What wastewater says about what we eat and who we are
In research led by Lawrence David, PhD, DNA-sequencing technology turns sewage into a powerful window into community nutrition in North Carolina.
Marco Pardini Gontijo receives professional development award from Genetics Society of America
Marco Pardini Gontijo, MS, a rising fifth-year PhD candidate in the lab of Clare Smith, PhD, has been honored with the DeLill Nasser Award for Professional Development in Genetics from the Genetics Society of America. The award supports graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in genetics by helping cover the costs of attending conferences and laboratory courses. Gontijo is co-mentored by David Tobin, PhD.
Jack Keene honored following retirement and appointment as emeritus professor
After 47 years at Duke, Jack D. Keene, PhD, the James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, retired on July 1, 2026, and was appointed emeritus professor. A symposium last month celebrating his career brought together former trainees, colleagues, and friends to recognize his scientific contributions, leadership, and mentorship.
A hidden threat in the soil
From mushrooms to molds, fungal life on this planet is often overlooked – but has a big impact. In part two of this series, we meet a lung transplant patient whose life was turned upside down by a fungal infection, and the Duke doctor who treated him.
Alumni Spotlight: Justice (Hsiu-Yi) Lu, PhD
Justice (Hsiu-Yi) Lu, PhD, a 2025 graduate of the PhD program in Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, said that the diverse expertise around him in MGM during his time
PhD candidate Anna Lehmann discovers a hidden way that a fungal pathogen may resist treatment
Some fungal pathogens survive antifungal drugs by mutating. But Aspergillus fumigatus, a common mold, has a stealthier strategy: it duplicates entire chromosomes, rides out the threat, then discards the extra genetic material once the pressure lifts — leaving no trace that resistance ever occurred. Duke University School of Medicine PhD candidate Anna Lehmann made the discovery while working in the lab of Joseph Heitman, MD, PhD, James B. Duke Distinguished Professor and chair of the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology. Her findings, published in the July 2006 issue of Current Biology, establish the first evidence that A. fumigatus can gain and lose entire chromosomes.
Rawls receives 2026 Climate and Health Big Idea Grant
John Rawls, PhD, was among those awarded a grant to contribute to impactful research and actionable insights for addressing climate-related health challenges.
Heat, fungi, and our health
Assistant research professor Erica Washington and assistant professor Asiya Gusa focus on how fungi respond to heat, from the inside out. Their work asks questions driven by climate change: Are fungi learning to survive temperatures that once killed them? And if environmental fungi become better at handling heat, does that make it easier for them to survive inside the human body?
A common cholesterol drug may weaken ovarian cancer defenses
Study reveals ascites is more than a patient symptom, but an active player in helping ovarian cancer spread and grow.
Daniel Levin of the Holley lab receives Goldwater Scholarship
Daniel Levin, studied in the lab of Christopher Holley, MD, PhD