Annual Library of governmental affairs for the UNMC infantry service in the South Pa- Endocrinologists (AACE) 23rd Annual of Congress National Book Festival in College of Medicine. He and his wife Lori cific during World War II. A urol- Scientific and Clinical Congress in May Washington, D.C. in August 2014. He have four children and live in Omaha. ogist, he opened a solo practice 2014. The MACE Award is given to spoke about his book Untangling the in Ft. Myers, Fla., early in his an AACE member who has received Mind, in which he explains that feeling Miriam S. Bettencourt, MD, HS’94-’96, medical career. He was active the Fellow of the American College and involved in the Ft. Myers extreme emotion is part of being human ’99, is the founder and director of Bet- of Endocrinology distinction and is community, including serving and aims to help people understand tencourt Skin Center in Henderson, Nev., recognized as a distinguished practicing two years as president of the the biological and neurological basis a dermatology practice that was recently endocrinologist. Horton is a professor Lee Memorial Physicians Group, of their behavior and that of others. acquired by Advanced Dermatology of medicine at Harvard Medical School chief of staff at Lee Memorial George is an associate clinical director & Cosmetic Surgery (ADCS). She is a and a senior investigator at the Joslin Hospital, and president of the at the National Institutes of Health in board-certified fellow of the American Diabetes Center. He currently serves on Florida Urological Association. Bethesda, Md., and a clinical professor Academy of Dermatology (AAD) and is the AACE Board of Directors. of psychiatry at George Washington in practice in Las Vegas, Nev. She also Thomas D. Beardmore, MD, University School of Medicine. is a clinical professor of dermatology at Jack W. Bonner III, MD, HS’65-69, an HS’68-’71, died July 22, 2014, the University of Nevada and an adjunct emeritus professor at the University of at USC Norris Comprehensive David L. Halsey, MD, HS’86, has been professor at Touro University, where she South Carolina School of Medicine in Cancer Center in Los Angeles, appointed to serve a two-year term on contributes to the dermatology training Greenville, was selected by the American Calif., after a four-month illness. the Board of Governors of the Jackson of medical students in Las Vegas. She He was 75. Since 1976, Dr. Beard- College of Psychiatrists as its archi- Preparatory & Early College in Jackson, did a residency in internal medicine and more had been affiliated with the vist-historian at its annual meeting held Mich. Halsey is a physician practicing dermatology at the University of Sao University of Southern California, in February 2014 in San Antonio, Texas. general internal medicine and endo- Paulo, Brazil, and completed residencies where he was a professor of He is a past-president and Fellow of the crinology and has been affiliated with in family medicine and dermatolo- clinical medicine. He was chief college and completed service in Febru- Allegiance Health System since 1986. gy at Duke, where she was the first of rheumatology at Rancho Los ary as its secretary-general. Bonner also He currently serves on the Allegiance international physician ever accepted Amigos National Rehabilitation served as examiner for the American Health Board of Directors, is chairman to the Duke dermatology program and Center, where he became an Board of Psychiatry and Neurology at its of the Jackson Health Network, and is was named chief resident of dermatol- expert in the rehabilitation of examination held in March in Little Rock, medical director of both the Allegiance ogy. She has been the director of the severely disabled patients with Ark. He and his wife Myra split their time rheumatic diseases. He volun- Health System Diabetes Center and the Bettencourt Skin Center for the past 10 between homes in Greenville, S.C., and teered at the Arthritis Foundation Allegiance Health System Osteoporosis years, where she specializes in clinical, Asheville, N.C. and was a member of Southern Clinic. He lives in Jackson. surgical, and cosmetic dermatology, and California Rheumatology Society. 1970s clinical research. Keith Superdock, MD, HS’86-‘89, Mary Maitland DeLand, MD, HS’78- William “Bill” D. Clarkson, MD, proudly announces another Superdock Steven Glen Simonson, MD, MHS’96, ‘82, has written a children’s book that HS’61-’64, of Floyd, Va., died will soon be walking the halls of Duke; HS’86-‘89, HS‘92-‘93, has joined illustrates the positive actions children August 1, 2014. He was 82. Dr. his new daughter-in-law, Allie (Harjo) Discovery Laboratories, Inc., in War- can take when they have a relative Clarkson served two years as a Superdock entered as a first-year student rington, Pa., as vice president of clinical with type 1 diabetes. Be a Hero! Help medical officer in the U.S. Army. at Duke University School of Medicine development. He will oversee all aspects Prevent Diabetes with The Great Katie He was director of one of the first this summer. His son, Matthew, will be of clinical research, with responsibility Kate takes place at a diabetes day camp, community mental health centers teaching high school math at Jordan for design