News

New research from Duke University has found that ritonavir, an FDA-approved medication currently used to treat HIV, corrects multiple brain abnormalities associated with a mouse model of a genetic form of dystonia. The study was published in the August issue of Science Translational Medicine. 

As one of the Grants & Contracts Administrators within the School of Medicine’s Research Administration Support Resource (RASR), Kathryn Lennon helps manage funded research projects from the cradle to the grave. For this week’s “Spotlight” interview, Lennon talks to us about what she enjoys most about her work, shares the favorite grant she’s currently a part of), and enjoying her farm with Nigerian goats and a miniature donkey as well as visiting state parks with her family when she’s not at Duke.

As our Movement Disorders clinic’s newest clinical  research coordinator, Tiffany Tran has what she sees as “the best of both worlds”: opportunities to interact with patients living with movement disorders as well as chances to learn more about clinical research through ongoing studies that are occurring at Duke.

Members of the Duke Neurology Department contributed to seventeen peer-reviewed research studies published this August. Members of the lab of Nicole Calakos, MD, PhD, discovered that a medication created to treat patients with HIV may help people with dystonia. New translational research provided the most accurate atlas of the mouse model to date and answered questions about late-onset Alzheimer’s disease.

Duke University Hospital and Duke Raleigh Hospitals have received the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke 2021 Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. This award, the highest that the AHA offers, recognizes commitment to providing the best possible care for stroke. Both Duke University Hospital and Duke Raleigh Hospital have received this award from the AHA for the past three years.

For 12 years, Drew O’Flaherty was part of the finance team at the Duke Private Diagnostic Clinic. This year he joined the Neurology Department, where he helps manage our annual budget, financial reports, computer inventory, and other operations. For this week’s Spotlight interview, O’Flaherty talks about how joining the Neurology Department opened his eyes to the scope of everything that happens at Duke, adjusting to a new job during the COVID-19 pandemic, and enjoying live music, craft beers, and grilling and smoking meats when he’s not at work.

This July, new research from the Duke Neurology Department answered questions about the subcellular origins of itching, how COVID-19 is affecting people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, what factors influence people eligible for epilepsy surgery to move forward with the procedure and topics. The paragraphs below summarize the 11 articles appearing in peer-reviewed publications from our faculty, staff, and trainees. Check them out and find links to the original publications below.

Neuromuscular Disease

New publications written by members of the Duke Neurology Department published this June advanced our understanding of the origins of Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, and spinal injuries, as well as offering new insights on how to better diagnose and treat these and other conditions. Our faculty contributed to recent articles in Lancet Neurology, Stroke, and other high-impact journals. Read more about each of these stories, and find links to the original articles themselves, in the paragraphs below.
 

Neuromuscular Disease

Clinical trials contain many complicated moving parts. Randy Smith, MPH, a clinical research coordinator who recently joined our Department, is working to make these parts move as smoothly as possible for a post-stroke recovery clinical trial. For this week’s “Spotlight” interview, Smith talks to us about how she came to Duke, how her previous experience as a dietitian influences her current work, and enjoying tennis, knitting, and volunteering for Meals on Wheels when she’s not at Duke.

Thirteen years ago, Matthew Tackitt was working in the financial sector, when the 2008 global economic crisis and cross-country move got him thinking about a career change. He opted for nursing and has stuck with it ever since. This May, Tackitt joined the Movement Disorders clinic as their navigator for their Deep Brain Stimulator (DBS) Program.