News Archive

A new publication authored by the Precision Health Alliance, a consortium sponsored and coordinated by the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI), stresses the need for an unprecedented degree of collaboration across the scientific community. According to the authors, this level of cooperation is essential to ensure that gene editing interventions are patient-centered, safe, and ethical. 

A major pragmatic clinical trial published this month in JAMA Network Open offers new insight into how the U.S. health system can support Veterans living with chronic low back pain—one of the most common and disabling conditions affecting former service members.

The Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) faculty and operational experts presented or contributed to research across over 70 sessions at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Sessions (ACC.26), held March 28–30 in New Orleans. Their thought leadership encompassed featured presentations, late-breaking clinical trials, moderated debates, digital poster forums, and expert panel discussions as they shared new data, debated emerging evidence, and offered practical guidance on clinical care.

Kidney stones can cause some of the most intense pain people ever experience, affecting daily life and leading many to hospital emergency visits. It affects 1 in 11 people in the U.S., and almost half will experience a recurrence. A major new study from the USDRN, coordinated by the DCRI, tested whether a behavioral program could help people drink enough fluids to prevent stones from coming back.

The Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) had a broad and visible presence throughout the 2025 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, Nov. 7-10 in New Orleans. Faculty and staff participated in more than 40 sessions across a wide spectrum of scientific and educational sessions. Their contributions spanned general and featured presentations, moderated discussions, digital poster forums, late-breaking and featured science, and hands-on simulations.

A new study shows that a simplified two-dose antibiotic treatment may be just as effective as traditional long-term IV therapy for serious staph (staphylococcus) bloodstream infections, offering patients a safer and easier path to recovery.

A new Duke University School of Medicine study shows that teaching teens how to navigate their neighborhoods – by bus, bike or on foot – can give their health a boost. Durham Parks and Recreation, Durham teens, and pediatric experts at Duke developed a program called Going Places to help kids build the confidence and skills to get around their city.

A recent study, led by Duke University researchers and published in the European Journal of Heart Failure, revealed a strikingly high incidence of heart failure (HF) among patients with biopsy-confirmed metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), a condition formerly known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The findings suggest that HF is common and underrecognized in the MASLD patient population, raising concerns about missed opportunities for early intervention.

Returning individual research results to clinical study participants has not historically been the norm, even for participants with abnormal findings. The paradigm, though, is shifting, with return of results becoming not only a scientific responsibility but also an ethical imperative. However, best practices haven’t been established yet. A team of Duke researchers led by Svati H. Shah, MD, MS, Ursula Geller Distinguished Professor of Research in Cardiovascular Diseases, and Neha Pagidipati, MD, MPH, associate professor of medicine, have developed a model using the Project Baseline Health Study (PBHS) for how to effectively communicate results to patients and help empower them towards their health and medical choices. The study also detailed the large number of abnormal results that were returned to participants, highlighting the need to consider these processes early in study design. Results were published in the American Journal of Medicine Open.

Five years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the research community is reflecting on the historic research response to understand the disease and develop diagnostics, therapies, and vaccines. In a special thematic issue of the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, a set of papers outlines the most critical takeaways for the public health and research communities that should be applied to future public health emergencies.