Congratulations to Sophomore David Hong, who is scheduled to present a scientific paper at the annual US-Korea Conference on Science, Technology, and Entrepreneurship, slated for August 11-15, 2010 in Seattle, Washington.  He will be participating in the Young Generation and Professional Forum at this annual technical conference.  Read the abstract here. Media/file/DavidHongAbstract.pdf

Congratulations to Director Don Taylor on being appointed by Health & Human Services Director Kathleen Sebelius, to serve as one of 24 professionals on a committee tasked with reviewing current criteria and developing new means of identifying medically underserved constituents, as well as areas where there are medical professional shortages.  The newly passed health care reform bill, the Affordable Care Act, allowed for the creation of this committee.  Don will be meeting monthly in Washington, D.C. with his colleagues.

www.hrsa.gov/about/news/pressreleases/100709shortagecommitteeappointments.html

Read Nate Freeman's article in the 7/1/2010 edition of The Chronicle, "Settling in to the Bull City," which includes interviews with Duke alums who've remained in Durham for grad school, a job, or while waiting to take entrance exams.  Andrew Kindman, BN 2010, praises the city's fast changing lifestyle.

Congratulations to Jacob Tobia, of Cary, NC, on being selected one of only 25 students in the nation to receive a Point Foundation award!  Jacob has been advocating for the LGBT community since he founded the Gay-Straight Alliance at Raleigh Charter High School. See his profile, on page 22, in this 6/15/2010 article in the Advocate, announcing the winners. 

The May 14, 2010 issue of Newsweek features a story that reveals the need for more collaboration rather than competition among institutions researching cures and treatments for diseases for which there is no cure. Trinity Scholar Josh Sommer's Chordoma Foundation is cited as an example of one organization that took the initiative to jump-start research on the disease by obtaining legal rights to the only decent existing Chordoma cell line, that hadn't been used  in seven years, and distributing it to 24 researchers. Read "Desperately Seeking Cures - how the road from promising scientific breakthrough to real-world remedy has become all but a dead end." 

Also - check out Josh's slide show that he presented at the April 2010 Sage Congress in San Francisco.  The Sage Commons is an organization of international partners who define the molecular basis of disease and guide the development of effective human therapeutics and diagnostics by speeding the flow of knowlege between researchers.

sagecongress.org/Presentations/Sommer.pdf

Congratulations to our Director, Don Taylor, on having earned tenure and  promotion to Associate Professor at the Sanford School of Public Policy!  He also serves as Professor in the Departments of Community and Family Medicine and Nursing, and is affiliated with the Center for Health Policy.  Don's areas of expertise are in Health Policy and include Aging, Economics and Smoking/Tobacco.  He has co-authored two books on Smoking with Professor Frank Sloan, of the Economics Department and conducted research on Aging, Long Term Care, Health Policy and Comparative Health Systems.  Don has also written numerous journal articles on such topics as Alcohol Use, Dementia, Hospice, Spousal Caregiving and Hospitalization Costs. See Faculty Kudos on Page 19 in the monthly newsletter, Insights.  sanford.duke.edu/news/newsletters/Insights05_10.pdf

We applaud Senior Andrew Kindman on winning the Elizabeth G. Verville   Award  from the Political Science Department!  This monetary award is given to an undergraduate who has written the best paper in the subject matter of Political Science. It is funded from a gift made by Elizabeth G. Verville, a Political Science major and 1961 Duke Graduate.

Congratulations to Senior Portia Boone, a Trinity Scholar, who has won the Robert S. Rankin American Government Award for Leadership and Academic Achievement from Duke University's Political Science Department! She plans on using the monetary award for expenses related to her internship this summer with the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington, D.C. as well as for some law school expenses. Portia was also the recipient of a Law Center Scholarship from Georgetown University Law School, in Washington, D.C., where she will begin her studies this Fall.  Way to go, Portia!

On 4/21/2010, Duke University presented their annual Student Affairs Distinguished Leadership and Service Awards Ceremony at the Michael W. Krzyzewski Center for Academic and Athletic Excellence.  Julia Chapman, B.N. Duke Class of 2010, was awarded the William J. Griffith University Service Award along with 12 other Duke Community members.  These recipients are graduating seniors whose service and contributions have significantly impacted University life.

