Scholars@Duke
Heather Elizabeth Whitson

Heather Elizabeth Whitson

Duke School of Medicine Distinguished Professor in Neuroscience
Medicine, Geriatrics and Palliative Care
Duke Box 3003, Durham, NC 27710
Dept of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710

Scholarly Works - Preprints

Immune Biomarker Signatures as Predictors of Functional and Pain Recovery After Total Knee Arthroplasty in Older Adults.

Preprint · June 10, 2026 UNLABELLED: Postoperative resilience varies widely among older adults, yet the biological drivers of recovery remain unclear. We evaluated whether preoperative immune profiles-measured in plasma and through ex vivo whole-blood stimulation-predict resilienc ... Full text Link to item Cite

Olfactory biopsy analysis of Alzheimer's pathobiology across disease stages.

Preprint · November 12, 2025 Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative condition affecting millions worldwide. Defining early pathobiological events remains challenging, in part due to inaccessibility of neural tissue. Because olfactory neurons are accessible, and olfactory loss ... Full text Link to item Cite

Age-related Macular Degeneration is associated with faster rates of structural brain changes and widespread differences in connectivity

Preprint · 2022 Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a prevalent disease impeding vision. More recently, AMD has also been linked to cognitive impairment, such as deficits in language and memory skills. In order to better understand the extent of AMD-related changes ... Full text Open Access Cite