Duke Medicine Timeline

- Duke LifePoint is established

Duke University Health System and LifePoint Hospitals form Duke LifePoint, a joint venture designed to strengthen and improve health care delivery throughout North Carolina and the surrounding regions by creating flexible affiliation options for community hospitals.

- Robert Lefkowitz wins the Nobel Prize

Dr. Robert Lefkowitz wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with his former postdoctoral fellow Dr. Brian Kobilka for their work with G protein-coupled receptors. 

Robert Lefkowitz

- HIV Vaccine Trial

Barton Haynes leads the world’s largest HIV vaccine trial, which provides important clues about immune system responses that could play a role in protecting people from HIV infection.

- National Center of Excellence in Nursing Education

Duke School of Nursing receives official designation as a National Center of Excellence in Nursing Education by the National League for Nursing.

- New SOM education building

Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans Health Education Center opens.

- Durham Regional Hospital becomes Duke Regional Hospital

Durham Regional Hospital is renamed Duke Regional Hospital.

- Paul Modrich wins the Nobel Prize

Dr. Paul Modrich wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on mechanistic studies of DNA repair with his colleagues Tomas Lindahl of the Francis Crick Institute and Clare Hall Laboratory in the UK, and Aziz Sancar of University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. 

Paul Modrich

- New Chancellor appointed

Dr. A. Eugene Washington becomes chancellor for health affairs and president and CEO of Duke University Health System.

- Center for Health Policy

Duke University launches the Duke-Robert J. Margolis, MD, Center for Health Policy, to develop ideas on health reform and connect the intellectual resources at Duke with policymakers and policy analysts in the public and private sector. 

- 8th SOM Dean

Mary E. Klotman, MD, is appointed as dean of the School of Medicine.

Mary Klotman