Duke Center for Computational and Digital Health Innovation

Penner Web Design partnered with the Duke Center for Computational and Digital Health Innovation to build a powerful, research-focused website that could grow and evolve with their work. The goal was to create a digital home that reflected the center’s cutting-edge research while being simple enough for a busy academic team to manage with ease. The result is a clean, elegant design built on a rock-solid custom WordPress framework.

This project involved developing a highly customized back end using custom post types and custom fields for their key content areas: research projects, publications, events, and team members. Each section needed to be both independently manageable and deeply interconnected. For example, research projects could be tied to specific researchers, publications, and upcoming events—giving visitors a seamless view of the work and the people behind it.

To make all of this possible, I built a flexible admin dashboard that strips away WordPress clutter and makes it easy for their team to update content without needing to dig into code. I leveraged Advanced Custom Fields and custom templates to give them control over complex content while keeping the editing experience intuitive. I also used custom query loops to display dynamic content throughout the site, ensuring that related items always stay in sync.

The final product is more than just a website—it’s a dynamic publishing platform tailored to the unique needs of a research institution. It’s fast, accessible, easy to navigate, and incredibly flexible behind the scenes. Now, the Duke team can focus on their mission while knowing their site will keep pace with their growing body of work.