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On January 24, Courtney McMickens, MD, MPH, MHS, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, gave the plenary address at Duke’s 32nd Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Banquet. The event, hosted by Duke’s chapter of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA)—a student-run organization for medical students of color—was held at the Hilton Durham. 

Emily Aarons, MD, a third-year psychiatry resident, received this year’s James H. Carter, Sr. Community Service Award. Carter was the first Black full professor of psychiatry at Duke, and the award was established in honor of his dedication to serving the underserved.

Medicine too often acts as if physical and emotional health exist in separate worlds, argues acclaimed author and Duke Psychiatry professor Damon Tweedy, MD. He offers ways to weave them together to better serve future physicians and the patients who sorely need their help.

P. Murali Doraiswamy, MBBS, FRCP, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and medicine, received a 2025 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award from Duke Health. This award honors Duke faculty, staff, and administrators who have gone above and beyond in their selfless dedication to the Duke Health mission and for their outstanding service in keeping with the principles of Dr. King.

Through Grand Rounds and other events, Duke Psychiatry hosts speakers from diverse backgrounds to share their expertise on a wide range of topics, including how history, culture, social identities, community, and belonging influence mental health and well-being.

Last year, Duke became the first institution in North Carolina to offer lecanemab, the first drug targeting the underlying processes of Alzheimer’s disease that has shown a clinical benefit. Duke now conducts the largest lecanemab clinic in the state, giving early-stage Alzheimer’s patients the gift of time and raising awareness about the need for more research. Kim G. Johnson, MD, division chief of Memory Disorders in the Department of Neurology and an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, is one of the physicians who prescribes the drug.

One in five children in the U.S. will suffer a concussion by age 16, but most research is focused on the first few weeks after the injury. A nursing faculty member’s research on long-term effects is a step in developing personalized concussion interventions. Peter Duquette, PhD—who recently joined the Duke Psychiatry faculty—co-authored this study while he was at his previous institution, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

In recent years, Duke Psychiatry education leaders have worked to bolster the psychiatry residency training requirements and elective opportunities to care for pediatric patients. With these changes, they aim to inspire more psychiatrists to pursue child and adolescent psychiatry and better equip those who ultimately choose to work with adults.

More than 50 Duke Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences faculty members, staff members, and trainees received noteworthy awards and honors, published books, or took on new leadership roles in 2024.

Hundreds of children with critical behavioral health conditions in NC are spending extensive time in emergency departments—an environment that's not always conducive to helping children thrive. To help address this challenge at Duke, leaders from Duke Health and the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences created the Duke Pediatric Emergency Department Extension Area, which gives children with medical or behavioral health conditions a safe and quiet place to receive care while they await appropriate disposition.