The Austin Rivers shot. Zion Williamson's blown-out shoe. A bitter 2022 Final Four battle. The rivalry between Duke University and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (UNC) is storied—it’s filled with nail-biting moments and intense passion that have cemented it as one of college basketball's greatest match-ups. But, despite all of the bench-burning and “GTHC” cheers (if you know, you know), the relationship between Duke and UNC runs deeper than a sports rivalry. With only ten miles separating these two campuses, the Durham-Chapel Hill area has become a hotspot for collaborative and interdisciplinary innovation.

Above: Duke and UNC logos. Image courtesy of Duke Today.

Rotary Peace Center

One of just seven worldwide, the Duke-UNC Rotary Peace Center was founded in 2002 as part of Rotary International’s global initiative to promote peace and conflict resolution. Since then, each year the Center has welcomed ten graduate student fellows committed to the advancement of peace for two year terms, totaling 187 alumni from over 67 countries. Half of the fellows enroll at Duke University in the Master of International Development Policy program, while the other half enroll at UNC-Chapel Hill in a variety of master’s degree programs in social sciences or public health.

The Center is jointly managed by the Duke Center for International Development and UNC's Office of the Vice Provost for Global Affairs. This partnership gives fellows access to faculty, courses, resources, and technologies from both universities. “Rotary fellows bring an array of perspectives and ideas from around the world to our community… [and] the Center brings the world to Carolina and helps us prepare all students to become tomorrow’s leaders addressing the world’s greatest challenges,” Barbara Stephenson, Vice Provost for Global Affairs at UNC-Chapel Hill, said in an interview with UNC celebrating the 20th anniversary of the center. By leveraging the academic strengths of both universities, the Rotary Peace Center strives to create a world-class program to address complex global challenges.

Above: Rotary Peace Fellows receive certificates after presenting their master’s degree research. Image courtesy of Duke Center for International Development.

Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC)

In 2021, the National Institutes of Health awarded a $14.8 million grant to found the Duke-UNC Alzheimer Disease Research Center (ADRC). ADRC is one of 33 Alzheimer’s research centers in the nation, with a specific focus on discovering the factors behind the development of Alzheimer's Disease. ADRC arose from a collaboration between the two universities in 2019 and unites experts from a wide variety of disciplines, including neurology, radiology, and psychiatry. “The new ADRC unites two extraordinary institutions in the effort to prevent, delay and treat Alzheimer’s by focusing on the known risk factors, including race, age, female sex and genetic predisposition,” Dr. Rich O’Brien, chair of the Department of Neurology at Duke University School of Medicine, said in an interview with Duke Health News.

Above: A recruiting booth for an ADRC study on memory and aging study. Image courtesy of Duke and UNC ADRC.

Indeed, the research center is dedicated to creating tools for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's. In this respect, the ADRC is one-of-a-kind: it focuses on a wide variety of ages, encompassing 540 participants from as young as 25 to as old as 80. Duke researchers are also conducting a sub-study on women to investigate menopause as a contributing factor to the increased prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease in women compared to men.

The ADRC also aims to increase clinical trial participation of under-represented groups, as previous studies of Alzheimer’s have disproportionately examined only white participants. “Enrolling a diverse cohort that includes people with different lifestyles and racial backgrounds will help address risk in populations,” explained co-principal investigator Dr. Gwenn A. Garden, professor and chair of the Department of Neurology at the UNC School of Medicine, in an interview with UNC Health News. “This is important because we don’t know if current diagnostic approaches are as effective in populations that haven’t been well studied.”

While the Duke-UNC rivalry may ignite fierce competition and trash-talking on the basketball court, off the court these two institutions share a unique partnership. From fostering international peace through the Rotary Peace Center to pioneering Alzheimer's research at the ADRC, the future of collaboration is promising. After all, we both bleed blue.