Duke University School of Medicine celebrated top PhD students March 17 at the Dean’s Award for Research Excellence award ceremony. The Office of Biomedical Graduate Education coordinates the annual honors, which this year recognized four outstanding graduate students for their research of cancer, brain development, brain disorders, and the role of proteins in transporting ions and lipids—an essential biological process.

Two PhD students in the Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology have been awarded 2025 American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowships.  Akua “Nana” Acheampong is a student in the lab of Laura Wingler, PhD.  Katherine Hall is a student in the lab of Nina Tsvetanova, PhD.  

Min-Yu Ko, a PhD student at Duke University, received a 2024 PhRMA Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship in Drug Discovery for his research studying how low levels of androgens facilitate activation of specific protein, resulting in increased tumor growth. He hopes to develop drugs that exploit this protein signaling process to inhibit prostate cancer cell growth.

Pete Hendrickson, MD, PhD, a resident affiliated with the Wood Lab, was recently featured in an article about the Radiation Oncology Research Scholar (RORS) track at Duke Radiation Oncology. When he completes his residency, he will by the first trainee to take this path.

Shane Killarney with the Wood lab has been selected as a recipient of the 2024 Dean's Award for Research Excellence (DARE). This award acknowledges Shane's dedication and exceptional contributions as a graduate student, including scientific discoveries and publications, as well as leadership and positive impact on lab, departmental, and institutional culture.

MCB MD/PhD student Christopher Bassil (Wood Lab) is among 12 trainees presenting their work in the Trainee Poster Session taking place March 30th as part of the School of Medicine's Dean’s Distinguished Research Series. The poster session will be on the 6th Floor of the Trent Semans Center for Health Education from 1:00 - 2:30 pm. The Research Series showcases groundbreaking research from the basic, clinical, and translational sciences. All faculty, staff, trainees, and students are welcome to attend.

A look at the research of some of the incoming and continuing PhD students from the School of Medicine who received competitive fellowships from The Duke Graduate School for the 2022-2023 academic year.