News

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.

In December 1995, the work of over 40 researchers culminated with a landmark publication in Nature. The team had discovered a second breast cancer susceptibility gene: BRCA2. Their discovery revolutionized cancer research and screening in breast, ovarian, and prostate cancers and has impacted millions of people’s lives in the years since.

The American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) has awarded Nicole Calakos, MD, PhD, its 2023 Stanley J. Korsmeyer Award. The Korsmeyer Award recognizes outstanding achievements of ASCI members in advancing knowledge and mentoring future generations of life science researchers. Calakos received this award for her contributions to understanding basal ganglia physiology and its involvement in diseases such as compulsive behavior and movement disorders.

This March, new research from members of the Duke Neurology Department advanced our missions of patient care, translational and clinical research, and neurology training, contributing to 16 new peer-reviewed journal articles.

Managing research projects for one academic laboratory can be challenging on its own. Oula Khoury, PhD, the subject of our latest Spotlight interview, has to juggle projects for five at Duke (plus one more at Stanford) as part of an Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP) initiative. Khoury talks to us about her work managing timelines, experiments, and budgets for these projects in an effort to learn more about neurons’ vulnerability to Parkinson’s.