Faculty in the News

New research suggests that early severe social deprivation may impact DNA modifications that affect the expression of stress-related genes. "Our results are consistent with an increasing body of research in both human and preclinical animal models that suggests that these early experiences, particularly related to early caregiving, leave molecular traces, visible across the life course, that likely influence a range of biological, physiological, and behavioral processes," said Dr. Stacy Drury, senior author of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology study.

Dr. Denese Shervington is president of the New Orleans-based Institute of Women and Ethnic Studies. She says many New Orleans children are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. "It's similar to the rate of veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. It's about the same rate," she said.

For roughly seven years, Tulane’s Violence Prevention Group — first facilitated by Cathy Taylor of the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and Tania Tetlow, law professor and chief of staff as well as vice president in the president’s office — focuses on how violence affects New Orleans’ youth and what causes youth, and therefore societal, violence.

Psychiatrist Denese Shervington, president and CEO of IWES, said in a recent interview, "You cannot have a society where children are running around with this level of impairment." But her organization's research suggests that New Orleans has just that: a disturbingly high percentage of children with unacknowledged, untreated trauma.

These changes left many people, including psychiatrist Denese Shervington and urban anthropologist Lisa Richardson, wondering about the city’s new identity and their place in it. Not only has Denese relieved mental trauma in New Orleans, but she's also traveled internationally to assist after traumatic disasters.