News

John F. Rawls, PhD, James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, has been named a Fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), the nation’s oldest and most prestigious medical society dedicated to disorders of the gastrointestinal tract.

As insects become resistant to current insecticides, researchers are looking for new options to protect crops and prevent disease. In research published in Nature Communications, a team led by Seok Yong-Lee, PhD, George Barth Geller Distinguished Professor of Molecular Biology, reveals insights about how insects sense their environment and how certain insecticides disrupt that process.

Researchers led by Ken Yokoyama, PhD, have revealed a long-sought missing step in how a powerful new class of antibiotics are produced in nature — insight that could guide discovery or design of new antimicrobial drugs.

Duke University School of Medicine has launched Discovery AI, an ambitious research initiative that aims to accelerate the application of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to discovery science in biomedicine. The initiative will support recruitment of faculty with expertise at the intersection of AI and biology to be embedded in basic science departments.

Dalal Azzam, a PhD student in the lab of Lorena Beese, PhD, has been awarded two years of support from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund’s Graduate Diversity Enrichment Program. The award provides $5,000 over two years, giving PhD students in North Carolina opportunities for greater science and research enrichment.

Dalal Azzam, a PhD student in the lab of Lorena Beese, PhD, has been awarded two years of support from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund’s Graduate Diversity Enrichment Program.

Sai Kwan Khal, a PhD student in the lab of Michael Boyce, PhD, has been awarded a competitive Summer Research Fellowship for Summer 2026 from the Duke University Graduate School.

Duke researchers study approach that may help millions managing diabetic neuropathy and chemotherapy-induced nerve pain.

The final project for Structural Biochemistry II (BCH659) culminated in an exciting “Shark Tank”-style competition, where student teams pitched innovative biotech concepts to a panel of faculty and student judges. This year’s champion team, Team LAMTx, impressed with a bold approach to addressing neuropathic pain, a condition that remains a major unmet clinical need. Current therapies often treat symptoms rather than root causes and carry significant risks of side effects—an issue that the team set out to change.

Anne E. West, MD, PhD, George Barth Geller Distinguished Professor of Neurobiology, has received the Landis Award for Outstanding Mentorship from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for dedication to superior mentorship and training in neuroscience research.