The Duke Digest - February 28, 2011

In Today's Issue:

  • President Brodhead Writes to NC Senators to Express Concern Over H.R. 1
  • Duke Comments on SEC Proposed Municipal Advisor Rule
  • Deputy Secretary of State to Deliver Lecture at Duke Feb 28
  • Duke Research: Fighting Disease with Lasers
  • ARRA-Funded Imaging Tools ID Deadly Skin Cancer Better than Doctors
  • How Duke Does Financial Aid
  • Lives in the Law: Ambassadors Anthony Harrington '66 and Jaime Aleman '78


PRESIDENT BRODHEAD WRITES TO NC SENATORS TO EXPRESS CONCERN OVER H.R. 1
President Brodhead sent letters to North Carolina Senators Richard Burr and Kay Hagan this week to express concern with the House-passed Continuing Resolution, H.R. 1, and to urge their support in maintaining FY10 funding levels for key research and education programs. In the letter President Brodhead says that H.R. 1 "seeks to reduce the deficit through counterintuitive cuts to many of the research and education programs that help drive our economy."

Read More:
Letter to Senator Richard Burr on HR 1 (Duke Federal Relations)  Note: an identical letter was sent to Senator Kay Hagan.


DUKE COMMENTS ON SEC PROPOSED MUNICIPAL ADVISOR RULE
A group of universities, including Duke, sent a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on February 22 providing detailed comments on a proposed rule on SEC registration of municipal advisors.  

The letter expresses concern that the proposed rule’s broad definition of “municipal advisor” could be interpreted to require employees and governing board members of many colleges and universities and their affiliated organizations to register with the Commission.  The universities urge the Commission to exclude such individuals from the definition.

Read More:
Universities' Letter to SEC (pdf)

DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE TO DELIVER LECTURE AT DUKE FEB 28
Deputy Secretary of State James B. Steinberg will give the Von der Heyden Lecture at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy on Monday, Feb. 28. The event will begin at 5:30 p.m. in Fleishman Commons and is free and open to the public. Parking is available in the Science Drive visitor’s lot.  Deputy Steinberg's lecture will also be broadcast live via Duke's U-stream channel, http://www.ustream.tv/DukeUniversity.

Steinberg serves as the principal deputy to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Appointed by President Obama, he was confirmed by the Senate in January 2009.

Read More:
Deputy Secretary of State to Deliver Von der Heyden Lecture Feb 28 (DukeNews)


DUKE RESEARCH: FIGHTING DISEASE WITH LASERS
From a single cell to a whole organism, the laser will play an increasingly important role in diagnosing and treating disease.

So says a Duke University bioengineer who is using the latest applications of a technology invented 50 years ago to peer into the genetic material of cells, to detect the earliest signs of disease in a single cell, and to non-invasively and optically biopsy tissue inside the body for the tell-tale traces of cancer.

“Laser technology is definitely bringing a bright future to biomedical research and clinical applications," said Tuan Vo-Dinh, an invited speaker at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science being held in Washington, D.C. "It is capable of yielding the critical information bridging molecular structure and physiological function, which is the most important process in the understanding, treatment and prevention of disease.”

Read More:
From Individual Cells to Entire Bodies, Lasers Shine (Pratt.duke.edu)


ARRA-FUNDED IMAGING TOOLS ID DEADLY SKIN CANCER BETTER THAN DOCTORS
High-resolution images from a laser-based tool developed at Duke University could help doctors better diagnose melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

The improved diagnoses could potentially save thousands of lives and millions of dollars in unnecessary healthcare costs each year.

In 2009, Duke researcher Warren S. Warren received a $1 million Challenge Grant from the National Institutes of Health, which was part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, to develop the imaging tool.

Read More:
Lasers ID Deadly Skin Cancer Better than Doctors (DukeNews)


HOW DUKE DOES FINANCIAL AID
In an ongoing effort to make college costs and assistance easier for families to understand, Duke's Office of Financial Aid has developed a new video that takes parents and prospective students through the aid process.

"The forms can be intimidating enough," said Alison Rabil, who ran Barnard College's financial aid office before she came to direct Duke's in 2009. "More than half of all Duke families receive some assistance from our office. Even if they are not receiving grant aid, we are here to answer questions and provide financing options."

Read More:
How Duke Does Aid (DukeNews)


LIVES IN THE LAW: AMBASSADORS ANTHONY HARRINGTON '66 AND JAIME ALEMAN '78
Two distinguished alumni shared insights gleaned from diplomatic service during a lunchtime Lives in the Law conversation with Dean David F. Levi on Feb. 23. Jaime E. Alemán ’78, who served as ambassador of the Republic of Panama to the United States from 2009 to 2010, and Anthony Harrington ’66, who served as U.S. ambassador to Brazil from 1999 to 2001, both stressed the importance for an ambassador to build relationships with government officials and commercial leaders in the countries to which they are assigned.

Read More:
Lives in the Law: Ambassadors Anthony Harrington '66 and Jaime Aleman '78 (DukeLaw)