Duke Human Vaccine Institute Many Fronts, One Goal: Eliminate HIV/AIDS from the Planet Message from the Dean

FALL 2016 Duke Human Vaccine Institute Many Fronts, One Goal: Eliminate HIV/AIDS from the Planet message from the dean IN LATE JULY I announced that I will step down tology, Orthopaedic Surgery, Neurology, and DukeMed AlumniNews as dean of Duke University School of Medicine Neurosurgery; is published by the Duke Medical Alumni Association. in June 2017, at the end of my second five-year • Creation of the Duke Cancer Institute; Issues are available online at term. I have always believed that institutions medalumni.duke.edu. benefit when leadership is periodically refreshed, • Development of new educational programs Your comments, ideas, and letters to the editor are welcome. and I believe the time is right. including the Primary Care Leadership Track, Please contact us at: Scholars in Molecular Medicine, Master of When I came to Duke as dean in 2007, I found DukeMed AlumniNews Biomedical Sciences, MS and PhD in Bio- 710 W. Main Street, Suite 200 an extraordinarily vibrant community of schol- statistics, and Master of Management in Durham, NC 27701-3973 ars, staff, administrators, students, alumni, and 919-385-3100 Clinical Informatics; friends—all dedicated to accomplishing great e-mail: [email protected] things, to living up to Duke’s values and aspi- • Launch of new interdisciplinary research Editor rations, and to making the world a better and initiatives including the Duke Molecular Marty Fisher healthier place. Physiology Institute, Center for Genomics of Assistant Editor Microbial Systems, Center for Human Disease & Art Director Together, we have made great strides and Modeling, Center for RNA Biology, Center for David Pickel achieved far more than anyone would have Genomics and Computational Biology, Center Contributing Writers expected—especially during one of the most for Statistical Genetics and Genomics, Regen- Bernadette Gillis, Dave Hart, financially chal- Jim Rogalski, Andrea Martin eration Next, and the Center for Population lenging periods Health Sciences; Photography for academic Ken Huth, Jared Lazarus, medical centers: • Creation of MEDx, a School of Medicine Shawn Rocco, Jim Rogalski partnership with the Pratt School of Engi- Duke Photography • Construction neering; and of the first new Cover photograph Photograph Ken Huth medical edu- • Creation of the School’s first inclusion council cation building and implementation of numerous initiatives Produced by since 1930, the focused on improving diversity and inclusion in Duke Health Development and Alumni Affairs. Mary Duke Bid- the school. Copyright Duke University, 2016 dle Trent Semans DHDAA 6102 As I’ve told many colleagues at Duke and around Center for Health the country, I have never seen a more loyal and DukeMed AlumniNews is Education; engaged group of alumni than ours. I have very mailed two times a year to alumni, donors, and friends • Construction of much enjoyed serving as your dean and will al- of Duke University the Hudson Building at Duke Eye Center; ways be grateful for your support of me and for School of Medicine. your continued support of our great university • Creation of a satellite campus for the School in and medical school. the Durham Innovation District; With warm wishes, • Two Nobel Prizes in Chemistry awarded for work done by Duke School of Medicine faculty members; • Groundbreaking scientific breakthroughs Nancy C. Andrews, MD, PhD translated into improved care for patients—too Dean, Duke University School of Medicine Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs numerous to mention; Nanaline H. Duke Professor of Medicine Professor, Pediatrics • Creation of four new departments: Derma- Professor, Pharmacology and Cancer Biology Nancy C. Andrews, MD, PhD Scott Gibson, MBA Edward G. Buckley, MD Theodore N. Pappas, MD Raphael Valdivia, PhD Dean, Duke University School Executive Vice Dean for Vice Dean for Education Vice Dean for Medical Affairs Vice Dean for Basic Science of Medicine Administration Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Billy Newton Iain Sanderson, BM, BCh Judy Seidenstein Duke University L. Ebony Boulware, MD, MPH Vice Dean for Finance Vice Dean for Research Informatics Chief Diversity Officer Vice Dean for Translational Sciences Mark Stacy, MD Jill Boy Ann Brown, MD, MHS Vice Dean for Clinical Research Associate Dean and Vice Dean for Faculty Chief Communications Officer contents In Brief Features In Brief 03 Nobel Laureates Community and Family Medicine Receive North Carolina Award Celebrates 50th Anniversary Page 16 06 Hwang Named to Medical Alumni TIME’s 100 Most 13 Association News Influential List Seeking Out Deadly Pathogens in Rural Mongolia Page 18 08 Construction Begins on New Research Building 14 Philanthropy News ETC. 36 Class Notes 38 Obituaries Human Vaccine Institute Seeks to Eliminate HIV and Other Scourges Page 