The Duke Global Health Institute (DGHI) welcomes its newest member, Christina S. Meade, PhD. Meade joined Duke on December 1, 2008 as an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.
Meade comes to Duke from the Harvard School of Medicine, where she was an Instructor in Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry. She received her PhD in Clinical Psychology in 2006 from Yale, and then completed a postdoctoral training program in drug abuse and brain imaging at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School. “My research focuses on the impact of drug abuse on health behaviors in persons living with or at high risk for HIV infection, and the development of interventions to improve clinical outcomes in these populations,” says Meade. DGHI Director Michael Merson says he is pleased to have Meade joining the increasing cadre of scholars at Duke whose research lies at the intersection of the behavioral and biomedical sciences. “Her integration of cognitive and behavioral sciences with neuroimaging of the brain to understand the role of substance abuse in health related decision-making is a wonderful synthesis of multiple fields,” he says. Meade was drawn to Duke by its rich tradition of interdisciplinary research. “I am a clinical psychologist by training, but I believe that global health problems, including HIV/AIDS and drug abuse, require interdisciplinary approaches to have a significant impact in terms of prevention and treatment,” she says. “I am excited about the opportunity to contribute to DGHI’s mission of addressing health disparities and training the next generation of global health scholars.” Meade has published several papers with DGHI Affiliate Kathleen Sikkema, professor of Psychology and Neuroscience and director of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Core of the Duke Center for AIDS Research (CFAR). Sikkema worked closely with Meade at Yale before coming to Duke in 2006. “Christina’s work is innovative and interdisciplinary, and her clinical and scientific acumen in combination with her energy and thoughtfulness will be a real asset for Duke,” says Sikkema.
