Science & Society News
Learn what is happening inside the Duke Initiative for Science & Society. Stay up-to-date on our research, events, and student activities.
Fri, Sep 06
Duke University Receives $30 Million To Hire For AI, Research
This is part of a broader faculty hiring initiative at Duke focused on science and technology.
Thu, Sep 05
Mpox Declared a Global Health Emergency—How This Outbreak Is Different from the Last One
Mpox is now a “public health emergency of international concern,” according to a declaration by the World Health Organization (WHO) on August 14.1
Cases have risen in Africa, where there have been more than 15,000 cases and 537 deaths this year, and this particular strain of mpox—known as clade Ib—has also been detected in Sweden and Thailand.12
However, it’s not the first time the organization has named the disease—formerly known in the United States as monkeypox—a global health emergency. That also happened in 2022, during a global outbreak of the virus that sickened almost 100,000 people, including more than 33,000 in the U.S.3
So, what are the differences between the 2022 outbreak and what’s happening now? Infectious disease doctors explain.
Wed, Sep 04
FDA Approves Brain Cancer Drug with Duke Ties Giving Patients Hope
Patients with low-grade gliomas now have a new treatment option for the first time in decades.
The FDA approved vorasidenib earlier this month for adult and pediatric patients 12 and older with Grade2 astrocytoma or oligodendroglioma.
It’s the culmination of 16 years of research and clinical trials involving Duke researchers.
“I have been working on malignant brain tumors for 50-60 years and it is extremely gratifying to finally have a breakthrough we know is going to help a significant number of patients,” said Dr. Darell Bigner with The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke.
Back in 2008, Bigner, in collaboration with a team at Johns Hopkins, discovered a mutated gene IDH was frequently found in brain cancers, like gliomas.
“This IDH mutant protein, it produces essentially a chemical that causes tumor cells to grow,” Dr. Katy Peters explained. “What the drug does is it actually inhibits that mutant protein.”
Peters, also with The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke, led the largest clinical trial for the drug through Duke.
Fri, Aug 23
US Warns of Iranian Hackers Escalating Influence Operations
The U.S. government is warning of increased efforts from Iran to influence upcoming elections through cyber operations targeting Presidential campaigns and the American public.
In a joint statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the FBI, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the U.S. says that Iran carried out cyberattacks in an attempt to gain access to sensitive information related to U.S. elections.
The advisory underlines Iran’s intention to sow doubts about the integrity of democratic institutions in the U.S. and conduct aggressive cyber activity on multiple levels to collect intelligence.
Fri, Aug 16
How To Make AI Both Responsible And Ethical
Are Tesla investors getting tired of the way CEO Elon Musk is running the company? It certainly looks as if that is the case. In quarterly earnings reported last week, the electric car maker had its fourth consecutive quarter of slumping profit growth. Overall profit was down 45%. Its automotive revenues were down 7% year-over-year, with total production down 14%, and deliveries had dropped by 5%.