Duke Researchers Discover Genetic Link to Smoking Addiction

Researchers from Duke University along with scientists from the US, the UK and New Zealand  have identified genetic risk factors that may accelerate a teen's progression to becoming a lifelong heavy smoker.

Scientists Open Path to Brain Tumor Drug

A genetic mutation that prevents cell death may hold the key to treating deadly brain tumors, say Duke researchers in an article published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Duke accepts 2,897 applicants for Class of 2017

On Wednesday, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions at Duke University informed 2,897 applicants of their acceptance, making the regular decision acceptance rate 9.9 percent.

Duke Medicine Discovers Genetic Variations That Increase Ovarian Cancer Risk

An international research collaboration, including Duke Medicine researchers has found five new regions of the human genome that are linked to increased risks for developing ovarian cancer.

Duke Scientists Identify Two New Lemur Species

Duke Scientists have identified two new species of mouse lemur, the saucer-eyed, teacup-sized primates native to the African island of Madagascar.

Nate James Named Duke Basketball Assistant Coach

 Duke men’s basketball special assistant Nate James will be promoted to assistant coach.

Public Mural to be Unveiled Friday

A new Duke Art Annex mural will be unveiled on a 10,000 square foot building on Gattis Street on Friday A festival will be held from 3 to 6 p.m. Friday at the annex to celebrate the mural’s completion.

Lily Pulitzer Clothing Store to Open At Southpoint

A Lilly Pulitzer women’s clothing store is planned to open at The Streets at Southpoint this summer.

Durham Center for Senior Life Appoints New Director

Juanita Nelson has been appointed executive director of the Durham Center for Senior Life.

Cree Receives Energy Star Award

Durham-based Cree, Inc. of Durham received a 2013 Energy Star Program Award for Excellence for efficiency and product innovation.

Duke Picked for Hepatitis C Trials

The Duke Clinical Research Institute has been selected to run tests for a potential Hepatitis C cure. Benitec Biopharma Ltd., based in Sydney, Australia, is developing a drug to cure Hepatitis C and chose DCRI to run its Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials, the first in-human tests. Benitec has dubbed the drug TT-034.

Triangle Business Journal Leadership Awards Recognizes '40 Under 40'

The Triangle Business Journal has named its "40 Under 40" Leadership awards. The honorees will be recognized at an awards luncheon May 16 at the Durham Convention Center. The event will begin at 11 a.m. and end around 2 p.m.

American Underground Set to Expand

Durham's American Underground startup incubator plans to expand with another 22,000 sq ft available for rent later this spring. There are plans for 50 companies in that 22k square footage - or less than 450 sq ft per company.

Four Appointees Made to City of Durham Boards

During the month of March, four appointees were named to City of Durham boards, committees or commissions. Michael P. Valentine was appointed to the Durham Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission; David L. Davis was appointed to the Durham City-County Appearance Commission; Christopher A. Werner was appointed to the Durham City-County Environmental Affairs Board; and Edward L. Kwon was appointed to the Citizens Advisory Committee.

Durham CEO Named Health Care Hero for Innovation

The Triangle Business Journal named Durham-based Health Decision's CEO Michael Rosenberg , MD, MPH its 2013 Health Care Hero in the Innovator/Researcher category. Dr. Rosenberg was honored at an awards dinner March 21 at the Renaissance Raleigh North Hills Hotel.

BioCryst Starts Clinical Trial

Durham's BioCryst Pharmaceuticals announced Monday that it has started a Phase 1 multi-million-dollar clinical trial to test the safety of its drug that treats hereditary angioedema.

Chez Moi Cake Truck to Open This Weekend

Chez Moi is launching a food truck on Sunday during an event at Fullsteam Brewery in Durham. The truck will specialize in cakes fueled with rum, tequila, bourbon and vodka. They will also offer some of the cakes as ice cream sandwiches.

Fish House Revived as Saucy Crab

The owner of the Fish House restaurant on Durham-Chapel Hill Boulevard has opened a new, more casual concept in the same location called The Saucy Crab.

Duke Researchers Identify Immortality Gene Mutations

Newly identified mutations in a gene that makes cells immortal appear to play a pivotal role in three of the most common types of brain tumors, as well as cancers of the liver, tongue and urinary tract, according to research led by Duke Cancer Institute.

New Pizza Eatery Planned for Downtown

Seth Gross, owner of the downtown restaurant and brewery Bull City Burger and Brewery, is planning a second restaurant called Pompieri Pizza that would be at 102 City Hall Plaza at the Fire House at Roger’s Alley. The downtown property, currently empty, is owned by Durham's Greenfire Development.

RTI Awarded $5.4 Million Grant

Researchers from Durham's RTI International were awarded a two-year $5.4 million grant from the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development to help children in rural Kenya learn to read and do math.

EMC's Center of Excellence Earns LEED Gold Certification

EMC Corporation  announced that the company has earned LEED Gold – Commercial Interiors certification for Phases 1 and 2 of its 450,000 square foot Center of Excellence in Durham, North Carolina. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is an internationally recognized green building rating and certification system of the  U.S. Green Building Council .

Centice Raises $10 Million

Durham-based Centice has raised nearly $10 million in an equity round involving three investors, according to a securities filing.

Sequenom to Open Durham Facility This Year

Sequenom, a San Diego, Calif.,-based company expects a Durham Research Triangle Park laboratory to be operational later this year that would primarily be for processing a blood test for Down syndrome.

Duke, UVA Join Forces to Offer Creole, Tibetan Language Courses

Starting this fall, Duke students can take Tibetan classes taught at the University of Virginia, part of a new distance learning venture aimed at broadening the availability of low-visibility languages.

