Check out our news archive below to learn more about what’s happening in Duke Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences!
New Psychiatry Clerkship Director Seeks to Inspire Interest in Behavioral Health
As the new director of the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences clerkship program, Cerrone Cohen, MD, an assistant professor in both psychiatry and behavioral sciences and family medicine and community health, recognizes the valuable opportunity the clerkship gives Duke University medical students, while also getting equally energized about the vital long-term role it can play in preparing students to help address the mental health crisis in the U.S.
Study Shows Crossword Puzzles Beat Computer Games in Slowing Memory Loss
A randomized study led by Columbia University and Duke Psychiatry's Murali Doraiswamy, MBBS, FRCP, determined that crossword puzzles have an advantage over computer video games for memory functioning in older adults with mild cognitive impairment.
For Duke Researchers, Internal Seed Funding Yields a Robust Harvest
Duke Interdisciplinary Studies highlights how collaboratory grants help Duke faculty grow ideas and build a foundation for larger external grants. One of the projects featured is a digital app designed to increase the accuracy of autism screening for young children—an interdisciplinary endeavor between the Duke Center for Autism & Brain Development and Duke's Pratt School of Engineering. This fall, the center was awarded a $12 million grant to develop AI tools for detecting autism during infancy and identifying biomarkers in the brain.
The Kids Are Not Alright: NC-PAL Expands Access to Pediatric Mental Health Services
Courtney Gardner, MSN, a pediatric nurse practitioner in Marion, North Carolina, has seen a tremendous increase in depression and anxiety among her patients in the past few years. However, there are very few pediatric mental health specialists in rural McDowell County or nearby counties — certainly not enough to meet demand. That’s why she is grateful for the support of NC-PAL, a telephone consultation and continuing education program for primary care providers who treat pediatric or perinatal patients with mental health concerns.
Digital Caregiver Autism Coaching App Gets Funding from Bass Connections
All Babies and Children Thrive (ABC Thrive), an initiative of Bass Connections, has awarded follow-on grants to two interdisciplinary teams addressing barriers to services and supporting well-being for young children. One of these grants went to a team at the Duke Center for Autism & Brain Development, to integrate digital autism caregiver coaching into their screening and outcome monitoring tool, the SenseToKnow app. The app will provide information about best practices for early intervention and allow caregivers to track the child’s developmental progress.
Blue Devil of the Week: Creating an Inclusive Climate for those Facing Trauma
Whether Duke Psychiatry's Angela Tunno, PhD, MS, is working with young patients at Duke or helping community-level systems serve trauma survivors with the Center for Child & Family Health, Dr. Tunno works to help children and families find healing. In recognition of her excellent and impactful work, she was named Blue Devil of the Week by Working@Duke this week.
Developing & Testing an Innovative Pain Management Alternative to Opioids
Chronic pain is one of the most common reasons adults in the U.S. seek medical care. Opiates are often used as a pharmacological intervention, but they present a risk of substance use disorder. In an effort to develop an alternative form of treatment, Duke Psychiatry's Eric Elbogen, PhD, and his team turned to “neurofeedback,” or electroencephalograph (EEG) biofeedback treatment.
The Rich Nonprofits Get Richer: Centering Psychiatric Grant Funding at the Margins
Community psychiatrists serve multiple institutional roles, and at times these roles may include the review of grant proposals from nonprofit organizations. In this column published in "Psychiatric Services," the authors, including Duke Psychiatry's Marvin Swartz, MD, argue that privilege and social capital can easily become concentrated among a small group of centralized model organizations and influence the grant review process. By applying a structural lens to this problem, funding entities can identify approaches that more effectively promote equity throughout the grant life cycle.
Carla Wall Recognized as Outstanding Postdoc
Carla Wall, PhD, a postdoctoral associate and an alumna of the Duke Psychiatry Clinical Psychology Doctoral Internship, was selected as one of two 2022 Outstanding Postdocs at Duke. She was nominated by her faculty mentor, Jill Howard, PhD, as well as other research team members.
Dzirasa Wins Prestigious NIH Pioneer Award to Develop New Way To Fine-Tune Brain Circuits
The $3.5 million award will adapt a cell-linker protein in humans that improves crosstalk between brain regions in hopes of rewiring circuits that go awry in psychiatric disorders. The NIH has recognized Dzirasa as one of just eight scholars for the 2022 Director’s Pioneer Award, which specifically funds promising and often paradigm-shifting projects by exceptional researchers.