Duke Office for Research & Innovation
2023-2024 Annual Report
Report Contents
Letter from the Vice President for Research
I am proud to share achievements and milestones from across Duke University’s Research & Innovation enterprise in our 2023-24 annual report. The information the following report provides is merely a glimpse of the vast array of discovery and commercialization efforts of our faculty and students, none of which could have happened without the dedicated partnership of our research staff.
Duke remains a top-tier research university, with our researchers and scholars receiving over 3,300 awards, grants and contracts in fiscal year 2024. This equates to $1.33 billion in research funding, with more than $863 million coming from federal sponsors. In recent fiscal years, Duke was well-positioned to apply for and receive federal funds in support of the COVID-19 response, including vaccine development and other public health needs. We are proud of those efforts and are committed to strengthening where Duke can have a unique impact on society.
These awards will enable our faculty to continue working to identify transformative solutions to today’s most pressing challenges. Our researchers and scholars are working at the forefront of advancing the fields of quantum computing and Artificial Intelligence (AI); creating new treatments for influenza, HIV and osteoarthritis; and developing policy solutions to the challenges of our changing climate and health care system.
We are also pleased to highlight the impact of Duke’s innovations which, through the support of the Office for Translation & Commercialization, are able to bring benefit to humanity. In FY2024, Duke scholars disclosed over 300 inventions and launched 6 new startup companies.
As we look to the future, Duke is committed to encouraging our researchers, scholars, and innovators to create societal impact through collaborative, innovative exploration.
Thank you for a great year and your support of the Duke University Research & Innovation enterprise.
Sincerely,
Jenny Lodge
Jennifer Lodge, Ph.D.
Vice President for Research & Innovation
Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology
Research Expenditures
$1.5 BILLION
In total research expenditures in FY24
$863 MILLION
In federally sponsored research in FY24
Proposals
6,065
Proposals submitted in FY24
Value of proposals
$5.68 BILLION
Value of proposals in FY24
Awards
3,320
Number of awards in FY24
$1.33 BILLION
Value of awards for FY24
Data provided by the Duke School of Medicine Finance Office and the Office for Research Support
Faculty Researcher Accomplishments
101
Honors and awards in FY24
Translation and commercialization
302
New invention disclosures for FY24
6
New startups in FY24
94
U.S. patents issued in FY24
Data provided by the Office for Translation & Commercialization.
National Academy of Sciences
John Aldrich, PhD
Pfizer Inc./Edmund T. Pratt Jr. University Distinguished Professor of Political Science
David N. Beratan, PhD
R.J. Reynolds Distinguished Professor of Chemistry
Richard Mooney, PhD
George Barth Geller Distinguished Professor for Research in Neurobiology and Professor of Cell Biology
Tai-ping Sun, PhD
Professor of Biology
Jenny Tung, PhD
Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology and Biology
American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows
Steven R. Asher, PhD
Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
Colin S Duckett, PhD
Professor of Pathology and Vice Dean for Basic Science in the School of Medicine
Chuan-Yuan Li
Adjunct Professor and Vice Chair for Research in Dermatology
Kate Scholberg, PhD
Arts & Sciences Distinguished Professor of Physics
Martin Smith, PhD
George M. Woodwell Distinguished Professor of Environmental Economics
Toddi Steelman, PhD
Vice President and Vice Provost, Climate and Sustainability
Kishor S. Trivedi, PhD
Hudson Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Cagla Eroglu, PhD
Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor of Cell Biology and Neurobiology
Thavolia Glymph, PhD
Peabody Family Distinguished Professor of History
National Academy of Inventors
Yiran Chen, PhD
John Cocke Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Jungsang Kim, PhD
Schiciano Family Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Gilliam Fellow
Amanda Barreto
HHMI Gilliam Fellow; Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Graduate Fellow, Biomedical Engineering, Fall 2021 - Present
National Science Foundation Early Career Award
Tony Cheng, PhD
Assistant Professor of Sociology
Jessilyn Dunn, PhD
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Jean Philippe Gibert
Assistant Professor of Biology
Masayuki Onishi, PhD
Assistant Professor of Biology
New Interim Leadership
Interim Dean of the Fuqua School of Business
Mary Frances Luce has been named interim dean of the Fuqua School of Business. Luce will serve a two-year term beginning August 1, 2024.
Luce joined the Fuqua faculty in 2004 and is the Robert A. Ingram Professor of Business Administration. She is also a Fuqua alumna, having earned her Ph.D. in business administration with a concentration in marketing from Duke in 1994.
Interim Dean of the Sanford School of Public Policy
Manoj Mohanan, most recently Sanford’s senior associate dean for faculty and research, has been appointed interim dean, effective July 1, 2024. He will serve a two-year term.
Mohanan has been a faculty member at the Sanford School of Public Policy since 2011. He is an applied microeconomist, focusing on health and development economics, with a background in medicine and public health.
