Quarterly E-Newsletter – Summer 2021

DUKE OB/GYN CELEBRATES CLASS OF 2021 RESIDENTS, FELLOWS VIRTUALLY

On Saturday, June 5, 2021, Duke Ob/Gyn celebrated the graduation of eight chief residents and five graduating fellows. 50% of the Department's resident graduates are going on to subspecialty fellowship, each at highly prestigious programs across the country. The other half are embarking on their careers as general ob/gyn specialists, with two joining local practices in the Triangle and the other two outside of North Carolina.  Four of our fellow graduates are joining the faculty at major academic medical centers, and the fifth is joining South Carolina’s largest fertility practice. Click here to read about their next steps. The accomplishments of our faculty, APPs, fellows and residents for excellence in education, clinical care and professionalism also were celebrated. A special tribute was paid to longtime faculty member Joanne Piscitelli, MD, who called Duke home for more than 30 years. Dr. Piscitelli received her MD from Duke University School of Medicine in 1981, continued with residency, and then joined the faculty in 1985. She has been an integral part of the Department, also having served as Division Chief for Duke Women’s Health Associates. #wedeliver

Click for graduation recording

DUKE OB/GYN RANKED #8 IN SPECIALTY PROGRAMS On June 25th, a new group of interns and first-year fellows joined the Department to begin their training. They are now learning in one of seven Duke School of Medicine top ranked specialty programs by U.S. News & World Report. Obstetrics and Gynecology ranked No. 8. Additionally, Duke University School of Medicine rose to No. 3 among 122 medical schools in the nation for research – tying its highest standing – in the U.S. News & World Report annual ranking of graduate programs.  “These rankings recognize our outstanding faculty, staff and students and their unwavering commitment to delivering exceptional patient care, groundbreaking research and inspired teaching,” said Mary E. Klotman, MD, Dean of Duke University School of Medicine. “I am especially proud and grateful to our entire School of Medicine community for never losing sight of our core missions during this most challenging year.” Read more. Click for full roster of 2021-2022 trainees.

VICE CHAIR FOR RESEARCH UPDATE Megan Huchko, MD, MPH (right) now serves as interim Vice Chair for Research as the Department conducts a national search for the role. Geeta Swamy, MD, formerly served as Vice Chair and has stepped down to concentrate more fully on her roles as Vice Dean for Scientific Integrity and Associate Vice President for Research for Duke University. Deepest gratitude is extended to Dr. Swamy for her dedication to the Department's research and faculty development initiatives. The Department will be beginning a national search to fill this important position.

PASSING OF PROFESSOR EMERITUS W. ALLEN ADDISON, MD

Duke Ob/Gyn mourns the loss of Professor Emeritus Winnifred Allen “Al” Addison, MD, who died on June 26, 2021 at the age of 87. Dr. Addison, a nationally recognized Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgeon with lifelong ties to Duke, was an innovator in the sub-specialty of urogynecology and a mentor to many. A consummate physician, surgeon and teacher, he was a true giant in the field of women’s healthcare and instrumental in the training of many future ob/gyn physicians during his many years at Duke. Read more about Dr. Addison here. A memorial service will take place on Oct. 2, 2021 at 4 p.m. Click here for details.

DUKE OB/GYN EXPANSION CONTINUES

Duke Ob/Gyn's new multi-specialty clinic, Duke Women's Health Arringdon, opened on June 28, 2021. This clinic, located off Page Road in Morrisville, houses providers from multiple Divisions including Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery, Duke Women’s Health Associates, Women’s Community and Population Health and Duke Women’s Health Holly Springs. It is also the primary location for the Duke Center for Menopause, co-led by Camille Moreno, DO, NCMP, and Jennifer Howell, MD, and the new Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology (PAG) Program, also led by Dr. Howell.

The clinic's leadership is comprised of Amy Broach, MD, Medical Director; Carolyn O’Connor, HCA; Sarah Roemer, BSN, RN, Nurse Manager; and Necole Murphy, Service Access Manager. The Arringdon location will also serve as the new home of the Duke Fertility Center (anticipated move this fall). It also is the Department's newest ambulatory surgery center, which will serve physicians from all the groups located there, and has radiology services including mammography.

KUDOS AND CONGRATULATIONS

At the 2021 National Medical Association Virtual Convention & Scientific Assembly, Duke Ob/Gyn was well-represented. Special thanks to Ob/Gyn Section Chair Maria Small, MD, MPH, who has been instrumental in cultivating Duke NMA representation. Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialist and former Duke MFM fellow Sarahn Wheeler, MD (Class of 2016) presented on prematurity prevention. Former Duke MFM fellow Courtney Mitchell, MD, PhD (Class of 2021) served as fellow moderator for the MFM session. Former Duke resident Charlotte Gamble, MD, MPH (Class of 2018) and 2021 gynecologic oncology fellowship graduate (New York-Presbyterian Hospital – Columbia & Weill Cornell Hospitals), moderated the oncology session. Former Duke resident Benjamin Harris, MD, MPH, and current Duke REI fellow, co-moderated the REI session. Former Duke Ob/Gyn Department Chair Haywood Brown, MD, presented during the Ob/Gyn section. Current Duke resident Marquita Kilgore-Nolan, MD, won first place in the resident research competition (mentored by Dr. Maria Small). She presented preliminary data from her residency research project: "Race/ethnicity and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP)-related severe maternal morbidity in North Carolina" and will also present a progress report on this work to the Department on July 28, 2021.

