News

Photo above: Takia Morrison is discharged after recovering from COVID-19

When a baby is born, one of the first people they meet is their mother. For one newborn earlier this year, this was not the case, for his mother, Takia Morrison, was diagnosed with COVID-19. In the wake of the pandemic, caution and the safety of everyone is crucial, and a team at Duke University Hospital was ready to treat Ms. Morrison. 

The early stage of COVID-19 offers a critical window of opportunity to prevent the progression of the disease to the acute state, when patients require supportive care. By targeting the SARS-CoV-2 virus early on, a therapeutic can help to quickly eliminate the virus from the body while the patient’s symptoms are mild.

U.S. News & World Report has ranked Duke Children’s Hospital among the top 50 children’s medical centers nationally and the only hospital in North Carolina with nine of 10 specialties ranked in the magazine’s analysis.

Transplantation remains the last hope for many patients with end-stage organ failure. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a nationwide decrease in transplants and organ donation.

Approximately 6 million patients in the United States live with heart failure. Of those, 10% will progress to end-stage heart failure. While there is no cure, heart transplantation can bring hope to patients when other treatments no longer can.

The Duke Department of Surgery now ranks third among surgery departments nationwide in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding received in 2019 according to the newly released Blue Ridge rankings. Duke Surgery has continued to rank in the top five nationally over the past 30 years, demonstrating the department’s long-standing commitment to investigate the impact of disease on patient health. With a diverse portfolio, including 78.7% of funding from the NIH, Duke Surgery faculty and staff perform a wide variety of research to improve the human condition.

Donald D. Glower Jr., MD, had a roundabout entry into the field of robotics and minimally invasive surgery. Originally hired in 1989 for coronary bypass surgery, he soon became involved in minimally invasive surgery using the Heartport Port Access System in 1996.

Every minute, 250 infants are born worldwide, and two of those are born with a congenital heart defect. Severe cases require immediate surgical intervention, and for a pediatric cardiac surgeon, early and accurate detection is essential to creating a successful patient care plan.

In the Division of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, Andrew Lodge, MD, Joseph Turek, MD, PhD, and Nicholas Andersen, MD, work closely as a three-person surgical team, part of a larger interdisciplinary pediatric cardiac program at Duke.

In 2019, the Duke heart, lung, liver, and kidney transplant programs experienced unprecedented volume growth: more than 20% for most programs. With 521 total transplants performed in 2019, Duke Health now ranks 8th among U.S. transplant programs.

The Duke Transplant Center (DTC) of the Duke University School of Medicine aims to promote cross-disciplinary clinical, translational, and basic research with the ultimate goal of optimizing transplant organ longevity and improving quality of life of transplant recipients. This is the inaugural annual call from the DTC for proposals for pilot and feasibility studies.