Medical Alumni Weekend
From examining telemedicine to learning about genetics, from seeing old friends to meeting
new families-Duke Medical Alumni Weekend 1998 promises to be enlightening, memorable, and
fun. All Duke School of Medicine and house staff alumni are invited, especially reunion
classes (those years ending in 3 or 8).
The weekend begins Friday with a luncheon honoring this year's Medical Alumni
Association Awardees (see article pages 2-3). On Friday afternoon, current Duke medical
students, faculty, and alumni will vie for prizes during the History of Duke Medicine
Trivia Challenge and mixer. Participants are invited to collaborate to find answers to 20
questions about Duke medical history. For the past two years, students have shown their
super sleuthing talents by outwitting faculty and alumni to take the top prizes.
The history program after the trivia contest will feature presentations about the
following Duke faculty members:
Thomas D. Kinney, MD, former chair of pathology, by William D. Bradford, MD, HS'65-'66,
Duke professor of pathology, and Eleanor R. Kinney, PhD; William W. Shingleton, MD,
HS'44-'46, '48-'50, FAC'50-'87, emeritus director and founder of the Duke Comprehensive
Cancer Center, by Robert W. Anderson, T'59, MD, HS'64-'65, '67-'72, chair, Duke Department
of Surgery;
Philip Handler, PhD, former chair of biochemistry, by William G. Anlyan, MD, HS'55,
Duke chancellor emeritus.
Saturday's activities include two Continuing Medical Education (CME) sessions and a
special "CME" program for children. Shirley K. Osterhout, WC'53, MD'57, HS'59, a
well- known and loved Duke assistant professor of pediatrics emerita, will entertain and
inform children with her roadshow on medicine and safety. Osterhout, who worked with the
late Jay Arena, MD'32, and Madison Spach, T'50, MD'54, to help build Duke's Poison Control
Center, later became director of the center, helping it grow from a small resource center
receiving 200 calls a year to a 24-hour computerized center receiving more than 55,000
calls in 1995, its last year at Duke.
Individual luncheons for each class will be held at the homes of area alumni on
Saturday. A special luncheon at the Washington-Duke Inn will honor members of the Class of
1948, who will be inducted into the Half-Century Club. Hosted by the youngest reunion
class, the Class of 1993, the luncheon is open to members of the Half-Century Club and all
participants not attending an individual class luncheon. Members of the Class of 1947 who
were inducted last year and other Half Century members should wear their Half-Century Club
medallions.
Tours of the newly renovated Duke Clinic (formerly Duke South), Duke Hospital, and the
new North Pavilion, home of the Duke Clinical Research Institute, Bone Marrow Transplant
program, and ambulatory surgery, and other campus attractions will take place in the
afternoon. Dinners for each reunion class (years ending in 3 or 8) will take place at
various locations Saturday evening. Members of classes two years before or after a reunion
class are encouraged to join them for dinner.
The weekend will conclude with brunch on Sunday featuring talks by Dan G. Blazer II,
MD, PhD, dean of medical education, and Mary Beth Dixon, MSII, a medical student. Weekend
registration packets have been mailed to all reunion class members.
For more information or to register for the weekend, please call Brenda Painter at
667-2500 or 800-541-9533 or, visit the Medical Alumni Association homepage on the World
Wide Web at http://www2.mc.duke.edu/depts/dmaa.
The
Genetics of Cancer
A Plethora of Issues and Answers |
Duke researchers were the first to discover BRCA1 and BRCA2-genes that cause breast
cancer. Today we know the gene is at the root of most common health problems-from diabetes
to heart disease to cancer. But with the promise of better treatments, diagnostic tools,
and preventive strategies come complex ethical questions and concerns. J. Dirk Iglehart,
MD, HS'84, Duke professor of surgery, is director of the Specialized Program in Research
Excellence (SPORE) for breast cancer, one of six U.S. centers designated by the National
Cancer Institute (NCI). Through the SPORE program, the NCI funds promising new cancer
interventions, including programs for genetic counseling and testing for patients at high
risk of developing breast cancer.
Telemedicine technology is transporting Duke medical faculty into offices and hospitals
across the region and the nation for live educational, diagnostic, and treatment sessions.
J. David Kirby, director of telehealth and the Center for Information Technology
Innovation at Duke, will discuss business and clinical applications of telemedicine,
including neonatal home health care, a pilot program in dermatology, pediatric
echocardiography, and remote ultrasound services. Kirby, who has a master's degree in
computer science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has 20 years of
experience at DUMC, where he has worked with state, national, and international
organizations to develop advanced computer networking systems.
