News

Scientists at University of California San Francisco, Yale, and Duke (Duke Psychiatry's Bill Wetsel, PhD) have developed two new drug candidates for potentially treating addiction and depression, modeled on the pharmacology of a traditional African psychedelic plant medicine called ibogaine. At very low doses, these new compounds were able to blunt symptoms of both conditions in mice.

With May designated as Mental Health Awareness Month, Duke Today highlights some of the mental health and well-being resources available through Duke for faculty, staff, trainees, and students.

Kelly Sullivan, PhD, director of mental health services at the Center for Child & Family Health and associate professor in Duke Psychiatry, has dedicated her career to treating and preventing childhood trauma. Dr. Sullivan was recognized as Blue Devil of the Week.

Anyone who is struggling to recover from trauma can now receive one of the gold-standard treatments for PTSD, thanks to a new book co-authored by Patricia Resick, PhD. "Getting Unstuck from PTSD: Using Cognitive Processing Therapy to Guide Your Recovery" is the first self-help workbook based on cognitive processing therapy (CPT).

Duke Psychiatry's Kafui Dzirasa, MD, PhD, has been inducted into the class of 2023 of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) “for his pioneering work in understanding the electrical patterns that underlie mental health disorders and his advocacy for inclusive science.”

A community of graduate students and faculty from the Duke Clinical Psychology Program dedicated to fostering inclusive excellence recently won a Graduate School award for their work. Duke Psychiatry's Zach Rosenthal, PhD, who also holds an appointment in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, is the faculty lead for the group.

Duke's Office for Faculty Advancement has awarded seed grants to 14 new projects led by Duke faculty members, including a team in Duke Psychiatry seeking to increase neurodiversity competency of faculty at Duke.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and an associated spike in mental illness, a multidisciplinary, multipayer team of leaders across North Carolina launched the Collaborative Care Consortium to drive implementation of the Collaborative Care Model. Duke Psychiatry's Nathan Copeland, MD, MPH, and Marvin Swartz, MD, among other Duke Psychiatry faculty members, are involved in the effort.

Use of the Collaborative Care Model at Duke University began on a pilot basis five years ago, when the University Health System awarded the Department of Psychiatry an innovation grant to establish the model at a handful of primary care sites. Duke Psychiatry's Marvin Swartz, MD, is the director of the Duke Area Health Education Center (AHEC), which is providing training and technical support to practices implementing collaborative care.

Simon Davis, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the departments of neurology and psychiatry, was recently awarded a grant from the U.S. National Institute for Aging to study brain activity patterns that support memory function in aging adults. The $3.6 million grant will allow Davis and his colleagues to test whether a magnetic brain stimulation can improve memory in older adults aging healthy and those with an increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease.