News

A heart transplant team at Duke University Hospital became the first in the U.S. to transplant an adult heart into a recipient through a process known as Donation after Circulatory Death, or DCD.

Duke is one of five centers in the United States that has been approved to perform DCD heart transplants as part of a recently launched clinical trial of a device to circulate warm, oxygenated blood through organs.

Congratulations to Peter Smith, MD, Mary and Deryl Hart Professor of Surgery and Chief, Division of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, on receiving the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) North Carolina State Award for Excellence - Nurse Practitioner Advocate.

The Advocate State Award for Excellence is given to an individual in each state who has made a significant contribution toward increasing awareness and recognition of Nurse Practitioners (NPs).

Congratulations to Dr. Thomas D’Amico, Gary Hock Professor of Surgery, Division of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, on being invited to the Editorial Board of Annals of Surgery. Annals of Surgery is the top-ranked and highest-impact surgery journal in the world, providing the international medical community with information on significant contributions to the advancement of surgical science and practice. Dr. D’Amico’s appointment to the Editorial Board underscores his international stature as a leading academic surgeon.

The Department of Surgery held its 4th Annual Research Day April 17. The department holds this event annually to advance its mission of improving patient care through research and training the next generation of surgeon–scientists. The event recognizes the accomplishments of fellows, residents, and students engaged in clinical or basic and translational research through the department.

Congratulations to Julie Thacker, MD, Associate Professor of Surgery in the Division of Surgical Oncology, Betty Tong, MD, MS, MHS, Associate Professor of Surgery in the Division of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, and John Wiener, MD, Professor of Surgery in the Division of Urology, on their election to serve on Duke University’s Academic Council.

The U.S. News and World Report has ranked the Duke University School of Medicine 2nd in surgery among the best medical schools in the country. This 2nd place ranking is up considerably from the department’s 5th place ranking last year.

The Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research has released its 2018 rankings of NIH funding for basic and clinical science departments, revealing that Duke Surgery ranks highest nationwide with more than $30 million in funding committed to research.

Dr. Peter Smith, Professor and Chief, Division of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, has been reappointed as Chair of the American Medical Association’s Specialty Society Relative Value Scale (RVS) Update Committee (RUC).

Duke Surgery researchers are bridging the gap between basic research and clinical application, moving gene therapy from the bench to the bedside.

With a buzzing phone and dinging inbox repeatedly begging for her attention, Dr. Georgia Beasley momentarily tunes out the chaos to discuss the journey that led to her current position at Duke. Here, she splits her time between treating melanoma patients in the clinic and researching novel treatments for the disease in the laboratory.