Retired physician Lyn Means and her husband say they didn’t retire to Durham, they retired to Duke. The couple, who most recently lived in Maine, moved in 2014 to live near Duke for the athletics, but have gotten so much more.
“We are Iron Duke members,” Means said. “We follow the men’s golf team and are big fans of Duke men’s basketball.” They have also joined the Duke Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) and regularly attend Duke performances and events.
But most importantly, Duke has been there when Means needed it most. In 2015, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and received all of her care – from diagnosis to surgery and treatment – from Duke. “I was very lucky,” Means said. “It was extremely early, and Duke provided great, thorough care for me.”
During a check-up for an asymptomatic heart condition, she was asked to consider joining OneDukeGen, a precision medicine study that will analyze DNA from 150,000 consented Duke patients.
She didn’t hesitate. For her, participating in OneDukeGen is a way to pay it forward. “What other women [who participated in past research and clinical studies] did directly impacted my care when I was undergoing treatment for breast cancer, and I’ll never get to thank them.”
In her professional career as a physician and executive associate dean at Indiana University School of Medicine, she helped write study protocols and worked with the Institutional Review Board on clinical and research studies. “A lot of these studies are providing the basis for treatment that has been thoroughly evaluated,” Means said. “Think of the rewards that one reaps from people who are willing to be in these trials so that you can have a healthier life. It’s pretty amazing.”
Eligible Duke patients will receive an invitation to join the study either during a previously scheduled appointment or through their Duke MyChart portal. Recruitment will be ongoing over the course of the six-year study. Participation is currently limited to established Duke patients.
About OneDukeGen
There is still a lot that we don’t understand about the connections between DNA and health. The more we study our DNA, the more we will learn what gene variants mean about us. As part of the Center for Precision Health within the Duke Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) and in partnership with nference, a science-first software company, OneDukeGen will use genetics and precision medicine to make scientific discoveries focused on improving the health and well-being of Duke patients. The team aims to enroll at least 150,000 Duke patients and research study participants. The more people who join, the better chance we have of finding new gene variants and understanding what the ones we already know about mean to our health.