and execution of clinical trials. where children with diabetes, as well as built in North Carolina. He was High School in Durham. Keith continues His initial focus will be on the develop- in private psychiatric practice sisters and brothers without diabetes, to direct the Lankenau Medical Center ment of AEROSURF, the company’s com- from 1969-2006 in Salem, Va., attend together. The book introduces Kidney Transplant Program, which he bination drug/device, which currently is at Lewis Gale Psychiatric Center children to TrialNet, an international helped found in 1993. He lives with his in phase 2 development to provide KL4 (now Lewis Gale Medical Center network of researchers who are explor- wife Jennifer, son Michael, and daughter surfactant therapy through nasal contin- for Behavioral Health). While in ing ways to prevent, delay, and reverse Christina in Bryn Mawr, Pa. uous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) practice, he also did consulting the progression of type 1 diabetes. A for respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) work at mental health clinics in radiation oncologist specializing in the James W. Gigantelli, MD, HS’90, is now in premature infants. Rocky Mount, Martinsville, Roa- treatment of women’s and children’s serving his first term as a member of the noke, and Pearisburg. cancer, DeLand has written several American College of Surgeons’ Board of children’s books on topics ranging from continued on page 36 Regents. He is a professor of ophthal-
= Davison Club DukeMedAlumniNews | 35 36 positions at Saint Mary’s and Washoe Medical Center, and serving on included working at the Washoe County Health Department, holding School of Medicine, where he taught clinical diagnosis. His career also in 1958. He was one of the first professors of medicine at the Nevada May 24, 2014. He was 87. Dr. Myles first opened a solo practice in Reno HS’55-’57 MD, Myles, K. Robert 1955-1990. from medicine practiced he where Virginia, Center in Medical Center Heights Colonial and Medical Hopewell 7,August of 2014. founders of the Dr. one was 90. was Moore He HS’52-’53 Jr., MD’52, D. Moore Parker Bern. Clinic inNew Merci the at physician avolunteer as Dr. 10 spent retirement, years Cooper Ocracoke. Upon and Bayboro, inArapahoe, clinics eye free operating and Craven Hospital, County of of staff chief as serving Bern, Eye Clinic inNew Coastal at 20 years for working included career force. medical His occupation of the part as Japan, to Okinawa, in aB-29, shipped was agunner and as trained N.C., 3, May 2014. on 87. was He Army, U.S. Dr. in the Kunkel served D. HS’61-’65 MD, Kunkel, Cooper 2014 Duke from inJune retired of service. He 52mology. years after inOphthal Lectureship Klintworth K. Gordon the created of Medicine 2014, School In Award. Faculty Duke University Distinguished the with him honored Association Alumni Medical 2010, Duke the University eye. In of the diseases the about information find world the around site web the 2002, created year he Duke.the at Around of pathology professor and of Ophthalmology Professor Distinguished Wadsworth Joseph the was 82. was Dr. He years. Klintworth for seven cancer battling after HS’62-’65 PhD, MD, Klintworth, K. Gordon force. air of the general surgeon to the consultant surgery orthopaedic the as York. served also He in New Surgery for Special Hospital to the on went then and Antonio Center inSan Medical Hall Wilford at career orthopaedic Force Air U.S. his Dr.2014, began 44. Kadrmas was Texas. Antonio, He inSan MD’96 Kadrmas, R. Warren of Medicine. School Tulane at sor University profes clinical also was He for 23years. Hospital Foundation Ochsner Clinic and Ochsner the at Surgery of Orthopedic Department of the later and chairman was he where La., Orleans, New in Institution Medical Ochsner the joined then He rank of captain. the in1965, for 21 retiring with years, Navy U.S. Corps of the Medical inthe 2014, 91. duty was He residence. his at active Dr. served Dunn Jr., W. Dunn MD’45 Adolphus 2006. until Hospital N.C. at Memorial staff on served and department of UNC’s chairman psychiatry became later He War II. of World days final inthe Navy U.S. for the training pilot attended tis Dr. 86. was 2014, Cur He Duke at Hospice. Family Pavilion Hock inthe MD’51 Curtis, Edwin Thomas obituaries. on click then atsite web Association Alumni Medical the on found be can obituaries Full
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DukeMed medalumni.duke.edu OBITUARIES eyepathologist.com AlumniNews , died in a tragic accident on May 8, 8, May on accident inatragic , died . Please click on the magazine cover, magazine the on click . Please , of ChapelHill, N.C., 7, July on died , of Fripp Island, S.C., 13, Island, June , of Fripp died , of Reno, Nev., died at home on to help people living in rural areas areas inrural living people to help , died at his home in New Bern, Bern, inNew home his at , died , of Lexington, S.C., , of Lexington, died , died August 8, 2014, 8, August , died emeritus chairman chairman - - - He was 75. Dr. Vernon’s military career included serving in the U.S. U.S. inthe serving 75. was included Dr.He career Vernon’s military Sr., Vernon MD’64 R. Charles in 2008. Center retirement his until Medical Hospital Halifax at privileges staff senior holding practice, solo 1992.until own inhis continued then He there practiced and Beach in Daytona acolleague with in partnership commander. 