Interim Dean of the School of Nursing
Michael Relf, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN, is the Associate Chief Nurse Executive (ACNE) of Academic Partnerships and Innovation for Duke University Health System, Professor of Nursing and Global Health, and Interim Dean of the Duke University School of Nursing. He previously served as Associate Dean for Global and Community Affairs from 2014-2023 and as the Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Education and Director of the Accelerated BSN Program for the School of Nursing from 2008-2014.
OA Therapies that Rebuild Bones and Joints
Duke Health is part of a multi-institution research team receiving federal Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) funding to develop an osteoarthritis treatment that regenerates joints. The research project, which includes teams from Boston Children’s Hospital and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, was awarded a contract of up to $33 million, funded in two phases over five years.
Margolis Center for Health Policy
The Robert and Lisa Margolis Family Foundation has given $10 million to Duke University to create a permanent, unrestricted endowment for the center that will support its efforts to educate the next generation of health care leaders, advance health care transformation and further biomedical innovation.
Duke Quantum Center
The National Science Foundation has provided $17 million over five years as part of a cooperative agreement with the Duke Quantum Center. The project is titled: "PIF: Software-Tailored Architecture for Quantum Co-Design (STAQ II)."
NASA Support for Duke Physics
Duke has received $10.7M over five years for a NASA cooperative agreement with the Department of Physics to investigate infrastructure solutions for the Nancy Grace Roman Telescope.
Marine Lab
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is providing the Marine Lab $1 million over two years to address key information gaps in acoustic ecology of North Atlantic Right Whales. This one of the several major sponsored projects at the Marine Lab under the direction of Douglas Nowacek, PhD.
Commercializing Research
Commercialization helps Duke’s innovations benefit humanity, and our highly successful and burgeoning Office for Translation & Commercialization is leading that charge.
In FY 2024, Duke scholars disclosed 302 inventions, were awarded $1.2M from the Gilhuly Accelerator Fund, and launched 6 new startup companies with help from OTC. Our commercialization efforts are making a difference, including bringing $82.6M in revenue from inventions – which is all distributed back to inventors, their labs, departments, and schools.
6 START-UPS LAUNCHED
From immunomodulatory biologics to metamaterial chips for AI, Duke inventors have started building exciting companies tackling the world’s most challenging problems.
$1.2M IN FUNDING
Through the Gilhuly Accelerator Fund, OTC has supported 16 innovative projects with high commercial potential in ongoing de-risking efforts.
Investments into Duke Faculty Startups
$5.5M Invested in Duke Faculty Startups FY24
$31.2M Invested Since DCP Inception in 2015
$25.2M (81%) Invested in Faculty Startups Since 2021
49 Rounds Completed For 17 Faculty Startups
Eugene and Marie Washington Presidential Distinguished Professor
Kafui Dzirasa, MD, PhD
In accordance with the donor’s wishes that the professorship be awarded to a scholar of exceptional eminence in neuroscience or another field in science and technology in the School of Medicine, the A. Eugene and Marie Washington Presidential Distinguished Chair was awarded to Kafui Dzirasa, MD, PhD, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, professor of neurobiology, and assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Duke.
Arnaldo Carreira Rosario, PhD
Assistant Professor of Biology
Leanne Gilbertson, PhD
Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Divine P Kumah, PhD
Associate Professor of Physics
Nuo Li, PhD
Associate Professor of Neurobiology
Erica Washington, PhD
Assistant Research Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology
Research Project Management Core
Following a successful pilot in 2023, the Research Project Management Core (RPMC) officially launched in January 2024 to support non-clinical research projects. In the first six months, the RPMC provided support to sixteen projects across seven Schools, Centers, and Institutes. Due to high demand for its services, the RPMC expanded its team from one full-time project manager to six full-time project management staff.
Enhanced services from myRESEARCHnavigators
The myRESEARCHnavigators team, which launched in 2017, provides a variety of free services to researchers across the institution. The team members, who have backgrounds spanning the humanities, STEM, social science, and clinical research are available for project-level consultations and quick questions. New this year, is an onboarding service for research staff outside of clinical research, where the navigators provide a tailored overview of resources and services related to planning, managing, and conducting research at Duke.
Protected Network for Research (PNR)
The Protected Network for Research (PNR) is one of the first initiatives launched out of the Compute & Data Services Alliance for Research (CDSA), supported by a collaboration between the Office of Research & Innovation (OR&I) and the Office of Information Technology (OIT). The PNR was created to provide researchers with secure, low-cost storage and computational resources for sensitive or protected data. OIT ensures a secure computing and storage environment, while OR&I provides guidance on IT security, contracts, and IRB requirements. Designed for flexibility, the PNR supports both full-service and self-service options, making it ideal for collaborative research, including student involvement.