Duke on Demand

The Bioinformatics Group at the National Marrow Donor Program are conducting a series of studies that combine new data collection methods with genetic ancestry to improve donor patient matches.

Director Martin Maiers and Scientist Abeer Madbouly at the Bioinformatics Group commissioned Lynn Fellman to produce a video about this research. The 3-minute video was presented November, 2012, during Dr. Madbouly's talk to medical professionals and scientists. It explains that people alive today have unique markers in their genes that reflect ancient migrations and contemporary mixing. In a land of many Multis, like the United States, people with mixed genetic ancestry who need a stem cell transplant have difficulty finding a matching donor.

Dr. Madbouly and her colleagues hope to find that more exact genetic data and measurable ethnic information may result in matching more donors with patients for more successful transplant outcomes.

Lynn Fellman is an independent multimedia artist focusing on human evolution and genomic science. She works with scientists to communicate their research through art and narrative. Originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, she is currently an artist and journalist in residence at the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent).

Meet the lemurs at the Duke University Lemur Center. Video by News & Observer staff photojournalist Chuck Liddy.

The lesser prairie chicken has been in decline throughout most of its range for decades due to the usual panoply of threats: habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation. In recent years, the primary source of these threats can be attributed to energy development (in the form of oil, gas and wind) and transmission. Wolfe discusses the Environmental Defense Fund's work, with a wide variety of stakeholders, to substantially engage energy industries and other development interests in pro-active conservation measures benefiting the prairie chicken through the development and implementation of a Lesser Prairie Chicken Habitat Exchange.

David Schanzer, associate professor of the practice for public policy at Duke and director of the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security (a research consortium between Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill and RTI International) speaks at a panel discussion at Duke University following the screening of "Faith, Fear & Freedom" about North Carolina's Muslim population-- moderated by WRAL Anchor David Crabtree. April 18, 2013.

Panelists from left: Carl Ernst, Amna Baloch, David Crabtree, David Schanzer and Abdullah Antepli.

For Carl Ernst's direct response to Schanzer's above comments watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keCL01xNJrk

More info on the public discussion at Duke see: http://islamicommentary.org/2013/04/w...
Full video of the discussion: http://youtu.be/6lw9CQMS-6M?t=29m29s

This event was sponsored by the Duke Islamic Studies Center, ISLAMiCommentary, Durham County Library and WRAL-TV, and made possible by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Co-sponsors included the British Council's Our Shared Future project, Center for Muslim Life (Duke), Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations (UNC-Chapel Hill), DeWitt Wallace Center for MEDIA & DEMOCRACY (Duke), Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies, Franklin Humanities Institute (Duke), Sanford School of Public Policy (Duke), and the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security (Duke/UNC/RTI).

Two new species of dwarf lemurs have been found hibernating during the lean months of winter in Eastern Magascar. Scientific Reports, May 2, 2013. An interview with researcher Marina Blanco, PhD, with footage from field research and still images from the Duke Lemur Center. See story here: http://today.duke.edu/2013/05/hibernation

Peter van der Veer (Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen) spoke on "The Spiritual, the Secular, and the Poor in India and China" on March 26th as part of the Religions and Public Life series co-sponsored by the Kenan Institute for Ethics, Duke Divinity School, and Trinity Arts & Sciences.

Twelve students in the Kenan Institute for Ethics DukeImmerse program "Uprooted/Rerouted" recited monologues taken from field research with two groups of refugees, Iraqi in Egypt and Bhutanese in Nepal.

Participants reflected on how the Dynamo event was of value to them --
February 7, 2013 For more information, go to http://colloquium.duke.edu/.

Sidney Mintz, who has profoundly shaped Caribbean Studies, reflects here on his intellectual trajectory, his life and his fieldwork.
Duke's HAITI LAB on FB: https://www.facebook.com/haitilab?ref=hl
Follow us @DukeHaitiLab.
Other participants in this conversation include Eric Mintz (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), Laurent Dubois (Romance Studies and History; Haiti Lab), and Deborah Jenson (Romance Studies; Haiti Lab).

Panel Discussion with Jessica Jackley and Duke Colloquium Student Directors Shilpi Kumar, Sadhna Gupta, and Nicolas Pollack, Moderated by Professor Eric Toone --
February 7, 2013 For more information, go to http://colloquium.duke.edu/.

On Friday, April 13, 2012, Duke Postdoctoral Services and Duke Career Center held a panel discussion on careers in patent law and patent agency. The panelists spoke on their experiences as patent lawyers and agents and how they got there from starting with PhDs in science. Patent agents and patent lawyers deal with cutting-edge science and technology. Patent agents assist law firms in due diligence, litigation, and opinions, but do not hold law degrees (although advanced science degrees are required). PhDs can also earn a JD to become a patent attorney - some firms will even pay for an employee's law school.

This workshop was presented by Duke Postdoctoral Services and Duke Career Center. Questions? Contact Duke Postdoctoral Services Director, Molly Starback at molly.starback@duke.edu.

HSM Symposia 2012-2013
The Duke Health Sector Management and Duke Master of Management Clinical Informatics programs present a panel discussion with:

Sandeep Dave, MD, MS, Assistant Professor, Division of Oncology, DUMC
Mike Dombeck, MPP, MBA, Director, R&D Strategy and Portfolio Group, GlaxoSmithKline
Harold Garner, MSc, PhD, Director, Medical Informatics and Systems Division, Virginia
Bioinformatics Institute, Virginia Tech
Hunt Willard, PhD, Director, Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy
Moderator: Buz Waitzkin , JD, Fuqua Adjunct faculty, Catawba Consulting

Know that Hunt Willard's plane was delayed that evening and he was not able to join the discussion.