1970, rank of lieutenant to In the rising Japan, joined he inYokosuka, Laboratory Neurodiagnostic for the of neurology chief as 1963-1966 from 2014. Navy U.S. Dr. inthe 80. was He Tweed served MD’59 Tweed, Gilbert C. War. Vietnam the following camp refugee aCambodian at and Lanka, Brazil, Sri Arabia, in El Salvador, Saudi physician avolunteer as and inTucson, California Colorado, for and children caring career sional 70. was She Dr. inTucson, profes Ariz. her home spent her at Smith ’74 ’71-’72, MD’67, HS’67-’68, Smith, M. Sandra County Regional Board of Health on his birthday80th in 2006. Washoe Medical Center’s governing board. He retired from the Washoe Award for Scientists and Engineers. and for Scientists Award Career Early 2007, In Presidential the Dukefrom in 2004. received she Award Diversity Ribbon Blue the including honors, and many awards received She field. inher leader recognized internationally an became she and FSGS, caused gene TRPC6 inthe mutations that reported she inalandmark 2005, In diseases. kidney inherited other and (FSGS) glomerulosclerosis segmental familial focal studied Winn Dr. ayear. than for more 48. was cancer She pancreatic battling after 23, 2014, Duke, at July died of Medicine Department in the phrology ’99 P. HS’92-’96, MD, Michelle Winn, of Psychoanalysts. College American in1992. of the retirement his until aFellow was analysis He psycho in1975 practiced of Medicine and taught and School versity to Duke Uni transferred He inChapelHill. Institute Psychoanalytic the at training completing while UNC, at of Psychiatry Department in the Carolina in1967, to North aposition moved up taking first Werman York,in New N.Y., cancer. 92. was with fight He Dr. athree-year after Werman S. David years. 40 after 1996 in cardiology from retired He Warren. library is named for Dr. Warren and his wife Betty Ann “Bebe” Welch he retired and abecame life trustee in The university’s December 2006. first “fundraiser-in-chief.” He held the post of chairman from 1968 until Dr. Warren was considered by many to be the private Christian college’s ologist and founding board chairman of Palm Beach Atlantic University, March 31, 2014, at Good Samaritan Medical Center. HS’53-’55 MD’52, Warren, E. Donald He was 86. A cardi in1983. role that from retired father, his when Herbert, 1970-1989 from Dolphins Miami for the team’s the doctor and chief 1965-1970. from Force Air U.S. inthe physician ateam was served He cancer. 25, 75.May was Dr. 2014, He bladder Virgin battling after HS’64-’65 MD’64, T’60, Virgin, Charles Carolina. inSouth Hospital G.W. and Psychiatric Bryan Hospital Memorial Richland at practicing included career 1958. until medical His school high Corps after Marine , a former Duke faculty member, died June 3, 2014, June member, died Duke faculty , aformer , of Ormond Beach, Fla., died August 3, August Fla., Beach, died , of Ormond , of Columbia, S.C., 9, 2014. July died , of Palm Beach, Fla., died Fla., Beach, died , of Palm , associate professor of ne professor , associate , of Key Biscayne, Fla., died Fla., died , of Key Biscayne, , died July 7, July , died 2014, Science paper, - - - - -
FRANCES MICKLOW David L. Feldman, T’80, MD’84, HS’89-’92, a plastic surgeon who now manages pa- tient safety and risk management as chief medical officer for a large New York malpractice insurance company, and his wife Debra give back to Duke on a regular basis. This year they made a Leadership Council-level gift to the Davison Club in honor of David’s 30th medi- cal school reunion.
“We did a little more to mark the reunion, but it’s really just a continuation of a commitment we believe in and intend to continue for years to come,” Feldman says. The Duke connection extends to their children, two of whom were born at Duke Hospital during Da- vid’s plastic surgery training. “Our youngest, Jessica, is a Blue Devil in her own right, having just earned an undergraduate degree from Trinity College,” notes Debra, a development officer at hospitals in Newark, N.J. and New York City.
Gifts to the Davison Club provide critical unrestricted support A Continuing for medical education at Duke through scholarships, curriculum enhancements, new technologies, Commitment and innovative research. Davison Club Gift Levels $25,000 Chancellor’s Circle $10,000 Leadership Council $5,000 Dean’s Circle $2,500 Davison Fellow $1,500 Family Membership $1,000 Davison Club Member $500 Recent Graduate Member
Make your gift online at medalumi.duke.edu/giving Non-Profit Org. US Postage PAID Durham, NC Duke Medical Alumni Association Permit No. 60 Development and Alumni Afairs 710 W. Main Street, Suite 200 Durham, NC 27701
WHITE COAT CEREMONY
Del Wigfall, MD, associate dean for medical education, and members of the incoming Class of 2018 pose for a selfie following the White Coat Ceremony. This year’s class consists of 109 students accepted from 6,148 applications. There are 48 women and 61 men in the class, including 26 under-represented minorities. They come from 31 different states and 55 undergraduate institutions.
MEGAN MOOR MEGAN