News

In the latest episode of the Duke Clinical Research Institute podcast, "Beyond the Endpoint," Lauren Franz, MBChB, MPH, interim director of the Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development, joins hosts Manesh Patel, MD, and Emily O'Brien, PhD, for an in-depth conversation about autism research, care, and community. Franz explains what autism is as a neurodevelopmental spectrum condition and how our understanding of it has evolved significantly over the last decade.

“TMS and Neuroethics,” a new book co-edited by Duke Psychiatry's Jonathan Young, MD, addresses ethical considerations in transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), capturing both the broad field of research that has already been done on TMS and outlining a path forward for using TMS ethically. This Q&A with Young and his co-editor Veljko Dubljević, PhD, a professor at NC State University, explores some of the issues addressed in the book.

Associate professor Jessica Lunsford-Avery, PhD, has been appointed associate APT director for the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences.

Associate professor Caroline Dorfman, PhD, has been appointed division co-director of Behavioral Medicine and Neurosciences in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences.

A team led by Duke Psychiatry adjunct faculty member Nicole Schramm-Sapyta, PhD, has built a database of more than 23,000 individuals with mental health diagnoses who were locally incarcerated between 2014 and 2023. The goal is to have better interventions and stronger partnerships between health and criminal justice systems in Durham and beyond. This Duets podcast episode explores the project.

There are the physical efforts to prepare communities for a natural disaster, to communicate during response, and to mitigate damage—and to learn from the things that went catastrophically wrong. Here’s how Duke experts—including Duke Psychiatry's Robin Gurwitch, PhD, and Rajendra Morey, MD—are thinking about the less visible impacts on communities: our health, both mind and body, weeks, months and years out.

Thanks to the vision of several Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development faculty members, Duke's Perkins Library now offers sensory kits designed to offer calming input or stimulation to help people manage their emotions and stay focused—from squeeze balls to clicking fidget toys and more.

Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences researchers Gregory Sahlem, MD, and Tonisha Kearney-Ramos, PhD, share their promising research on a new therapy for cannabis use disorder. The treatment uses targeted magnetic pulses to retrain the brain and reduce cravings. Could this be the breakthrough needed by millions to break their cannabis habit?

Duke University School of Medicine has received a $1,493,450, four-year grant from the Department of Defense to develop and test a mobile app-based cognitive rehabilitation program to improve anger management among Veterans with traumatic brain injury and posttraumatic stress disorder.

Gary Maslow, MD, MPH, the Gorrell Family Distinguished Professor in Children’s Psychiatry, received the 2025 Outstanding Academic Service Award from the North Carolina Pediatric Society.