News

In this AAMC Viewpoint article, Damon Tweedy, MD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and New York Times best-selling author, argues that curtailing training in diversity, equity, and inclusion risks ignoring the shadow of history that still haunts many Black patients.

Rather than focusing on fixing symptoms, professor and psychiatrist Warren Kinghorn, MD, ThD, describes in a new book, "Wayfaring," how to reframe mental health care as learning to live more wisely and fully in the world.

About 30% of U.S. adults say they do not get enough sleep, which can lead to increased risk of hypertension, diabetes, obesity, depression, heart attack and stroke. Duke Psychiatry's Jessica Lunsford Avery, PhD, said there are several common obstacles we face when trying to improve our sleep. In this Working@Duke article, she shares insights on how to overcome the pitfalls of not getting the sleep we need.

Teresa Fisher is celebrating 39 years at Duke and 24 years as part of the Duke Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences staff. As a financial management analyst II, she works on Duke Health Integrated Practice (DHIP) payroll and budgets, University financials, faculty compensation, and special projects.

Warren Kinghorn, MD, ThD, a professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences and divinity, co-leads Re-Imagining Medicine, a summer program that asks pre-health students to develop an understanding of their own stories, the stories of their communities, and the stories of the cultures that have shaped them. 

Psychiatrist Nora Dennis, MD, MSPH, DFAPA, an alumna of Duke's medical school and psychiatry residency, saw a need for more programs to help people return to their lives after a mental health crisis. She has created one at Jubilee Healing Farm, a place she calls “generative and abundant and collaborative." Dennis is also an adjunct assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences.

Duke Psychiatry's Sarah Maylott, PhD, and Liz Conradt, PhD, and colleagues documented the complexity of emotional dysregulation in pregnant women and showed that it is linked to neurobehavior in their newborns. The study, published in the journal Pediatrics Research, could have implications for reducing opioid use and potentially improving newborn neurobehavioral outcomes.

Jeannie Beckham, PhD, came to Duke Psychiatry in 1989 as a postdoctoral fellow in pain management. Thirty-five years later, she's a tenured professor conducting research in the department and the Durham VA, with nearly 50 grants and 450+ publications to her name. Beckham also co-leads the department's Division of Behavioral Medicine.

A study led by Duke University medical student Dana Rubenstein reveals a complex cycle between substance use and pain. Researchers, including Duke Psychiatry's Joseph McClernon, PhD, and Maggie Sweitzer, PhD, found that pain can drive substance use, and substance use can worsen pain. This cycle can result in a perpetual pain loop for the one in five Americans who experience chronic pain.

The Duke Center for Autism & Brain Development recently co-sponsored a first-of-its-kind conference to bring together interdisciplinary panels of researchers, clinicians, families, and patients affected by FOXP1 syndrome. FOXP1 results in significant developmental delays and is strongly correlated with autism.