The Duke Digest - June 15, 2012


In Today's Issue:
  • DOE Awards Grant to RTI to Develop Energy-Efficient Water Treatment Technology With Duke, Veolia
  • DukeDC Young Alumni Career Series Panel June 25: Jobs on the Hill
  • Federally-Funded Duke Study Sheds Light on Disease Progression in Plants
  • Justice Alito, Dean Levi Welcome Duke Law to DC
  • Opinion: Your Genome Belongs to You
  • Nita Farahany (Law '04, Presidential Bioethics Commission) Joins Duke Law, IGSP Faculties
  • Dukies on the Move

 

DOE AWARDS GRANT TO RTI TO DEVELOP ENERGY-EFFICIENT WATER TREATMENT TECHNOLOGY WITH DUKE, VEOLIA
RTI International has been awarded a grant under the Innovative Manufacturing Initiative of the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a new process technology that will improve the energy efficiency associated with industrial water treatment in the U.S. manufacturing sector.

Under the $4.8 million grant, researchers at RTI, in partnership with Duke University and industrial partner Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies North America, Inc., will develop an advanced, hybrid membrane system, which will capture waste heat from industrial processes to treat wastewater. The new technology is applicable to a wide range of industries, such as power generation, refining and chemical sectors.

Enormous amounts of heat are generated throughout industrial processes, but most of the heat is wasted. RTI's unique technology focuses on simultaneously capturing and using this waste heat and improving industrial water reuse efficiency.

Read More:
RTI International Awarded Grant to Develop Energy-Efficient Water Treament Technology With Duke, Veolia (RTI.org)
Energy Department Announces New Investments in Innovative Manufacturing Technologies (Energy.gov)


DUKEDC YOUNG ALUMNI CAREER SERIES PANEL JUNE 25: JOBS ON THE HILL
The Duke DC Young Alumni Committee is hosting a series of panel career and networking events in several different industries this summer. Next up is a panel on the Hill. Come hear from four panelists who will share their stories on how they began a career on the Hill and advice they can give for networking as well as how to follow a similar career path. The panelists are:

Michael Calvo '02
Steve Chartan '10
Michelle Schwartz '98
Wintta Woldemariam '06
Moderator: Paul Teller '93

Registration is limited to 50 people - see link below. This event is targeted towards recent alums and summer interns, however any Duke alum or student in the area is welcome. For any questions about the Summer Career Series, please contact Pearce Godwin (pearce.godwin@alumni.duke.edu), Jessie duPont (jessiedup@gmail.com) or Donald Wine II (donaldwine@alumni.duke.edu).

Read More:
Summer Career Series Registration (AlumniConnections)


FEDERALLY-FUNDED DUKE STUDY SHEDS LIGHT ON DISEASE PROGRESSION IN PLANTS
Researchers at Duke have identified the set of tools an infectious microbe uses to persuade a plant to open the windows and let the bug and all of its friends inside.

The microbe is Pseudomonas syringae, a successful bacterial pathogen that produces characteristic brown spots in more than 50 different species of plant. The signal it uses is a molecule called coronatine, which to the plant looks just like its own jasmonic acid, a signal that is part of the plant's immune system. The pathogen "hijacks" a system that balances the plant's two different defense strategies, said Xinnian Dong, a Duke professor of biology.

Biology graduate student Xiao-yu Zheng is the first author on an article appearing in the June 14 edition of Cell Host & Microbe. The research was supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Energy.

Zheng is a member of the lab of Dr. Xinnian Dong, a Duke biologist recently elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

Read More:
Bacterium Signals Plants to Open Up and Let Friends In (duke.edu)
Dong Lab (biology.duke.edu)
Plant Biologist Elected to National Academy of Sciences (duke.edu)


JUSTICE ALITO, DEAN LEVI WELCOME DUKE LAW TO DC
Dean David F. Levi and U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito joined members of the Barrister Donor Society and Heritage Society for a Duke Law-focused opening of the Duke in Washington Office. Duke in DC, the semester-long Duke Law academic program based in Washington, will begin holding classes at the new office in the fall.

Read More:
Duke in DC Grand Opening (photos) (law.duke.edu)
Duke in DC Info/Curriculum (law.duke.edu)


OPINION: YOUR GENOME BELONGS TO YOU
Robert Cook-Deegan, director of Duke's center for Genome Ethics, Law & Policy, co-writes in a piece appearing in Health Affairs:

"At some point, our genomic information will get cheap enough for most of us to take the plunge and “get our genomes done.”  It may be curiosity, or concern about disease risk, or interest in ancestry and biological relationships in the context of social relationships.  In most cases, the revelations will not be apocalyptic or world-changing, but hey, a personal genome sequence might be worth a few hundred bucks.  And then, for the rest of our lives, we’ll be figuring out what the genomic sequence means, re-interpreting that information in light of new science.   But there is a catch.  We need access to the data.

Unless many, many people share data revealing their risk of cancer or Alzheimer’s disease, and opt into ancestry databases, there will be no way to interpret ours. For this system to work, we need to be in control of the information that results from having a personal genome sequenced. So this right should not go exclusively to the company that does the sequencing, or the website that identifies how one genome differs from another, or the academic researchers who do the research.  The company or university that does the sequencing provides a service, but it should not own or control the data about us."

Read More:
Your Genome Belongs to You (HealthAffairs.org)


NITA FARAHANY (LAW '04, PRESIDENTIAL BIOETHICS COMMISSION) JOINS DUKE LAW, IGSP FACULTIES
Nita A. Farahany, a scholar at the intersection of law, biosciences, and philosophy, will join the Duke Law faculty as a professor of law this fall. She is a 2004 Duke Law graduate who also received her MA and PhD in philosophy from Duke University.

Farahany is an associate professor of law and associate professor of philosophy at Vanderbilt University; at Duke, she will hold a joint appointment at Duke University’s Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy (IGSP). Her research examines the legal, social, and ethical applications of the biosciences, particularly those related to behavioral genetics and neuroscience.

A member of the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, Farahany teaches classes and seminars relating to criminal law, criminal procedure, and other subjects at the junction of law and science.

Read More:
Nita A. Farahany Joins Duke Law, IGSP Faculties (law.duke.edu)


DUKIES ON THE MOVE
Today is Blaise Cote's (T '09) last day serving as a research assistant for the Senate Finance Committee.  On Monday, Blaise begin his new role with the Washington Analysis Corporation, working on financial services and tax issues.

Know of any Duke alumni who have recently taken a new post on the Hill, in the Administration or elsewhere in Washington? Let us know about it! Send Dukies on the Move tips to landy.elliott@duke.edu.