News

Staff Spotlight: Steve Polack

Before coming to Duke, Steve Polack worked at an psychiatric hospital for children and adolescents, where he saw first-hand the urgent need for care in this area as well as the impact psychiatric care could have on a patient’s life. Now, Polack is a staff assistant in our Morreene Road Clinic, where he’s both maintaining provider-patient schedules and learning about day-to-day patient care.

Postdoc Spotlight: Malak Fouani, PhD

Migraines are much more than a headache. They are often most excruciating and incapacitating for the more than 40 million Americans living with this condition. For Malak  Fouani PhD, a postdoc working in the lab of Carlene Moore, PhD, migraines--and their origins--are also a mystery and intellectual puzzle that she hopes to solve one day.

Duke Neurology Research Round Up, December 2023

What do a speech prosthetic that translates brain signals into speech, retinal scans that detect cognitive impairment, and a promising new form of genetic therapy for Parkinson’s and some forms of dementia have in common? They’re all examples of the 21 peer-reviewed journal articles authored members of the Duke Neurology Department published this November.  

Staff Spotlight: Ashley Ladd

The challenges of providing healthcare go far beyond diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment. Patient and provider schedules have to be constantly organized, updated, and communicated to ensure functioning clinics and provide adequate care. Ashley Ladd, the subject of this week’s Spotlight interview, takes on these duties and more for patients with epilepsy, sleep disorder, and other related conditions.

Staff Spotlight: Dellila Hodgson, MS

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.

Duke Neurology Research Round Up, August 2023

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.

Staff Spotlight: Hailey Zampa

Conducting clinical research is a complicated, time-consuming process, requiring careful monitoring of patients’ blood work, cognitive measures, and other data points over time, recording and analyzing that data, and then synthesizing it to look for long-term trends over time. Hailey Zampa, a clinical research coordinator in our Morreene Road Clinic, is a part of that effort for several potential treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Postdoc Spotlight: Minji Jang, PhD

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. 

Duke Neurology Research Round Up, May 2023

What do analyses of stroke rehabilitation techniques, new therapeutic targets for jaw pain, and guidelines to help sleep apnea patients cope with runny noses have in common? They’re all subjects of articles published by members of the Duke Neurology Department this April. Read the summaries below to learn more about the nine peer-reviewed journal articles members of the Duke Neurology Department contributed to over the past 30 days, and find links to the original research below.

Duke Neurology at AAN 2023: Highlights from Boston

Members of the Duke Neurology Department shared their advances and insights in neurology education, health disparities, movement disorders, and other areas at the American Academy of Neurology’s (AAN) 75th annual meeting in Boston this week. This year, our faculty, staff, and trainees contributed more to the AAN than in any previous year, contributing to 20 posters and abstracts and six classes or sessions.