News

Duke University has awarded distinguished professorships to 32 faculty, including 17 from the School of Medicine. Two of them—Gary Maslow, MD, MPH, and department chair Moira Rynn, MD—are members of the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences.

Psychiatry residents Abdelrahman Ibrahim, MBBS, and Adam Howard, MD, ScM, and assistant professor Hiba Zaidi, MBBS, are developing strategies to help Duke’s health system better respond to the religious considerations of Muslim patients, particularly in the behavioral health environment. Their efforts include providing guidance on accommodating patients during Ramadan and improving access to clothing appropriate for Muslim patients on psychiatric units.

ADHD shows up differently in women than in men; it’s often coupled with anxiety and depression. And the number of women diagnosed with ADHD is on the rise. Research also finds that hormones may affect how ADHD impacts women.

In their recent JAMA article, “Changing Story of the Dementia Epidemic,” Duke University researchers, P.J. Eric Stallard, ASA, MAAA, FCA, Svetlana V. Ukraintseva, PhD, and Murali Doraiswamy, MBBS, FRCP, point out a crucial error in prior in U.S. estimates of dementia. Stallard and Doraiswamy discuss the research in this Q&A.

Symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), which could include challenges with inattention or compulsive behaviors, first arise in childhood. Check out this video to learn more about ADHD, a condition affecting how the brain grows and develops, and when to seek help—and what Duke's Center for Girls & Women with ADHD is doing to support this population's particular needs.

An artificial intelligence (AI) model developed by Duke researchers accurately predicted when adolescents were at high risk for future serious mental health issues before symptoms become severe. Unlike prior models that primarily rely on existing symptoms, the AI model identified underlying causes, such as sleep disturbances and family conflict, that could be used to prescribe interventions. Duke Psychiatry's Jonathan Posner, MD, was senior author of the study.

Maggie Sweitzer, PhD, has been named director of the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences’ Clinical Research Unit (CRU). She'll be responsible for ensuring the integrity, financial accountability, regulatory compliance, quality, and academic productivity of clinical and translational human subject research within the unit. 

Psychological distress is a significant yet often underrecognized issue among veteran patients with lung cancer. Duke Psychiatry faculty members and Duke Cancer Institute affiliates Katherine Ramos, PhD, and Laura Porter, PhD, recently published these findings—and suggested approaches for providers—in the journal "Psychological Services."

Henry Edmonds, an outreach program coordinator at the Duke-UNC Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center since 2022, takes pride in his success with increasing African American participation in the center’s studies. Prior to his current role, he served for 20 years in a similar position with the Bryan Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center in the Department of Neurology.

Jeffrey Baker, MD, a professor of pediatrics and medical historian, and Damon Tweedy, MD, a professor of psychiatry and author of “Black Man in a White Coat,” have launched “Unhealed,” a new seven-episode podcast exploring the story of Matheus Avery, a 24-year-old Army veteran who suffered severe brain injuries in a car wreck near Mebane in 1950 and died shortly after he was turned away from care at Duke—and why his story still matters today.