Snayha Nath, a B.N. Duke Junior, was interviewed for Duke Today while participating in the Baldwin Scholars' Father/Daughter Weekend in April.  She is one of six B.N. women in the Baldwin Scholars Program, which mentors undergraduate women at Duke and affords them opportunities to develop leadership skills and achieve academic and social success.

Cheers to Lindsey Wallace, B.N. Duke Class of 2011, recently named a Truman Scholar!

As a follow up to the recent passage of  the Health Care Reform Bill, Don Taylor discusses the Obama administration's cost-cutting plan by way of  the Deficit Commission's recommendations.

Writer Amy Dockser Marcus describes her mother's fight with gallbladder cancer in the article, "The Loneliness of Fighting a Rare Cancer," featured in the January 2010 issue of the journal, Health Affairs.  She praises Trinity Scholar, Josh Sommer, as a patient advocate and his foundation's work with the NIH in repurposing drug therapy.

Sophomore Nancy Chang, who co-chairs the Duke Prospective Health Care Club, was on hand Friday, 2/26/2010, when the club awarded the winners of their year-long challenge to Duke students and employees.

Congratulations to Paula Rosine Long, B.N. Duke Class of 2009!  She was one of 29 Americans recently awarded a Gates Cambridge Scholarship by the Gates Cambridge Trust.  She will pursue her Master's degree in Modern Middle Eastern Studies in October 2010.

Trinity Scholar, Rachel Weeks, opened her business office in downtown Durham in January 2010. School House Ethical Fashion is located at 407 N. Mangum Street.  Office hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm. She continues to grow her business, garnering new clients, The Yale Bookstore and Barnes & Noble College Booksellers.

Read Don's latest blog in a series on health care reform - this one focusing on home health care.

Congratulations to Freshman Casey Edwards, who was one of 18 first year women at Duke University to be selected for the Alice M. Baldwin Scholars program.  Research results from the Women's Initiative, a study commissioned by former Duke University President Nan Keohane, and which looked at quality of life for women at all levels of the institution, was the impetus for this program created just five years ago.  During their four years at Duke the Baldwin Scholars participate in academic seminars, a residential experience, an internship and mentoring opportunities.  Casey joins five other current B.N. Duke Scholars in this program - Julia Chapman (2010); Kathryn Hutchins and Snayha Nath (2011); and Khadijah Bhatti and Maria del Mar Suarez (2012).

Damon Wilson, B.N. Duke alumnus who graduated in 1995, spent 11 years working for the government before joining The Atlantic Council.  He is currently Director of the Program on International Security and was most recently promoted to Vice President.

Damon Wilson, B.N. Duke Scholar who graduated in 1995, returned to Duke in October and was one of three Duke alums speaking at The Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle, Jr. Lecture on International Studies.

Trinity Scholar, Rachel Weeks, is interviewed by Janet Babin, on The Story with Dick Gordon, on North Carolina Public Radio.   She describes the process that led her to create her own company, School House Ethical Fashion.

Don Taylor just keeps on blogging!  Here, in New Jersey Voices, he collaborates with former NC Congressional staffer, Frank Hill, and suggests three ideas that could improve the existing Baucus bill.

Trinity Scholar, Josh Sommer, chordoma patient and Co-Founder/Executive Director of The Chordoma Foundation, shared exciting news with us in October 2009 regarding the most recent discovery on the path to finding a cure for this rare form of bone cancer.

B.N. Duke Scholarship Program Director Don Taylor continues his conversation about health care reform in the New York Times.

Meet Casey Edwards, the high school senior who sued the Governor of South Carolina before starting her Freshman year as a Benjamin N. Duke Scholar (Casey Edwards -vs- The State of South Carolina ).

B.N. Duke Scholarship Director Don Taylor has been writing a series of articles, for The News  and Observer, on the current debate over health care reform.  Check out his first article.  Then watch this interview on WRAL-TV where he answered questions submitted by viewers www.wral.com/news/national_world/national/video/5634540.

BNDT Alum Making Fashion Headlines in a Socially Responsible Way!

Josh Sommer is a Trinity Scholar, in our program, who has taken time off to lead the fight against chordoma.  He is co-founder and Executive Director of The Chordoma Foundation.  Check it out: www.chordomafoundation.org/about/view.aspx