About the Research Section

Department of Family Medicine Research Section studies multiple research topics. Some of these topics include how to transform practices so that preventive services are offered more reliably to patients and how physicians can use medications safely, why certain populations of Americans have vitamin D levels different from others and what is the health impact of those differences, and what are the health implications in large populations of patients who have more iron than usual in their bloodstream. Researchers are also looking at how to bridge new information from basic science, such as our increased understanding of health markers such as telomeres, to their effect on predicting health of people with a wide variety of health conditions .

Grant funding is important for any research enterprise. In addition, the ability to garner grant support is an affirmation that the research ideas are promising and deemed worthy by panels of experts. One sign of our success is that the Department of Family Medicine has demonstrated an admirable track record in securing research funding over the past 10 years. Funding has come from a number of prominent sources including federal sources such as the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Health Services Research Administration as well as private foundation support from the Duke Endowment.

Overall, the Department faculty members have published over 50 publications in the last academic year. These papers include, research publications, clinical reviews, book chapters, and commentaries. Additionally some faculty members have given scholarly presentations regarding recent research they have been involved with during the year. 

The department conducts clinical research programs for which we need volunteers to participate. Click Here for more information about ongoing studies in which participants are needed.