MSTP Symposium 2010
The annual Duke MSTP Symposium is scheduled for Thursday, April 8, 2010. Keynote speaker will be annouced soon. Stay tuned for details.

Welcome, new Duke MSTP students!
2009 first-year MD students
Christina Behrend Dartmouth College	Sarah Frazier Washington University in St Louis	Melissa Hector Mount Holyoke College	Melodi Javid University of Maryland	Eric Mastria University of Michigan
Shannon O'Connor Johns Hopkins University	Ilya Shadrin California Institute of Technology	Ashely Sobel Duke University	Happy Thakkar Northwestern University	Eric Wei Columbia University
2009 first-year PhD students
Young May Cha Amherst College Neurobiology, Wakeman Scholar	Stephen Harward Duke University Neurobiology Wakeman Scholar

Duke MSTP graduates seven and admits twelve Duke MSTP says goodbye to seven graduating students and ushers in twelve new ones. The seven finishing students are moving on to residencies in San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, and Durham. See the alumni page for details.

First dinner in monthly series
features Dean Nancy Andrews—June 17
The new monthly dinner series, meeting for the first time on Wednesday, June 17, features School of Medicine Dean Nancy Andrews as the first speaker. See dinners page for details.

MSTP Symposium 2009 featured Nobel Laureate Oliver Smithies Nobel Laureate Oliver Smithies capped a successful day-long Duke MSTP Symposium on April 2. The keynote talk headlined a day filled with posters, platform talks by seniors, and an evening banquet at the Greystone Inn.

Christopher D Kontos — new director of Duke MSTP Christopher D Kontos, MD Associate Professor, Medicine – Cardiology Associate Professor, Pharmacology & Cancer Biology

In her announcement, Dean Andrews stated, "This program is very close to my heart, because I graduated from, and subsequently led, the Harvard MSTP. Chris is a talented translational investigator and a proven mentor to our students, and I am confident he has the experience and dedication to lead the program to new heights.

"Chris has worked closely with the MSTP for the past few years, both on the admissions committee and as a mentor and thesis committee member for MSTP students. He is excited about guiding the education of this very talented group – in his words, 'They're creative, motivated, and enthusiastic about both science and medicine.' Chris is dedicated to building on the strong foundations of our program and working very closely with the MSTP students to foster their early development as physician-scientists. ... He has been actively involved in teaching and mentoring medical and graduate students as well as clinical fellows, and these experiences will serve him well in his role as MSTP director. ... His mix of clinical and research activities give him a valuable perspective on physician-scientist education."

Dr. Kontos received his BS and MA degrees in Chemistry from the College of William and Mary and the MD degree from the Medical College of Virginia, where he also completed his residency and chief residency in Internal Medicine. He came to Duke in 1993 as a Cardiology fellow and joined the faculty of the Department of Medicine in 1997. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, a member of the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center, and has served on numerous NIH study sections. The Kontos Lab studies signal transduction by endothelial receptor tyrosine kinases in the regulation of vascular growth and remodeling. The research has been supported by grants from both the NIH and the American Heart Association. Dr. Kontos' clinical interests in the treatment of coronary and peripheral artery disease have strongly influenced the direction of his research.

Dr. Dona M Chikaraishi, PhD, who served as interim director prior to Dr. Kontos' appointment, continues as associate director of the program.

MSTP Steering Committee and participating faculty member Robert Lefkowitz, MD, receives National Medal of Science

Lefkowitz, Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at Duke University Medical Center, won the award in biological sciences for a lifetime of research into understanding the largest, most important and most therapeutically accessible receptor system that controls the body’s response to drugs and hormones. He has received more than 50 international and national awards, earned several honorary doctorate of science degrees, and has held leadership posts in many clinical and professional organizations.

Duke Endowment gives $50 million for Medical Education facility and pediatric care—the largest gift ever given to Duke University Medical Center
On Monday, April 7, 2008, Duke President Richard H. Brodhead and Chancellor for Health Affairs Victor J. Dzau announced a $50 million gift to Duke University Medical Center from the Duke Endowment of Charlotte. The $50 million gift, the largest single gift ever received by the medical center, will be used for construction of a medical education building and development of a state-of-the-art inpatient pediatric facility.

Plans mark $35 million of the gift for construction of a School of Medicine Education Center. The building will include classrooms, lecture halls, gathering areas with moveable walls and seating to accommodate groups of up to 500 people, administrative offices, study and lounge areas for students, a café and bookstore, and possibly a fitness center.

"It is ... increasingly important to have a facility that can house initiatives such as simulation labs and provide space for the team-based learning programs that are rapidly replacing traditional lecture-based learning," said Nancy Andrews, MD, PhD, dean of the Duke University School of Medicine.

Nancy Andrews — new School of Medicine dean brings extensive MSTP experience, new energy, fresh ideas, and expanded resources to Duke Nancy C. Andrews, MD, PhD Dean, School of Medicine Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs

New School of Medicine dean, Nancy C. Andrews, 1999 to 2003 director of the Harvard-MIT MD/PhD Program and 2003 to 2007 Harvard Medical School dean for Basic Sciences and Graduate Studies, brings to Duke a deep commitment to MD/PhD education. Dean Andrews, the first woman to lead one of the nation's top ten medical schools, assumed her Duke position in October 2007. She is meeting periodically with the faculty executive committee of the Duke MSTP steering committee and is pumping new energy, fresh ideas, and expanded resources into the Duke program. Duke—particularly Duke MSTP—is fortunate in its new leadship and enthusiastically welcomes Dean Andrews.

Dr. Andrews, also a professor in the departments of Pediatrics and Pharmacology & Cancer Biology, received her BS and MS degrees in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University, her PhD in Biology from MIT and her MD from Harvard Medical School. She completed an internship and residency in Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital Boston, and a Hematology/Oncology fellowship at Children’s Hospital and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Dean Andrews, an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute from 1993 to 2006, maintains an active NIH-funded research laboratory studying mouse models of human diseases. She was the George Richards Minot Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard, Senior Associate in Medicine at the Children’s Hospital Boston, a Distinguished Physician of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and an attending physician in hematology and oncology at Children’s Hospital until 2003. She has authored over 100 peer-reviewed articles and 16 book chapters, has received many awards and honors for her research—including membership in the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies and in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences—and is president-elect of the American Society of Clinical Investigation.