Duke Offers Employees Housing Subsidies for Southside Neighborhood Homes

In an effort to redevelop the Southside neighborhood, south of downtown Durham, eligible Duke University and Health System employees can qualify for loans and incentives that will cover up to $50,000 to purchase one of the 10 houses that are part of the initial project development.

Chimerix Names Chief Development Officer

A week after filing an $84 million public offering, Durham-based Chimerix has tapped Michael Rogers as chief development officer.

Duke Student Raises Funds for SIDS Research

Duke Freshman Michael McConille is raising funds to support research for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome via his website, Brackets for Life.

Duke Announces "Reverse Rhodes Scholarship"

Eight U.S. universities including Duke have established the Vest Scholarship program to spur international collaborations among graduate students whose studies are focused on tackling some of the world’s biggest challenges through engineering.

Durham Tire Store Acquired

Tire King stores are now operating as Mr. Tire stores following an acquisition of the Durham-based Tire King chain by Rochester, N.Y.,-based Monro Muffler Brake Inc.

Durham-Based Diaper Bank of NC Launches

Durham-based Diaper Bank of North Carolina has launched with the help of Kidcycle and Watts Street Baptist Church. The Diaper Bank of North Carolina intends to supply diapers for children living in poverty.

Tijuana Flats is Coming to Ninth Street

Tijuana Flats, a Tex-Mex restaurant is coming to Ninth Street, in the new Shops at Erwin Mills development.

Duke Business School Rises in Ranking

Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business inched up one spot to #11 in the annual business school rankings by U.S. News & World Report.

Duke Wins ACC Title

The Duke University Women's Basketball team claimed the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title with a 92-73 win over the University of North Carolina.

Art Gallery to Open Downtown Durham in April

In April, Pleiades Gallery will be open in Five Points in Downtown Durham. The fine arts gallery will be at 109 E. Chapel Hill St., in a building renovated by Center Studio Architecture.

Durham-based Chimerix files for IPO

Chimerix Inc., a company that is working to develop oral antiviral therapeutics, has filed a registration statement to raise a proposed $85 million through an initial public offering.

Chicago Eatery Opens Durham Location

Chicago's Micky’s Chicken and Fish has opened a Durham location at Northgate Mall’s Food Gallery.

Calderbank to Direct Interdisciplinary 'Big Data' Effort at Duke

Robert Calderbank, the Phillip Griffiths professor of computer science, mathematics and electrical and computer engineering at Duke University, has been appointed director of an interdisciplinary program designed to increase "big data" computational research, named the Information Initiative at Duke.

Duke Appoints Kiehart Dean Of Natural Sciences

Dan Kiehart, a cell biologist and chair of Duke University's Department of Biology, has been appointed dean of the Natural Sciences Division within Trinity College of Arts & Sciences, effective July 1.

Duke Law Launches Clinic

Duke University's Law School will launch an international human rights law clinic in the next academic year headed by Jayne Huckerby, a prominent human rights lawyer, advocate, and teacher, who will join the faculty July 1 as an associate clinical professor of law and director of the new clinic.

Duke Approves New Major in Global Health

The Duke University Trinity College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Council voted to approve the creation of a global health major and minor for Duke undergraduates. The vote establishes one of the country’s first liberal arts majors in global health.

Physical Therapy Institute to Open in Durham

Drayer Physical Therapy Institute announced recently that it will open a center in Durham and offer orthopedic, pre- and post-operative rehabilitation, neurological rehabilitation, vestibular rehabilitation, cervical and lumbar spine therapy, rehabilitation, among other services.

Carolina Theatre Introduces Mobile Ticketing

Visitors to The Carolina Theatre may now use their smart phones to view their tickets and use their phones for entry to Carolina Theatre events.

Monuts Donuts Opens in Durham

Monuts Donuts has opened its brick and mortar store at 110 Parrish Street with business hours being from 7am-2pm every day but Tuesday.

NCCU Releases Eagles App

NCCU has unveiled a mobile App that allows users to listen to games, check out past interviews with players and coaches and keep abreast of the latest news about the Eagles.

Pelican's SnoBalls Adds Location

 A second Pelican’s SnoBalls location is planned to open April 1 in Durham at 606 Fayetteville St.

Cree Hires 200, More Jobs to Come

Cree is making new LED bulbs and if they prove popular to consumers then the Durham-based firm is likely to add even more jobs to the 200 recently hired to make the bulbs.

Charter Schools Planned for Durham

Five charter schools are proposed for Durham County, including a statewide online charter school.

Grand opening at New Courthouse Sunday

Durham County Government and the N. C. Administrative Offices of the Courts will host a grand opening for the new Durham County Courthouse Sunday from 2 to p.m.

Durham’s Cenduit Adding Space, Workers

Clinical supplies management services company Cenduit LLC is expanding its Durham headquarters from 45 Durham employees to 57 by the end of the year.

United Therapeutics to Build New Facility in RTP

United Therapeutics Corp. plans to build a new facility for pig lung transplant research on site of the Elion-Hitchings building in Research Triangle Park in Durham.

Organic Transit Heads to Germany

Durham-based Organic Transit is taking its solar/pedal powered trike overseas. The ELF car will be presented at the CeBIT 2013 trade show in Hanover, Germany March 5-9 as one of 50 startup competition finalists.

Durham-based TCG Partners with German Consulting Firm

Technology Commercialization Group (TCG) is joining forces with Life Science Consulting Network (LSCN),  a German firm.  The partnership is aimed at smoothing the path to market for new drugs and medical devices on both sides of the Atlantic.

Sentinel Hires Executives

Sentinel Data Centers, which is building a massive 420,000 square foot complex in Durham that will cost some $200 million, has hired Brian Baker to serve as vice president for Southeast Business Development, and Matthew Baker,who will serve as site director.