Resilience and Optimism at the 2026 Duke Research and Innovation Summit

More than 80 researchers and scholars convened for the sixth annual Duke Research and Innovation Summit on Friday, April 24, 2026. 

This full-day event included a fireside chat with research leaders led by Office for Research & Innovation VP Jenny Lodge; panels on diverse topics such as gene therapy and quantum computing; lightning talks ranging from health and technology to resilient communities; and a discussion of funding pathways in a changing research landscape. 

Lodge’s opening remarks set the tone for what she called a “celebration” of resilience and optimism after a difficult year for the research community: “We are not simply weathering this moment. We are emerging stronger.” 

“There will be hurdles we have to navigate—both as individuals and as a community,” Lodge stated. “But I am confident that we will overcome them, because we will do it together.” 

Her optimism was echoed by the panelists in the Fireside Chat. Kate Bundorf, professor of Health Policy and Management, praised the “ingenuity” of researchers responding to funding instability, while Scott Huettel, senior associate dean for research at Trinity College, marveled that, rather than turning on one another as resources tightened, the struggles of the past year had brought the research community closer. 

Farsighted and Innovative Research

The highlight of the event was the annual Daubechies Lecture, delivered by associate professor of Bioengineering Amanda Randles. Randles’ speech, “From Reactive to Proactive: Reimagining Health Through Digital Twins,” offered insights into her work developing “digital twins.” Through data collected by wearable devices and medical imaging, practitioners may one day be able to diagnose, predict, and treat diseases earlier than ever imagined. 

Interdisciplinary Collaboration and Innovation

Randles’ lecture touched on a theme that reverberated across panels and lightning talks: the special power of Duke’s interdisciplinary nature. In one pertinent example, Randles referred to the unique role played by associate research professor of Mathematics Gregory Herschlag, then a post-doc: “Where else [but Duke] could you have a shared post-doc [researching] gerrymandering and blood flow simulations?”

In the panel “Cutting-Edge Perspectives on Environment, Culture, and Change,” Brian McAdoo, Truman & Nellie Semans/Alex Brow & Sons Associate Professor of Geosciences, noted, “we go work with our colleagues in engineering and public policy and law and medicine, these different fields.” That overlap, as many attendees remarked, does not happen at every institution. McAdoo added, “the amount of kindness and brilliant people that are here, don't take that for granted.”

Several speakers also noted what Huettel called the “unique geography” of Duke’s research campus, where collaborators from many different colleges and schools can be found only a short walk away. Physical proximity, and a culture of collaboration, encourages innovation. 

Community: The Academic Advantage

Above all, speakers and participants alike recognized the critical moment academic researchers find themselves in. While federal funding policy remains in flux, researchers carry on. As Duke professor Crystal Noel noted, “academia can take risks industry can’t,” while Strategic Advisor for Robotics, Boyuan Chen, speculated that robotics, AI, and automation will eventually lead the academy back to its original mission: finding meaning for humanity. 

The OR&I research awards, presented at the Summit, continued this theme by recognizing service and leadership over the past year. Beth Blackwood, Dr. Lesley Skalla, and Hope Riffee of the Medical Center Library were honored with the Research Integrity Award for their guidance and support through changes in federal policy. 

The Open Scholarship Award was given to Jessilyn Dunn, associate professor of Biomedical Engineering, in recognition for her leadership in building “open datasets, open-source software, and community-driven platforms” to “accelerate discovery, improve equity, and transform an entire field.”

Since 2021, the Research and Innovation Summit has taken many forms, but always with a crucial mission – bringing together Duke’s most forward-thinking leaders, researchers, and inventors to celebrate the world-changing work emerging from Duke. 

In the Fireside Chat, Colin Duckett, executive vice dean for Basic and Preclinical Science at the Duke School of Medicine, defined the research enterprise simply and aptly: “It’s fun to find things out” – a bit of understated poetry from a renowned immunologist that reminds all researchers where they started, and where they’re going.