News

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

John Rawls, PhD, was among those awarded a grant to contribute to impactful research and actionable insights for addressing climate-related health challenges.

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?

Study reveals ascites is more than a patient symptom, but an active player in helping ovarian cancer spread and grow.

 Daniel Levin, studied in the lab of Christopher Holley, MD, PhD

Scientists have identified a long‑sought enzyme that controls a fundamental chemical process critical for healthy bones and cartilage, according to a study accepted to Nature Chemical Biology. The enzyme, MESH1, regulates levels of PAPS, the chemical “fuel” cells use to add sulfate tags to proteins and other molecules. The researchers found that MESH1 breaks down PAPS, reducing sulfation; when sulfation is too low, cartilage and bone don’t form properly, contributing to skeletal disorders and possibly osteoarthritis. Lowering MESH1 activity boosted sulfation and improved bone density in a mouse model with a sulfation defect. By also solving the enzyme’s 3D structure bound to PAPS, the study opens the door to drug development, suggesting that inhibiting MESH1 could help restore sulfation in patients with related diseases.