Alspaugh appointed Vice Chair for Academic Affairs.
Andrew Alspaugh, MD, Professor in Medicine (Infectious Diseases), agreed to serve as Vice Chair for Academic Affairs in the Department of Medicine effective April 1, 2019. Dr. Alspaugh will focus on the oversight of the Department’s appointment, promotion, and tenure process in conjunction whit the associate vice chair for academic affairs.
Steinbach elected to the Association of American Physicians.
William Steinbach, MD, Professor in the Department of Pediatrics was elected into the Association of American Physicians (AAP) during a joint meeting on April 6th of the AAP, the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), and the American Physician-Scientists Association (APSA). Dr. Steinbach was one of 4 Duke physicians to receive this honor. To read more about Dr. Steinbach’s research, click here. Duke Pediatrics news release.
Heitman and Cowen awarded a CIFAR research program on Fungal Kingdom: Threats & Opportunities
Joseph Heitman, MD, PhD, James B. Duke Professor and Chair of the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University and Leah Cowen, PhD, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Microbial Genomics and Infections and Chair of the Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto received a Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) research program award in the interdisciplinary area of the Fungal Kingdom: Threats & Opportunities. Dr. Heitman and Dr. Cowen are co-directors for this new program, The Fungal Kingdom. The goal of the Fungal Kingdom program is to address threats of fungi to humans, animals, and plants/agriculture/food security, and to develop ways to mitigate these threats. More detail on the program is available here: https://www.cifar.ca/research/global-call/fungal-kingdom.
CIFAR is a Canadian-based, global charitable organization that assembles extraordinary research leaders to address science and humanity’s most significant challenges. CIFAR funds collaborative networks of scientists in the range of 15 to 25 investigators who come together over a sustained period of time (programs are funded in five-year increments) to solve important problems. The global call for applications (https://www.cifar.ca/research/global-call) announced 4 new programs and 4 returning programs. CIFAR received 120 proposed new programs, 12 finalists were chosen, and four were selected for funding, including the Fungal Kingdom: Threats & Opportunities program. To read the CIFAR news release click here.
Alspaugh appointed Vice Chair for Academic Affairs.
Andrew Alspaugh, MD, Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, has received the 2019 Golden Apple Award. The Golden Apple Awards are the highest teaching awards presented by the Duke University School of Medicine student body to recognize outstanding dedication to medical student education. Awardees are selected first by open nomination, then by a vote of the student body. Three awards are given each year: one each to a member of the preclinical (basic science) faculty, clinical faculty, and clinical house staff. To read more, click here.
Congratulations to Colin Maxwell on accepting a job at Zymergen, a biotech company in the Bay area. Colin is excited about the work Zymergen does and is looking forward to his start date.
Chair and James B. Duke Professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology have received the 2019 Edward Novitski Prize for his work on human fungal pathogens and for identifying the molecular targets of widely-used immunosuppressive drugs. Heitman will be presented this prize at the upcoming 30th Fugal Genetics Conference. Click here for the 2019 Edward Novitski Prize announcement.
Luftig, Steinbach, and Tomaras, named AAAS Fellows.
Micah Luftig, PhD, Associate Professor, and secondary MGM faculty members, William Steinbach, MD, Professor of Pediatrics and Georgia Tomaras, MD, Professor in Surgery were named Fellows of the American Associate for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The new fellows will be presented with an official certificate and a gold-and-blue rosette pin on Saturday, February 16 during the 2019 AAAS Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. SOM