24 12 Research Highlights First-in-Southeast Transgender Clinic Provides Care, Support, and Education 42 Match Day Page 30 DukeMedAlumniNews | 1 from our readers Memories had a case of childhood poisoning, the in Phoenix, part of the Barrow Neuro- chief of pediatrics would mention Dr. logical Institute. of Leaders Arena’s work. “At the dedication ceremony, I asked Eugene Guazzo, MD’65, sends mem- “As a matter of coincidence, also in Mrs. Ali what we could do for them, ories of two favorite professors, Hans my residency, I was reminded, almost and she said, ‘Muhammed wants you Lowenbach, MD, professor of pedi- on a daily basis, of Dr. and Mrs. Arena. to take care of everyone, regardless of atrics and psychiatry, and Jay Arena, They were supporters of a convent of their ability to pay,’” Stacy remembers. MD’32, HS’32. cloistered nuns that was located high That was a tall order. “When Lowenbach lectured, he up on a hill overlooking the medical Stacy’s colleagues told him it often brought a patient with him to center. Hospital house staff would wouldn’t work; it was too expensive to the amphitheater. He would take the hear—if the wind was just right—the give that much free care. patient’s history right before all of us, nuns’ steeple bell, calling them to It was impossible, they said. clearly giving an actual ‘living’ example prayer and giving us pause.” But we know what Ali said about of the development of a diagnosis or impossible: “Impossible is not a fact. syndrome. From Muhammad Ali— It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a “Dr. Lowenbach was a broadly the Gift of Courage declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is trained and experienced clinician. This potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.” was apparent from his lecturing. But, Editor’s note: the following was having visited his home—he lived on excerpted from an article by Elizabeth a farm and raised sheep—I came to Cohen, senior medical correspondent realize even more, how broad was his with CNN, published on June 6. medical experience. Something that Muhammed Ali didn’t like air condi- made…me remember this was what tioning. was above the mantel of his fireplace: So when he traveled in a car through a whaling harpoon! the streets of Phoenix one March day “I had to ask about this, and found in 2001, he asked the man driving to that he had been a whaling ship’s roll down the windows. surgeon.” Then he asked him to get in the far “Almost every time I put a cap on left lane. a childproof container, I think of Dr. Parkinson’s disease had taken its toll, Arena. He convinced the pharmaceu- and the heavyweight champion of the tical industry and pharmacies to make world had difficulty moving and speak- child-resistant containers standard. The ing, but still, he had a plan. food industry also followed…Medical “At stoplights, he would reach out care for children, usually less than 4-5 to the car next to us, and his arm was years of age, who had been poisoned so long, he could tap on their window, with medicine…and with other… and when they looked up, he’d say, products was a significant problem. ‘Hello from the greatest of all time!’ Well over 500 children died every year. Then the light would turn green, and Mark Stacy and Muhammed Ali This was reduced by about 90 percent we’d drive off,” the driver remembers, after 1960 when childproof medical laughing. Stacy’s colleagues advised him not to containers came into use. “Muhammed just loved that,” he even mention the idea to the hospital’s “I was also reminded of him in my said. leadership; it would just alienate them. residency training at Hunterdon Medi- The fun in the car was just one of He ignored them. cal Center in New Jersey whenever we many memorable moments in a rela- “That’s one of the gifts Mu- tionship that lasted nearly two decades hammed gave me: the gift of cour- Jay Arena Hans Lowenbach between Ali and the person behind age,” Stacy said. the wheel: Mark Stacy, MD, currently a At a meeting of the hospital’s professor of neurology and vice dean highest executives, [he] announced he for clinical research in the School of wanted the center to treat people for Medicine, who was then director of free if they couldn’t pay. the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center He could read the room. They were people Paul Modrich “That’s one of the gifts Kastan Elected to Nobel Laureates Muhammed gave me: Academy of Sciences Receive the gift of courage.” North Carolina Award Michael Kastan, MD, PhD, executive Mark Stacy director of Duke Cancer Institute, has Nobel laureates Paul Modrich, PhD, been elected to the National Acade- of Duke and Aziz Sancar, PhD, of skeptical. Parkinson’s care is expen- my of Sciences. sive. They didn’t see how it would UNC-Chapel Hill, received the North Kastan’s research spans more Carolina Award, the state’s highest work.

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