News

While Dellila Hodgson’s primary duties involve overseeing experiments in the lab of Ornit Chiba-Falek, PhD, Hodgson considers herself a teacher at heart. So when Hodgson saw an opportunity to teach local middle school students about translational neuroscience through the Duke BOOST (Building Opportunities and Overtures in Science and Technology) program, she jumped at the chance.

A new blood-based test for Parkinson’s disease, improved monitoring techniques for epilepsy, and a chapter discussing the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) as a noninvasive treatment for dystonia are just a few examples of the latest research from members of the Duke Neurology Department.

Local middle school students visited Duke this August to touch human brains, learn about the U.S. health system, and watch research being conducted in real time, thanks to the BOOST (Building Opportunities and Overtures in Science and Technology) program and the Duke Neurology Department.

About 60,000 babies are born before 32 weeks gestation in the United States every year, and 10% of them will develop cerebral palsy resulting from infections that damage nerve fibers deep in the brain called white matter.

While it’s known that the white matter loss will lead to neurological deficits, there is currently no treatment to help these infants avoid the outcome.

This July, members of the Duke Neurology Department contributed to 10 new peer-reviewed journal articles. Highlights of this research include a new study that found persistent associations between neighborhood income levels and poor outcomes for neurocritical care, a trio of studies that provide insights into the origins and development of Alzheimer’s disease, and a preliminary analysis of the merits of a potential off-label therapy for ALS.

A promising new therapy for brain tumors detailed in the New England Journal of Medicine and a  validation of a popular stroke treatment for patients taking vitamin K antagonists published in JAMA are just two highlights of the 15 peer-reviewed journal articles authored by members of the Duke Neurology Department this June. 

Minji Jang, PhD, began her undergraduate studies wanting to be a teacher, but became fascinated by the underlying mechanisms behind emotions, especially during adolescence. After completing her doctorate, Jang joined the lab of Yong Chen, PhD, where she is studying the neural circuits behind orofacial pain and chronic itching. 

ZiYan Britt’s work as a senior clinical research specialist allows her to connect with two passions: learning more about neuroscience and the brain while also having the opportunity to get to know and bond with the patients involved in that research. For this week’s Spotlight interview, Britt talks to us about her work collecting and documenting electrophysiological data from epilepsy patients.

Carlene Moore’s infectious, bellowing laugh helps offset the serious nature of the work underway in her lab at Duke University School of Medicine to study painful conditions -- from sunburn and migraines to trigeminal neuralgia, a severe facial condition so painful it is known as the “suicide disease.”   

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is how we visualize soft, watery tissue that is hard to image with X-rays. But while an MRI provides good enough resolution to spot a brain tumor, it needs to be a lot sharper to visualize microscopic details within the brain that reveal its organization.