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The Program in Immunology and the Duke University Graduate School are committed to improving racial and ethnic diversity in our trainee population and in insuring that our trainees have success both at Duke and in their subsequent careers.  Our goals for minority recruitment are: 1) to increase minority enrollment and 2) to promote an academic and social environment in which minority scholars can flourish.  We strongly encourage applications from talented minority scholars who are interested in pursuing a career in Immunology.   

 

The Program in Immunology is proud of its record of minority recruitment and training.  The four most recent minority graduates of our program have been very successful in launching careers in basic science, medicine and science policy.  Michelle McMurry (African-American; M.D., Ph.D., 1999) is currently the Director of the Health, Biomedical Science and Society Initiative at the Aspen Institute in Washington , DC .  Duane Mitchell (African-American; M.D., Ph.D., 2001) is currently Assistant Professor of Surgery at Duke.  Marco Davila (Hispanic; Ph.D., 2004) is currently a Clinical Fellow at Cornell University Hospital .  Adam Lazorchak (Hispanic; Ph.D. 2006) is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University . 

 

Three underrepresented minority students are currently enrolled in our program.  Ana Sanchez (Hispanic; B.S., Arizona State University ) began her graduate studies in 2004.  Mariana Chuck (Afro-Caribbean; B.S., Brown University ) and Pilar Harvey (African-American; B.S., Howard University ) began their studies in 2005.  We expect great things from all of them.

 

Michelle McMurry (M.D., Ph.D., 1999):  “Duke is a wonderful place to learn how to put science in context.  I have always been just as interested in the societal applications of science as the science itself. If you share the view that science has the power to change the world, then Duke is the perfect place to study. As I bred my transgenic mice and completed experiments in molecular immunology, I also took classes on the history of race, the cultural role of education, and health policy. And Duke is even more interdisciplinary than when I was there.”

 

“I have had the privilege of visiting the Medical School 's burgeoning site in Singapore and I was amazed at the opportunity it presents Duke students. This international project combined with the new Duke Global Health Institute and the University's ongoing leadership in health policy, environmental advocacy, and public health mean that Duke students today can both uncover scientific discoveries and discover how society can use them. And this combined approach has never been more important. Most policy makers are not comfortable with science. They need assistance from a new generation of scientists who can talk to them about the hard core science and why it is important. From global warming to health care spending to funding for science education, we need more policy-savvy scientists. And if you want to be one of them, Duke is the place for you.”

 

Dr. McMurry is the director of the Health, Biomedical Science, and Society Policy Program of the Aspen Institute. She is also an Adjunct Macarthur Fellow in Global Health at the Council for Foreign Relations and an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Health Policy at George Washington University . She was formerly a Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholar at the University of California at Berkeley and San Francisco . Her work has focused on the intersection of biomedical research funding policies and healthcare disparities and global health inequities. She formerly oversaw health and social policy issues for Senator Joseph Lieberman and was the senior health policy advisor for the Lieberman for President Campaign. In both contexts, she constructed policies to stimulate translational research in the public and private sectors and to promote health care quality. Dr. McMurry completed a bioterrorism policy fellowship in the office of Senator Joseph Lieberman, funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and participated in a joint pediatric-medical genetics training program at Children's National Medical Center in Washington , D.C. and the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She is a former recipient of an American Association for the Advancement of Science Policy fellowship during which she worked to improve diversity in graduate science education in the Office of the Director of the National Science Foundation. She received her M.D. and Ph.D. in molecular immunology from Duke University with a grant from the NIH Medical Scientist Training Program. Her basic science research focused on the role of the regulation of chromatin structure and gene recombination in immune system development. She received her undergraduate training in biochemistry at Harvard University .

 

Duane Mitchell (M.D., Ph.D., 2001): “I came to Duke to pursue a Ph.D. in Immunology because I was convinced after examining several MD/PhD programs throughout the country that Duke University had one of the best integrative medical research programs of any institution I reviewed.  The science was obviously excellent, and the interaction between medical students and graduate students and the medical and basic sciences research programs seemed intertwined into one large medical center, which was of great appeal to me.  The thing that really sealed my decision to attend Duke, however, was the students, particularly the minority graduate and medical students that I met during my visit to Duke’s campus.  The students here seemed genuinely happy, and although facing an arduous training program, actually were enjoying their learning experience. This observation solidified my decision to attend Duke, and fourteen years later, I am still convinced I made the best choice possible for my career training. 

 

Today, I am most impressed by the continued support in my career development that I have received from many prominent investigators within the Division of Neurosurgery and Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke.  I enjoy a busy but fulfilling career as a physician-scientist in translational neuro-oncology research.  My efforts are focused on the development of immunologic therapies for the treatment of patients with malignant brain tumors and because of the strong integration of immunology and medical sciences within our Center I forsee the translation of laboratory findings into real clinical treatments in patients.”

 

Dr. Mitchell is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Neurosurgery and he is the Principal Investigator on five FDA-approved Phase I/II clinical trials investigating novel immunotherapies in patients with brain tumors. He also serves as a reviewer on the Duke University Cancer Protocol Committee, is a member of the American Association for Cancer Research, Society for Neuro-Oncology, and International Society for the Biological Therapy of Cancer, and serves as an editor for the American Journal of Hematology/Oncology.  Dr. Mitchell is the recipient of a NIH SPORE in Brain Cancer Career Development Award, and has received funding support from the American Brain Tumor Association, The Brain Tumor Society, and Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure foundation.  Dr. Michell received his M.D. and Ph.D. from Duke in 2001.  His thesis work focused on class I restricted presentation of exogenous antigen by dendritic cells.  He graduated with a B.A. in biology from Rutgers College in 1993. 

       

 

Ana Sanchez:  “I am in my fourth year of graduate school in the Department of Immunology at Duke, and it has been quite an experience thus far. Graduate school is not an easy journey and will really test one’s passion, but it is a rewarding experience. I started school unsure whether I could be an immunologist- the original thinking it requires is something not taught during undergraduate education. From that uncertainty, I have been amazed how much I have evolved during the process. While I have learned many facts about the immune system, the critical knowledge I have gained is how to ask relevant research questions and how to complete the experiments to definitively answer these questions. With the skills I have learned, I am beginning to direct my own research and becoming an immunologist.  I expect to graduate within the next two years and continue with post-doctoral training. While I am unsure where my career in immunology will take me, I know that the graduate education I have received at Duke will serve me well.”

 

Pilar Harvey :  “I never considered a career in research science until I was exposed to an Immunology course during my undergraduate experience.  I found that Immunology was a field of study that bridges the gap between basic science and clinical research.  When I began to explore my options for obtaining a Ph.D. in Immunology, I chose schools that had a reputation of excellence in the field and that were geared towards training their graduate students. The Duke Department of Immunology embodied all of the attributes that I was seeking and many more.  I came into the Ph.D. program with very limited research experience.  However, the department has provided me with the opportunity to train with authorities in the field.  I feel like I have the perfect balance between cutting edge research and foundational theory.  More importantly, I feel that I have found a home where my successful training as a research scientist is the ultimate goal of the Duke Immunology Department.”

 

Contact the Director of Graduate Studies.