The Duke Digest - October 28, 2011
In Today's Issue:
- Duke Submits Comments to HHS on Human Subjects Research
- ARRA-Funded Duke Research Finds Source for Immune System Effects on Learning and Memory
- New Duke Site Highlights Federal Aid, Research, and More in NC
- Duke's Rai Receives World Technology Award for Her Work in Obama Administration
- Brodhead: In Praise of the Humanities and the 'Fire That Never Goes Out'
- NC Governor Visits Duke Kunshan University
- Government and Business Leaders Take Part in Fuqua Coach K Leadership Summit
- Duke Superfund Research Center Receives NIEHS Grant Renewal
DUKE SUBMITS COMMENTS TO HHS ON HUMAN SUBJECTS RESEARCH
Writing on behalf of Duke University, President Brodhead submitted comments this week to the Department of Health and Human Services in response to the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) entitled "Human Subjects Research Protection: Enhancing Protections for Research Subjects and Reducing Burden, Delay, and Ambiguity for Investigators."
In the letter, President Brodhead writes:
"Duke University commends HHS for taking on the revision of the Common Rule regulations. As one of the leading federally funded academic research institutions in the country, Duke has extensive experience with the challenge the current regulations, crafted in 1981, pose for contemporary human research. However, the fundamental protections afforded by the current regulations remain of utmost importance. As regulatory changes are contemplated and enacted to reduce the burden on IRBs, researchers, institutions, and sponsors, the first consideration must be to the protection of research participants."
Read More:
Duke Response to HHS ANPRM on Human Subjects Research (pdf)
ARRA-FUNDED DUKE RESEARCH FINDS SOURCE FOR IMMUNE SYSTEM EFFECTS ON LEARNING AND MEMORY
Immune system cells of the brain, which scavenge pathogens and damaged neurons, are also key players in memory and learning, according to new research by Duke neuroscientists.
Earlier studies by Staci Bilbo, an assistant professor in psychology & neuroscience, had shown that laboratory rats experiencing an infection at an early age have an aggressive immune response to subsequent infections, which also harms their learning and memory.
In a study published in the Oct. 26 Journal of Neuroscience, Bilbo's team identifies the source of the learning difficulties and traces it back to the immune system itself.
Bilbo's research was supported by an ARRA stimulus grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Read More:
Source Found for Immune System Effects on Learning and Memory (Duke.edu)
NEW DUKE SITE HIGHLIGHTS FEDERAL AID, RESEARCH, AND MORE IN NC
Duke launched a new interactive website this week that highlights its impact across North Carolina. The 'data visualization' tool allows users to explore data about Duke's students, employees, financial aid, and research and how this data relates to specific counties and congressional districts.
Read More:
Duke and Your District Maps (duke.edu/federalrelations)
Site Highlights Duke in North Carolina (duke.edu)
DUKE'S RAI RECEIVES WORLD TECHNOLGOY AWARD FOR HER WORK WITH OBAMA ADMINISTRATION
Arti K. Rai, Duke’s Elvin R. Latty Professor of Law, received the prestigious World Technology Award for Law on Oct. 26. The World Technology Awards are given annually to 20 individuals and 10 organizations who are “doing the innovative work of ‘the greatest likely long-term significance’ in their fields,” according to the World Technology Network (WTN) website. “They are those creating the 21st century.”
Rai received the award during a ceremony at the United Nations, at the conclusion of the World Technology Summit.
Prof. Rai won the award for her work in the Obama administration on innovation policy and patent reform, as well as her work on intellectual property in synthetic biology and green technology. Her research has been funded by NIH, the Kauffman Foundation, and Chatham House.
Read More:
Rai Receives World Technology Award for Law (law.duke.edu)
BRODHEAD: IN PRAISE OF THE HUMANITIES AND THE 'FIRE THAT NEVER GOES OUT'
Duke President Richard Brodhead on October 21 presented the Caldwell Lecture at a ceremony honoring U.S. Rep. David Price, the former Duke professor of political science and public policy, for his long-time support of the humanities. Thomas Ross, president of the 17-campus University of North Carolina system, presented Price with the 2010 John Tyler Caldwell Award for the Humanities on behalf of the North Carolina Humanities Council.
"The humanities are a name for the process by which all the things humans have made, said, thought and done come back to spark the understandings of other humans across time," said President Richard Brodhead. Read the entire lecture by clicking on the link below.
Read More:
In Praise of the Humanities and the 'Fire that Never Goes Out' (duke.edu)
NC GOVERNOR VISITS DUKE KUNSHAN UNIVERSITY
North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue and Secretary of Commerce Keith Crisco met with local officials and visited the future campus of Duke Kunshan University Oct. 22 in Kunshan, China. Kunshan mayor Lu Jun and Vice Mayor Jin Nai Bing hosted the delegation.
Representatives of several leading North Carolina companies accompanied the governor and secretary to Kunshan as part of a North Carolina trade mission to China and Japan.
Read More:
NC Governor Visits DKU (duke.edu)
GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS LEADERS TAKE PART IN FUQUA COACH K LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education, and General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Cheifs of Staff, were among the notable names to take part in the Coach K Leadership Summit held at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business Monday. Organized by the Fuqua/Coach K Center on Leadership and Ethics, the invitation-only summit also brought together representatives from leading academic and business organizations as well as individuals from within Duke University and beyond to discuss ways to respond to the urgent need to develop ethical leaders.
Read More:
Government and Business Leaders Take Part in Fuqua Coach K Leadership Summit (fuqua.duke.edu)
DUKE SUPERFUND RESEARCH CENTER RECEIVES NIEHS GRANT RENEWAL
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) has renewed its funding of the Duke Superfund Research Center (Duke SRC) with a $12.8 million, five-year grant. The center was initiated with NIEHS funding in 2000.
The grant will support continued interdisciplinary research by scientists at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment, Pratt School of Engineering and Medical Center to assess potential risks of chemicals or chemical mixtures deemed toxic by the federal government’s Superfund program.
Pioneering studies at the Duke SRC have led to a better understanding of the potential threats Superfund pollutants may pose to humans and the environment, as well as insights into their remediation.
Read More:
Duke Superfund Research Center Receives $12.8 Million Grant Renewal (nicholas.duke.edu)