Dr. Neelima Navuluri Awarded DGHI and Francis Fellowship Funding
Dr. Neelima Navuluri, GHP graduate and current Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Duke Division of Pulmonology and Critical Care, received (more…)
Dr. Chris Beyrer and DGHI Team Visit Eldoret, Kenya
Dr. Chris Beyrer visited Eldoret, Kenya during his tour of partner sites in Africa in January. While there, he spent time learning about the Cardiovascular Fellowship program, advancements in cardiology care and attended trainee presentations. Click here to enjoy some wonderful photos of Dr. Beyrer and see some familiar HYC faces.
Bloomfield Named DGHI Associate Director for Research
Congratulations to Dr. Jerry Bloomfield on his appointment to Associate Director for Research at the Duke Global Health Institute. Dr. Bloomfield is a 2010 graduate (more…)
GHP Alumna Lauren Franz and the Duke Autism Team Awarded Major Funding
Congratulations to Dr. Lauren Franz, a GHP alumna and current Duke Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, and her team at the Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development on their recent $12 million federal grant from the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development. This prestigious award recognizes the team's use of artificial intelligence to better detect autism spectrum disorder in infancy, as well as identifying brain-based bio-markers for autism spectrum disorders. You can hear Dr. Mary Klotman's announcement about this award beginning at :40 on YouTube here.
Dr. Deng Madut Awarded SiCK Supplement
Congratulations to Dr. Deng Madut, a GHP alumnus and current Duke ID faculty member, on his recent NIH Diversity Supplement Award! As part of Dr. Matt Rubach's R01 Sepsis Characterization in Kilimanjaro (SiCK) study, Dr. Madut will evaluate if the genomic data generated from the SiCK study can be utilized to determine infectious disease states. He hopes to determine whether or not previously published blood -based gene expression classifiers can accurately discriminate between infectious disease pathogen classes (bacteria vs viral vs fungal) and pathogen genomes can be directly detected from host blood. Sepsis is a leading cause of in-hospital death around the world and the SiCK is making strides in understanding if there are distinct sub-types of sepsis that exist in sub-Saharan Africa. Congratulations to Dr. Madut and the SiCK team! …
Trauma Research in Tanzania Leads to Improved Access to Care
Dr. Catherine Staton, an associate professor of surgery and global health and an HYC affiliate faculty member, supervised research at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center in Moshi, Tanzania that explored injuries, trauma, and access to care. She and her team found many reasons, such as a misunderstanding of doctors' orders, lack of transportation, or lack of childcare, that often kept patients from coming in for care following a traumatic injury. As a result, those patients tend to suffer more physically and financially from the lack of access to care. To respond to this unmet need, the Trauma Research Capacity Building in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, or TRECK, Program was created to train post-graduate students on how to improve care for trauma patients across sub-Sarharan Africa. This work was published in PLOS Global Public…
Cardiac Surgery Update from Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital
Thanks to a grant from the Thoracic Surgery Foundation (TSF), the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, and the Edwards Lifesciences Foundation, people in Western Kenya will soon have better access to cardiothoracic surgery. Dr. Emily Farkas at Indiana University received the grant and together with Professor Barasa Otsyula, chief of cardiothoracic surgery at MRTH, will begin to procure supplies and equipment to set up this program, in collaboration with the work done at the Duke-MTRH Cardiology Center of Excellence. Duke established the Cardiology Center of Excellence at MTRH back in 2009, providing patients with diagnostic imaging, as well as specialized in- and out-patient care. The new surgery program will build off of the success of the Center of Excellence to provide improved cardiovascular care for the many people who call Western…
Dr. Jerry Bloomfield on Cardiac Abnormalities in Those Living with HIV
Dr. Jerry Bloomfield and his colleagues were recently featured in POZ magazine for their work on the REPRIEVE study, which showed that individuals on antiretroviral treatments and have heart disease risk scores in the low to moderate range still have cardiovascular abnormalities at three times the rate of the general population. Dr. Bloomfield, an Associate Professor of Medicine and an Associate Research Professor of Global Health, and his colleagues looked at data from more than 7,000 people from 120 clinics around the world. The hope for the REPRIEVE study is to find out if a statin medication will help reduce the risk for cardiovascular issues in those living with HIV. You can read the POZ article here and the study abstract in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome here.
Dr. Gayani Tillekeratne Receives NIAID Award
Congratulations to Dr. Gayani Tillekeratne for recently receiving an R21 NIAID funding award for her work, "Host response-based diagnostics for identifying bacterial versus viral causes of lower respiratory infection in resource-limited settings".
Duke Cardiology Addresses Global Heart Health
Drs. Waseem Akhter, Jerry Bloomfield, and Titus Ngeno were recently featured in the Duke University School of Medicine's Magnify newsletter on their work to address the growing burden of cardiovascular health and care in low resource areas. From refugee camps in Syria to the hills of Western Kenya, these physician scientists are blazing new trails and calling for new methods to address heart health around the world. Read the Magnify article here.