Seven of our long-time faculty members are retiring from the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences this year. These faculty members have advanced our field in a number of notable ways and their clinical work, research, and engagement with our education programs have impacted many people. We are incredibly thankful for their service at Duke and wish them all the very best in their next chapter!
Below are just a few highlights from their careers.
Michael Babyak, PhD
Professor of Medical Psychology
Retiring June 30 after 25 years of service
Dr. Michael Babyak came to Duke in 1994 as a psychology intern and joined the Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences faculty in 1996. He has collaborated as a biostatistician and co-investigator on many observational and experimental studies involving behavior, psychosocial factors, health and disease.
Dr. Babyak has co-authored more than 125 refereed journal articles and book chapters and given dozens of professional presentations, having conducted research on a range of topics including exercise and depression, hypertension, weight loss, the genetics of stress and heart disease and sickle cell disease. He has also served as a reviewer for a number of journals, including JAMA and Circulation.
Dan Blazer, MD, MPH, PhD
J.P. Gibbons Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry
Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
Professor of Community & Family Medicine
Retiring June 30 after 45 years of service
Dr. Dan Blazer completed his psychiatry residency at Duke in 1975 and joined the faculty in 1976. Over the years, his department leadership roles have included (to name just a few) Interim Chair (1990-1992), Vice Chair for Academic Development (1999-2014), and Vice Chair for Education (1999-2011). He also served as the Dean of Medical Education at Duke (1992-1999) and has held leadership positions in several state and national organizations.
Dr. Blazer has co-authored more than 500 refereed journal articles, nearly 200 book chapters and 40 books, and has delivered more than 250 invited professional presentations. His research interests have spanned psychiatric epidemiology, late life depression, substance use disorders, chronic illnesses, religion and psychiatry and mortality. Dr. Blazer has received more than 50 professional awards and special recognitions.
Beverly Brummett, PhD
Associate Research Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
Retiring June 30 after 22 years of service
Dr. Beverly Brummett began her career at Duke as a postdoctoral fellow in the Behavioral Medicine Research Center and joined the faculty in 1999.
Dr. Brummett has delivered well over 50 professional presentations and co-authored more than 80 refereed journal articles and book chapters on topics including major depressive disorder and depressive symptomology; psychosocial determinants or correlates of cardiovascular disease; and the influence of stressful emotional responses, combined with proposed genetic markers, on functioning and quality of life in older adults. Dr. Brummett has served as a mentor to researchers at various stages in their careers, from doctoral students through junior faculty members.
John Curry, PhD, MA
Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
Retiring June 30 after 44 years of service
Dr. John Curry came to Duke in 1976 as a psychology intern and joined the faculty in 1977. He has held several leadership roles in the department, including Director of the Collaborative Clinical Psychology Program (1997-2011) and Co-Division Chief in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Co-Director of the Duke Child and Family Study Center (2008-2011).
Dr. Curry’s clinical practice has focused on psychotherapy and personality assessments with children, adolescents, adults and parents. His research interests have included adolescent depression and substance use, comparative treatment trials, and ethnic and racial differences in treatment retention and outcomes, and he has co-authored more than 140 refereed journal articles and book chapters. In addition, he has published several psychotherapy treatment manuals.
Ellen Gerrity, PhD, MA
Associate Professor in Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
Retiring September 30 after 18 years of service
Dr. Ellen Gerrity has served as the Associate Director & Senior Policy Advisor at the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress (NCCTS) since 2003. Her other NCCTS leadership roles include Executive Committee member and Executive Director of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network Advisory Board from 2004 to 2019. Throughout this time, she has mentored and provided continuing education to NCCTS faculty and from Duke and UCLA on policy education.
Dr. Gerrity has conducted regular educational briefings of congressional and federal agency officials and stakeholders on topics related to child trauma and other issues relevant to the mission of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. She has co-developed numerous NCTSN policy briefs and developed and presented dozens of national courses, workshops and symposia.
Lisa Gwyther, MSW, ACSW, LCSW
Associate Professor in Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
Retiring June 30 after 42 years of service
Lisa Gwyther founded the Family Support Program at the Duke University Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development in 1980 and has led the program since its inception. She has also held leadership positions in the Gerontological Society of America, Alzheimer's Association and the American Geriatrics Society.
Ms. Gwyther has published nearly 150 articles, book chapters and books on research spanning Alzheimer’s care, family caregiving, integrated dementia care services, nursing home interventions and community translation of evidence-based family caregiver interventions. She has also co-produced several award-winning documentary videos about Alzheimer’s disease and other conditions faced by older adults. Ms. Gwyther has had continuous annual contracts from the NC DHHS Division of Aging since 1984 and served on the U.S. federal advisory panel on Alzheimer’s disease for nine years.
Richard Weiner, MD, PhD
Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
Retiring June 30 after 44 years of service
Dr. Richard Weiner earned his MD and PhD at Duke and joined the faculty in 1979. He has held a number of leadership roles in the department, including (to name just a few) Director of the Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) Program (1991-2020), Interim Chair (2015-2017) and Executive Vice Chair (2017-2018). He also served as the Chief of the Mental Health Service Line at the Durham VA Medical Center (1993-2015).
Dr. Weiner’s primary clinical and research focus has been ECT. He has co-authored more than 225 refereed journal articles and given more than 250 invited presentations and has served as a consultant for ECT research programs at multiple universities. Dr. Weiner is a Distinguished Life Fellow at the American Psychiatric Association.
These brief summaries barely scratch the surface of these seven faculty members’ accomplishments and the positive ways they’ve impacted our community here at Duke, as well as across Durham, the state, the U.S. and the world. We are extremely proud of and deeply grateful for their contributions.