News

After 45 years of service to the Duke University School of Medicine, James A. Blumenthal, PhD, ABPP, J. P. Gibbons Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, retired in February 2024. He was widely recognized as the leading behavioral science researcher in the field of cardiac rehabilitation and behavioral approaches to the clinical management of cardiovascular disorders.

Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) is known as a mental health resource for students on college campuses around the country. Former Duke Psychiatry faculty member Dr. Kenneth Rockwell was instrumental in creating Duke’s CAPS, and former faculty member Dr. Joseph Talley worked at CAPS from its inception in the 1970s till his retirement in 2022. Dr. Rockwell is highlighted as part of Duke's Centennial celebration.

For the past 38 years, Duke Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences has been Jaye Efland’s professional home. In her current role as a grants and contracts manager, she helps investigators through the administrative steps of sponsored research, including both pre- and post-award activities.

MaryAnn Black, a former Duke Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences faculty member, wore many hats during her lifetime: state representative, commissioner, social worker and eventually she took on the role of associate vice president for community relations for Duke Health.

Roberta Demery, an administrative assistant in the Division of Behavioral Medicine & Neurosciences, works to ensure that lab personnel using the Buy@Duke purchasing system complete their purchase requisitions accurately. She also processes p-card transactions for several faculty members. Her Duke career has spanned nearly four decades.

The first Black woman to graduate from the Duke School of Medicine in 1972, Jean Spaulding, MD, went on to help lead Duke Health as an administrator, making primary health care accessible to low-wealth residents across Durham and beyond. Spaulding is a Duke Psychiatry alumna and a former Duke Psychiatry consulting professor.

Cathy Lefebvre, a program coordinator in the Division of Child and Family Mental Health & Community Psychiatry, supports the psychiatry clerkship program for medical students and the Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences Grand Rounds series. She's worked in the department for 28 years, with a total of 31 years of service at the School of Medicine to date.