News

Associate professor Lauren Franz, MBChB, MPH, has been selected as the director of the Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development, effective July 6. Franz served as the center’s associate director from 2022 to 2024, when she became the interim director after Geraldine Dawson, PhD, William Cleland Distinguished Professor, stepped down from the center leadership role.

Congratulations to our Duke Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences trainees and faculty members who received these year-end awards.

Seven faculty members who have retired from the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences this year have been honored with emeritus/emerita status.

Duke Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences faculty members Colleen Cowperthwait, PhD, and Jill Howard, PhD, recently completed the Duke Clinical Leadership Program.

In a new study in JAMA Ophthalmology, Duke University School of Medicine researchers—including Duke Psychiatry's Kathryn Gustafson, PhD—found that specific features in the developing retina are closely linked to cognitive, motor, and behavioral outcomes at age 2. The findings suggest that the eye could serve as an early biomarker for brain development in vulnerable infants.

A therapeutic gardening program at Duke Behavioral Health North Durham is helping patients find calm and purpose by using nature to ease depression, anxiety, and stress.

Duke Psychiatry residency alumna Carrie Brown, MD'04, HS'04-'08, MPH, oversees the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services' psychiatric and behavioral health strategic policy and facilities.

A new custom-built biological “wire” developed at Duke University School of Medicine points the way toward a new treatment approach — bypassing broken brain connections, rather than relying on long-term medication or external stimulation. Led by Duke Psychiatry's Kafui Dzirasa, MD, PhD, the study was published in Nature.

Geraldine Dawson, PhD, founding director of the Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development, provides an update on the SenseToKnow app, which can help spot early signs of autism in very young children. With early detection, children can gain access to interventions that positively impact long-term outcomes.

Jane Gagliardi, MD, MHS, was honored with the Leonard Palumbo Jr., MD Faculty Achievement Award at the Duke University School of Medicine’s faculty and staff awards ceremony on May 12.