T H E I N D E P E N D E N T D A I LY AT D U K E U N I V E R S I T Y
The Chronicle
XXXDAY, MONTH THURSDAY, APRIL XX, 4, 2013 2013
ONE ONE HUNDRED HUNDRED AND AND EIGHTH EIGHTH YEAR, YEAR, ISSUE ISSUE 129 X
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DCRI cuts Dining puts local vendors on hiatus 56 positions Institute responds to federal budget cuts by Danielle Muoio THE CHRONICLE
Employee layoffs at the Duke Clinical Research Institute are indicative of the long-term effects the federal budget sequester will have on Duke research. Fifty-six positions at DCRI were eliminated in March to address the institute’s “specific business needs” going into the future, said DCRI Director Dr. Eric Peterson. The downsize is relatively small, with DCRI employing over 1,000 people and only choosing not to renew 56 positions. Several of the employees affected by these eliminations were reassigned to different positions at DCRI or elsewhere in Duke Medicine, Peterson added. The downsize indicates how the federal sequester will affect Duke research in the future. “The impact of federal sequestration is more recent, but DCRI and the School of Medicine do have significant federal support, so this does have a significant impact on the future,” Peterson wrote in an email Tuesday. “We believe the steps we have taken to retool the organization will position us to continue to be a leader SEE DCRI ON PAGE 5
EMMA LOEWE/THE CHRONICLE
Duke Dining recently decided to stop purchasing produce and meat from local vendors for the rest of the semester. by Maggie Spini THE CHRONICLE
The University has stopped purchasing locally sourced food for the remainder of the semester. Duke Dining decided last week to stop buying produce and meat from local vendors for the remainder of the academic year to assess purchasing needs and to ne-
gotiate prices, said Rick Johnson, assistant vice president of student affairs for housing, dining and residence life. The change will affect food served in venues managed by Bon Appetit, the University’s food service provider, which includes the Great Hall and the Marketplace. The decision was made in an effort to improve future relationships with vendors and to prepare
Duke Dining for the Fall as facilities make the transition from the West Union Building to the new Events Pavilion, which will open August 2013. “We ran into some situations that we weren’t aware of [related to] pricing agreements with the vendors,” Johnson SEE DINING ON PAGE 4
Duke scientists inch closer to HIV vaccine by Danielle Muoio THE CHRONICLE
ERIC LIN/THE CHRONICLE
Dr. Larry Liao, Dr. Barton Haynes and Dr. Feng Gao (left to right) have made headway in the creation of an HIV vaccine by charting for the first time the virus’ evolution that occurs when it enters the body.
Researchers consider genetic modification, Page 3
After nearly three decades of grappling to understand a virus that consistently changes form, Duke researchers have mapped out a course for developing an HIV vaccine. The development of an HIV vaccine has proved one of the most difficult medical feats in history because the virus mutates quickly and often once it enters the body. Duke researchers, however, have gained a new understanding of HIV by charting for the first time the evolution of the virus, as well the evolution of antibodies created in response to the mutating virus after it enters the body. Although most individuals’ immune systems are unable to create antibodies that can neutralize the consistently changing virus, the researchers found a small subset of infected people whose immune system creates broadly neutralizing antibodies, which are able to attack parts of the virus that do not change overtime. By discovering and studying the broadly neutralizing antibodies, the researchers could evaluate ways to induce these antibodies in
ONTHERECORD
“It’s easy to support same-sex marriage at Duke. It’s much harder to listen and earnestly engage in debate.” —Lewis Purcell in ‘Toward respect for different opinions.’ See column page 10
infected individuals. The researchers were successful in finding an immunogen—a substance that provokes an immune system response—able to induce these antibodies. These findings were published in the science journal, Nature, April 3. “What the Nature paper does for the first time is it shows the arms race from the antibody point of view and the virus point of view,” said Dr. Barton Haynes, leader of the research team and director of the Duke Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology and Immunogen Discovery. “We have the sequence of [HIV] mutations that induce the broadly neutralizing antibodies. The black box is open.” The ‘arms race’ Most individuals’ immune systems do not create broadly neutralizing antibodies. As the virus evolves over time, the immune system creates different antibodies to respond to each “new” version of HIV. “The best way to think about the problem is an arms race—when one country makes a SEE HIV ON PAGE 12
Recess previews Full Frame documentary festival