News

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.

The increased inclusion of samples from individuals from minoritized communities in biomedical research will help mitigate health disparities that stem from a medical enterprise founded in racism and exclusion. In the May 20, 2024, issue of Nature Neuroscience, Benjamin et al. investigate how genetic ancestry influences the expression of genes in the brain, an effort supported by community leaders who raised funding, partnered in shaping research questions and had a central role in the interpretation and communication of the study’s findings. In this commentary, Duke Psychiatry's Kafui Dzirasa, MD, PhD, and colleagues outline the public and social context that motivated these efforts towards ensuring equitable access to the benefits of science for all.

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.

Three Duke Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences faculty members—Melanie Bonner, PhD, David Madden, PhD, and Joseph McClernon, PhD—have won 2024 School of Medicine awards.

A study by Duke and Columbia Universities finds older, non-white adults are more likely to live in areas with higher air pollution and near toxic disposal sites, among other environmental injustices, potentially undermining their cognitive health. Duke Psychiatry's P. Murali Doraiswamy, MBBS, FRCP, was the senior author.

Each spring, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and American Psychiatric Association Foundation (APAF) award fellowships to a select group of psychiatry residents. We’re excited to share that this year, five Duke Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences residents were awarded APA/APAF fellowships.

Nora Dennis, MD, a psychiatrist and adjunct assistant professor in Duke Psychiatry, is building a retreat in rural Orange County between Chapel Hill and Hillsborough where people with serious mental illness can nurture plants and animals while being nurtured by behavioral health professionals. Dennis is an alumna of Duke Psychiatry's residency program.