News

Even before cancer is detectable, glow-in-the-dark cells show mutations driving malignancy   Duke Cancer Institute researchers have observed how stem cell mutations quietly arise and spread throughout a widening field of the colon until they eventually predominate and become a malignancy. 

Members of Dr. Gayathri Devi’s Cell Death Laboratory in the Division of Surgical Sciences presented four studies at the 12th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved, held September 20-23, 2019 at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square in San Francisco, California.

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.

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.

Bruce Sullenger, PhD, Joseph W. and Dorothy W. Beard Professor of Experimental Surgery, Division of Surgical Sciences, has been elected a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). An NAI Fellow status is the highest professional distinction accorded to academic inventors.

A jagged little protein appears to be a key to how cancer stem cells differentiate and enable metastasis, according to researchers at Duke Cancer Institute and Rice University.

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

Three faculty members from the Duke Department of Surgery have been named among the most highly cited researchers of 2018 in a recent report from Clarivate Analytics. This year, the report recognized over 6,000 researchers as having the top 1% of citations in Web of Science. Highly cited articles indicate scientific excellence and exceptional research performance. Researchers with a high number of citations are considered significantly impactful in their field.

Gayathri Devi, PhD, Associate Professor of Surgery, Division of Surgical Sciences, was an invited speaker at the 2nd National Cancer Institute Symposium on Cancer Health Disparities held October 25-26, 2018, at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. The goal of this symposium was to highlight recent advances in our understanding of the causes of cancer health disparities in the Unites States and globally.