Dr. Keisha Bentley-Edwards will join the Duke CTSA Special Populations Core as its new co-director. Dr. Bentley-Edwards is taking over from Dr. Heather Whitson to help lead the programs, projects, and CTSA initiatives of the core, along with Dr. Dwight Koeberl and Dr. Devon Noonan.
In addition to this new position, Dr. Bentley-Edwards is also an assistant professor of medicine at Duke, the Associate Director of Research at the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity, as well as a member of the Duke Cancer Institute and an affiliate of the Duke Global Health Institute. Dr. Bentley-Edwards has a background in developmental psychology, and her work examines how race, culture, and racism stress influence the world’s response to Black Americans and how this influences health and social disparities.
“I am passionate about achieving health equity and I am excited to join this team of dedicated researchers in the Special Populations Core,” Bentley-Edwards said.
The Duke CTSA Special Populations Core facilitates research that promotes health equity for populations that have traditionally been under-represented in health research or excluded altogether, including older adults, people with disabilities or rare disorders, and people who have been underserved or underrepresented in clinical research.
“The Special Populations Core is excited to welcome Dr. Bentley-Edwards,” said Dr. K.K. Lam, clinical health project leader with the core. “We especially look forward to her expertise in health disparities associated with racial and ethnic differences to help guide our work. We also thank Dr. Whitson for her skillful leadership in getting the core off the ground. We look forward to her continuing as a Special Populations Core Advisory Council Member and other roles.”