News

When Bernadette Vereen, MSW, LCSW-A, was hired as a member of Duke Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences’ growing perinatal mental health team in fall 2021, she quickly connected with Julia Tarr, MSW, LCSW, who had recently begun her role serving three Duke Perinatal high-risk obstetrics clinics. Within a few months, the two social workers were talking daily, collaborating to figure out how to best provide behavioral health support to patients with high-risk pregnancies.

Through a new National Institutes of Health grant, Sarah “Sadie” Wilson, PhD, hopes to reduce inequities that place Latinx individuals at higher risk of HIV. She’s partnering with her friend and colleague, Joaquin Carcaño, director of southern health policy at Latinos in the South, to launch a community-based, equity-focused initiative in the Charlotte, North Carolina area.

Undergraduate students who are feeling stressed can get immediate support every night via DukeLine, an anonymous texting platform that connects them with trained peers. Duke Psychiatry's Nancy Zucker, PhD, founded and leads the support service.

An article co-authored by Theodore Slotkin, PhD, professor of pharmacology and cancer biology; Edward Levin, PhD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences; and Frederic Seidler, PhD, assistant research professor emeritus of pharmacology and cancer biology, has been selected by the Society of Toxicology (SOT) Board of Publications to receive the 2023 Toxicological Sciences Paper of the Year Award.

Duke student Bobby Menges' vision became his legacy after he passed away from cancer in 2017. His family started the I’m Not Done Yet Foundation, which focuses on supporting teen and young adult patients with cancer and other serious, chronic, and long-term illnesses as they transition from pediatric to adult care. With the foundation’s generous support, Duke Psychiatry established Bobby’s Coaches, a peer support program that pairs young adult cancer survivors with younger mentees.

Led by Duke Psychiatry's Allison Gilbert, PhD, MPH, a Duke research team conducted a multi-site evaluation of North Carolina Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) programs, a pre-arrest initiative that aims to break the cycle of repeated arrest for low-level unlawful behavior among people who use drugs and instead connect them to program support and treatment services. Findings are detailed here.

Betty Staples, MD, and Jane Gagliardi, MD, are recipients of a one-year $50,000 Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation Catalyst Award for Transformation in Graduate Medical Education. This award funds projects in graduate medical education that support civility, psychological safety, and thriving in the clinical learning environment for residents and fellows.

Through a novel peer coaching initiative, Duke neurosurgery residents have an outlet to process their experiences in residency and learn strategies to help them cope with the challenges of graduate medical training. The initiative also gives clinical psychology doctoral interns in Duke Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences an opportunity to hone their skills in coaching, building connections with peer trainees, and facilitating small groups.

Jodie Neukirch Elliott, who was born with a heart condition, was passionate about helping adolescents and young adults with chronic medical conditions; nowhere was this more evident than in her tireless work to create magical virtual Children's Prom experiences during the pandemic. She passed away on August 3, 2022, from complications related to a heart transplant. In honor of her creativity and dedication to making the annual event as special as possible for participants, the Duke Children’s Prom will be renamed “Jodie’s Prom.”

Starting as a grassroots project, Neurodiversity Connections aims to help neurodivergent students access mental health care, academic resources and other relevant materials through existing organizations on campus. Duke Psychiatry's Tara Chandrasekhar, MD, is one of the co-founders of the group.