News & Highlights
Take the NEW Puffer Lab Survey for Parents!
The Puffer lab has just launched a new short survey for parents of kids ages 3-16 in the southern US!* Now that we’ve lived with COVID-19 for 6 months we, at the Puffer Lab, want to learn how families are doing. Our lab is now developing a program to support families, and want to get Read more about Take the NEW Puffer Lab Survey for Parents![…]
Hot off the press: Systematic review of task-shifting family therapy interventions by Elsa Friis Healy
Elsa Friis Healy recently first-authored a systematic review in a special issue of the journal Family, Systems, & Health. The special issue focused on Global Mental Health, and Elsa’s contribution reviewed “Family-Based Youth Mental Health Interventions Delivered by Non-Specialist Providers in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.” She found that task-shifting interventions – which entails delivery of interventions Read more about Hot off the press: Systematic review of task-shifting family therapy interventions by Elsa Friis Healy[…]
Puffer lab hosts DGHI Director, Chancellor of Duke Medicine for field visit to Tuko Pamoja Project
Several visitors, including Duke Global Health Institute director Chris Plowe and Chancellor of Duke Medicine Eugene Washington, recently visited the Puffer lab’s research site in Eldoret, Kenya. The team visited our local community partners, including churches, who partner with us to deliver family therapy in communities. They met some of our trained lay counselors and Read more about Puffer lab hosts DGHI Director, Chancellor of Duke Medicine for field visit to Tuko Pamoja Project[…]
Ali Giusto wins award, successfully defends doctoral dissertation
Ali Giusto was awarded the Charles Hughes Fellowship from the Society for the Study of Psychiatry and Culture (SSPC). The award is presented to a graduate student who has an interest in and commitment to research in cultural aspects of mental health and illness. Ali was selected for the competitive award for her manuscript “Observational Read more about Ali Giusto wins award, successfully defends doctoral dissertation[…]
Julia Kaufman graduates with distinction, wins Outstanding Capstone Award
Undergraduate global health major Julia Kaufman graduated from Duke University with distinction. She completed a senior honors thesis in global health under Dr. Eve Puffer and Dr. Bonnie Kaiser (postdoc in the Puffer lab). Julia studied how lay counselors integrate cultural and contextual practices into an evidence-based family therapy intervention, designed by Dr. Puffer, to Read more about Julia Kaufman graduates with distinction, wins Outstanding Capstone Award[…]
Ali Giusto Awarded Duke Grants for Dissertation Fieldwork in Kenya
Ali Giusto, a fourth year doctoral student in the Puffer Lab, received two awards from the Duke University Graduate School to conduct her dissertation fieldwork. The International Dissertation Travel award ($3000) and the Aleane Webb Dissertation Research Fellowship ($500). Ali’s dissertation aims to develop and pilot a culturally-anchored intervention to reduce problem drinking and increase Read more about Ali Giusto Awarded Duke Grants for Dissertation Fieldwork in Kenya[…]
Randomized trial results recently published on an intervention for Burmese migrant families
Dr. Puffer and colleagues from the International Rescue Committee and Harvard University published two recent articles on findings from an impact of evaluation of a family-based intervention for Burmese migrant families in Thailand. Results showed positive impacts of the program on parent-child relationship quality, family functioning, and child mental health. Puffer, E. S., Annan, J., Read more about Randomized trial results recently published on an intervention for Burmese migrant families[…]
Lab Member Highlight: Elsa Friis
Elsa Friis, a doctoral student in the Puffer Lab, was recently named a Doctoral Scholar in the Duke Global Health Institute. She joins Ali Giusto, also a Doctoral Scholar in the lab. Elsa also received two recent awards for her research presented at national conferences. From the Society for the Study of Psychiatry and Culture, Read more about Lab Member Highlight: Elsa Friis[…]
Team member wins the Duke STEAM Challenge
Elsa Friis, a doctoral student in the lab, led a team to win the Duke STEAM Challenge by developing an idea for a mobile app to support mental health treatment. The proposed app, “Pocket Counselor” is based upon a mobile phone-based tool our lab is using in a pilot trial of a family therapy intervention Read more about Team member wins the Duke STEAM Challenge[…]