News

Duke University School of Medicine’s Black employee resource group held its third annual Juneteenth celebration on June 20. The event featured keynote speaker Damon Tweedy, MD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences.

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.

This National Institutes of Health article highlights a recent publication by researchers from Duke Center for Autism & Brain Development and collaborators. According to the study, supported in part by the National Institute of Mental Health, a tablet-based screening tool that analyzes children’s behavior in response to specific video clips shows promise for enhancing early autism screening.

Associate professor John Mitchell, PhD, has been named director of the Duke Clinical and Translational Science Institute's Community-Partnered Research Network (CPRN). In this role, Mitchell will collaborate closely with Duke faculty, academic partners, and community organizations to develop, implement, and provide oversight of the CPRN.

Pilot award recipients from the Duke CTSI and Children’s Health & Discovery Initiative (CHDI) Child Health Equity Program, funded by the Translating Duke Health Initiative, presented their research projects during a meeting of the Program’s Advisory Council in May. Duke Psychiatry faculty members John Mitchell, PhD, and Jessica Lunsford-Avery, PhD, were among the presenters.

While a Duke psychiatry resident, Heather Kim, MD, partnered with associate professor Marla Wald, MD, to create a gender care psychiatry elective. Kim is now a psychiatrist at Mass General Hospital whose practice focuses on gender-affirming care.

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.

People who dine with others have stronger social networks, better health outcomes and experience more positive emotions than those who don’t. Duke Psychiatry's Chris Mauro, PhD, shares some observations and insights in this Working@Duke article.

Intervening to reduce alcohol use is associated with a lower likelihood that an individual will receive a new opioid prescription or develop an opioid use disorder, according to a study led by researchers at Duke University and the Durham Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center. The study was led by Duke Psychiatry's Dan Blalock, PhD.

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.