News

DUPRI scholar Heather Whitson is helping lead a national effort to investigate unexpected moments of lucidity in people with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. Through the NIH-funded Lucidity in Alzheimer’s and Dementia (LEAD) Network, Whitson and her colleagues are studying what these episodes could reveal about memory, cognitive resilience, and the brain’s capacity to recover abilities that appear to have been lost.

DUPRI Scholar Jessica West has received a K01 Research Career Development Award from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) to investigate how stigma surrounding hearing loss may prevent adults from seeking hearing healthcare and to identify strategies for reducing those barriers. The award, “Improving Hearing Healthcare Outcomes by Addressing Hearing Loss Stigma: A Mixed Methods Approach” (K01DC023305-01A1), provides more than $668,000 in support for West’s research. West is an Assistant Professor of Head and Neck Surgery & Communication Sciences at Duke.

A new study led by an international team of researchers, including DUPRI Scholar James Moody, provides some of the strongest evidence to date that women's social networks play an important role in contraceptive decision-making. Using longitudinal data from more than 2,200 adults across eight villages in rural Uganda, the researchers examined how friendships and other social relationships influence the contraceptive methods women choose over time.

DUPRI scholars are leading two of three community-engaged research teams awarded seed grants to investigate housing and economic well-being in Durham. The grants, jointly awarded by the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity and the Duke Center for Community-Engaged Scholarship, support partnerships between Duke researchers and local organizations to develop evidence-based solutions to pressing housing challenges.

DUPRI Scholars Tonia Poteat (Ruby L. Wilson Distinguished Professor in Nursing) and Jerome Reiter (Henry W. Newson Distinguished Professor of Statistical Science), along with 36 other Duke faculty, have been awarded distinguished professorships.

A new Social Forces article by Courtney E. Boen, Elizabeth F. Bair, DUPRI Scholar Hedwig Lee, and Atheendar S. Venkataramani examines how state incarceration policies shape birth outcomes in the United States. Using nationwide birth records and state policy data, the authors find that "three strikes" laws are associated with worse birth outcomes for Black infants, while truth-in-sentencing policies are linked to gradual improvements in birth outcomes, highlighting the complex and racialized health impacts of criminal legal system policies.

NextGenPop has been awarded a five-year renewal by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health (2R25HD105602, PIs Marcy Carlson and Kelly Musick). NextGenPop is a collaborative undergraduate training program designed to bring young scholars into the field of population research. The cohort-based program includes a two-week summer experience that rotates across universities, subsequent virtual components throughout the academic year on research and professional development, and opportunities for mentorship and networking at the Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America (PAA), the nation’s leading professional association for population scholars.

DUPRI Scholar Manoj Mohanan has been named Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Programs, effective July 1. Mohanan, a professor of public policy, economics, and global health, will lead Duke’s efforts to strengthen interdisciplinary research, education, and collaboration across the university’s schools and academic units. He succeeds Ed Balleisen, who is leaving Duke to become provost at George Washington University.