Congratulations to residents Benjamin Peipert, MD (first author); Dan Spinosa, MD; Elizabeth Howell, MD; and REI fellow Benjamin Harris, MD, MPH; on the recent publication of “Innovations in infertility: a comprehensive analysis of the ClinicalTrials.gov database,” an article on the landscape of clinical trials in infertility, in Fertility & Sterility. Click here for the article.

MFM specialist Jennifer Gilner, MD, PhD, will co-host the Third Annual (virtual) Pan-American Society for the Placenta Accreta Spectrum meeting this fall with Vanderbilt University. The meeting takes place September 18th-19th, 2021

"Developing Treatment Guidelines During a Pandemic Health Crisis: Lessons Learned From COVID-19 (Special Article)" has been published in The Annals of Internal Medicine, the result of a collective effort by MFM specialist Brenna Hughes, MD, MSc, and colleagues on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) COVID-19 Treatments Guidelines Panel. Read more.

Three residents were presented with the 2020-21 Appleseed Resident Teaching Awards: Vivienne Meljen, MD (Class of 2021); Mary Katherine Montes De Oca, MD; and Elizabeth Howell, MD (pictured left to right). They were recognized for outstanding performance as educators and mentors and were selected by a democratic vote by Duke medical students. Learn more.

ACOG Today's Headlines, a digest of women’s health news selected from thousands of sources by the editors of BulletinHealthcare, featured the research manuscript "Maternal and fetal outcomes associated with infective endocarditis in pregnancy" (published online in Clinical Infectious Diseases, June 10, 2021). Maternal-Fetal Medicine fellows Kateena Addae-Konadu, MD, PhD, MSc and Jerome Federspiel, MD, PhD; and MFM faculty Sarah Dotters-Katz, MD, MMHPE, were authors.

Department Chair Matthew D. Barber, MD, MHS, was appointed as the new subspecialty Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery Division Chair for The American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. His term began on July 1, 2021. He will also serve as an ex-officio subspecialty representative on the ABOG Board of Directors. Learn more.

The American Association for Cancer Research has named Jen-Tsan Ashley Chi, MD, PhD, as co-winner of the Molecular Cancer Research Michael B. Kastan Award for Research Excellence on behalf of his all-Duke research team for their paper, A TAZ-ANGPTL4-NOX2 Axis Regulates Ferroptotic Cell Death and Chemoresistance in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer.  Chi’s co-authors on the winning paper, which was published in the January 2020 issue of MCR, include: Wen-Hsuan Yang, PhD;  Zhiqing Huang, MD, PhD (left); Jianli Wu, BS; Chien-Kuang C. Ding, MD, PhD; and Susan K. Murphy, PhD (right) from the Division of Reproductive Sciences. Read more.

Highlights from Duke Ob/Gyn

Duke Ob/Gyn Holds 6th Annual K12 Multidisciplinary Benign Urology Research Symposium Department Presents Hammond Research Day Department Hosts 2nd Annual Donald T. Moore, MD, Endowed Lecture Duke Ob/Gyn Faculty, Trainees, APPs Part of LATIN-19 Team That Wins 2020-21 Presidential Award Cindy Amundsen, MD, Selected as 2021 Career Mentoring Award Recipient Gynecologic Oncologist Brittany Davidson, MD, Awarded $30,000 DIHI Funding

ALUMNI NEWS

If you are an alumna/alumnus and your information needs to be updated with Duke Ob/Gyn, please click here to fill out a survey. Note: If you graduated prior to 2000, please also fill out the survey so we can be sure to include your information. Thank you. Click here (on a desktop computer for best results) for the link to the interactive map that shows where our alumni are today (from 2000 to present). As a new benefit, we are excited to be able to offer all ACTIVE Carter Society members access to Duke Ob/Gyn Grand Rounds (available live virtually each week as well as archived past presentations) and to continuing medical education (CME) credit. If you are interested in this option, please fill out this survey.

The F. Bayard Carter Society Alumni Association Annual Meeting will be hosted by Dr. Fidel and Renea Valea. When: Thursday, October 21 - Saturday October 23, 2021 Where: Historic Hotel Roanoke Make your hotel reservations now! Details are available here. The scientific meeting agenda will be available soon and will be posted on the Carter Society website and sent via email.

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