Each February, Duke Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences honors the legacy of Dr. James H. Carter, Sr., the first Black full professor of psychiatry at Duke University School of Medicine, with a named Grand Rounds lecture.
Throughout his career, Carter was passionate about and dedicated to community psychiatry, particularly in the areas of substance use and mental health care for prisoners. He played a critical role in building mental health services at several community health centers and other facilities throughout North Carolina’s Triangle area and beyond.
In 2024, the department invited Denese O. Shervington, MD, MPH, chair and professor of psychiatry at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science, to deliver the Carter lecture. Her talk was titled, “From Psychoanalytic Discourse to the Social Ecological Model: A Justice and Arts-Based Framework for Healing from Anti-Black Racial Trauma.”
The annual Carter lecture is just one example of Duke Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences’ commitment to invite 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. Another annual lecture commemorates the contributions of the late Rev. Dr. James Brown, who served as pastor of First Missionary Baptist Church in Jacksonville, NC, and was an inspirational leader in advancing brain health at the community level.
The department’s Grand Rounds committee allots several slots per year for a dedicated “Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI)” series, while also working to expand the overall scope of Grand Rounds programming to include a broader range of speakers, topics, and perspectives.
In 2024, Grand Rounds talks covered key topics such as mental health disparities research in Native American communities, inclusive practices in healthcare, strategies for decriminalizing mental illness, methods for reducing treatment delay of Latinos with first episode psychosis, global perspectives on closing the early intervention gap in autism, and increasing pathways for NIH diversity supplements, to name just a few topics.
Duke Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences Grand Rounds are delivered mostly virtually via Zoom, with several sessions held in person each year. The talks typically draw more than 180 participants, including department faculty, learners, and staff members, as well as members of the Duke University and surrounding community.
“Maintaining diversity in our Grand Rounds series is critical to ensuring that our research and clinical efforts reflect the diversity of the patients we serve in our clinics, particularly those from underrepresented communities and their mental health needs.”
— Jonathan Posner, MD
“Maintaining diversity in our Grand Rounds series is critical to ensuring that our research and clinical efforts reflect the diversity of the patients we serve in our clinics, particularly those from underrepresented communities and their mental health needs,” said Jonathan Posner, MD, vice chair for research in Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and co-chair of the department’s Grand Rounds committee.
Throughout the year, the department also hosts other sessions designed to engage department members in exploring diverse perspectives, reflecting on their own identity and biases, developing an understanding of challenges faced by people in marginalized communities, and other related topics.
In 2024, these opportunities included “Communicating across Difference,” a workshop facilitated by Elizabeth Jones, PhD, director of education and alternative resolutions in the Duke Office for Institutional Equity, and “Trans 101,” a learning session presented by Angel Collie, director of the Duke Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity.
“To truly advance our field, it is essential that we uplift historically underrepresented scholars to ensure that their expertise continues to inform our understanding of mental and behavioral health and well-being."
— Tyson Pankey, PhD, MPH
“Grand Rounds is a cornerstone of education within Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, offering a unique platform to explore cutting-edge research, interventions, and paradigms,” said Tyson Pankey, PhD, MPH, an assistant professor and the department’s vice chair for EDI. “To truly advance our field, it is essential that we uplift historically underrepresented scholars to ensure that their expertise continues to inform our understanding of mental and behavioral health and well-being."
Learn more about the department’s EDI-focused learning opportunities.
Interested in receiving our Grand Rounds announcements? Send a request to psychgrandrounds@dm.duke.edu!