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Through Grand Rounds and other events, Duke Psychiatry hosts speakers from diverse backgrounds to share their expertise on a wide range of topics, including how history, culture, social identities, community, and belonging influence mental health and well-being.

Last year, Duke became the first institution in North Carolina to offer lecanemab, the first drug targeting the underlying processes of Alzheimer’s disease that has shown a clinical benefit. Duke now conducts the largest lecanemab clinic in the state, giving early-stage Alzheimer’s patients the gift of time and raising awareness about the need for more research. Kim G. Johnson, MD, division chief of Memory Disorders in the Department of Neurology and an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, is one of the physicians who prescribes the drug.

In a clinical and research context, while we know a lot about how different autistic children present, this knowledge doesn’t always help us identify which groups of children may respond differently to specific supports and intervention approaches. Even experienced clinicians have a limited number of interventions to fit all these unique children.

One in five children in the U.S. will suffer a concussion by age 16, but most research is focused on the first few weeks after the injury. A nursing faculty member’s research on long-term effects is a step in developing personalized concussion interventions. Peter Duquette, PhD—who recently joined the Duke Psychiatry faculty—co-authored this study while he was at his previous institution, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Now in its fourth year, the ongoing Autism HERO study aims to better understand the co-occurrence of ADHD and anxiety in young autistic children. Led by Kimberly Carpenter, PhD, the research team continues to focus on recruitment and assessment, as well as refining their data analysis plans.

In recent years, Duke Psychiatry education leaders have worked to bolster the psychiatry residency training requirements and elective opportunities to care for pediatric patients. With these changes, they aim to inspire more psychiatrists to pursue child and adolescent psychiatry and better equip those who ultimately choose to work with adults.

More than 50 Duke Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences faculty members, staff members, and trainees received noteworthy awards and honors, published books, or took on new leadership roles in 2024.

Hundreds of children with critical behavioral health conditions in NC are spending extensive time in emergency departments—an environment that's not always conducive to helping children thrive. To help address this challenge at Duke, leaders from Duke Health and the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences created the Duke Pediatric Emergency Department Extension Area, which gives children with medical or behavioral health conditions a safe and quiet place to receive care while they await appropriate disposition.

This Working@Duke article highlights how some Duke employees are tackling social isolation and fostering meaningful connections. Duke Psychiatry's Katherine Ramos, PhD, shares her expertise on loneliness.

A. Eugene and Marie Washington Presidential Distinguished Professor Kafui Dzirasa, MD, PhD, wants to reengineer the brain’s electrical patterns to treat mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia. While most treatments for serious mental illness target the brain’s chemistry, he’s focused on electrical networks that may be signaling out of sync.