Faculty and Staff

1. Samantha Francois, PhD - Executive Director

Tulane News & Press

1. Who’s Looking Out for the Mental Health of Infants and Toddlers?
2. Tulane program for K-12 students exposed to violence will expand nationally
3. The Influence of Racial Violence in Neighborhoods and Schools on the Psycho-Behavioral Outcomes in Adolescence
4. The Good Morning Show - WBOK
5. Among young Black men in New Orleans, murder exacts a devastating toll
6. Guest column: This one key step could reduce gun violence and crime
7. Putting teens in Angola: 'I couldn't ethically sign off on this,' psychiatrist tells federal judge
8. Enrichment 2 Empowerment Free After-school Program Enrolling Young People Ages 11 to 18
9. Experts with Metropolitan Crime Commission and Tulane University Sociologist weigh in on crime surges
10. After Buffalo, civil rights leaders pitch anti-hate plans
11. To reduce gun violence, New Orleans is turning to community groups instead of police
12. After decades of unmet mental health needs in New Orleans schools, teachers and activists scramble to help kids on the brink

    Dr. Samantha Francois is one of the dedicated youth advocates who spoke to Gambit Weekly.
13. ‘It was just elation’: Tribes in Washington celebrate name change in other Washington

    Dr. Catherine McKinley, associate professor in the school of social work at Tulane University, has extensively researched issues surrounding Native Americans. She said there are countless studies demonstrating how different forms of racism and discrimination negatively affect mental and social health — a major problem in the Native American community. “Dehumanizing media images have really been used since the beginning of colonization to denigrate native groups,’’ McKinley said. “So this is just a continued form of historical oppression."
14. Tulane black medical students stand tall at the Whitney Plantation

    A photograph of 15 African-American medical students from Tulane University standing in front of a former Louisiana slave plantation has gone viral. Labat, the student who organized the photograph said "We are descendants of those people. This is our land. We were called there."
15. Tulane VPI wins grant for violence prevention scholarship program

    The VPI has won a grant from the Pincus Family Foundation to create a Violence Prevention Scholarship which connects graduate students with VPI faculty and community partners! This interdisciplinary program will be based in the Master's of Public Health program, but will integrate faculty from across all schools at Tulane, particularly the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, the School of Medicine and the School of Social Work. Scholars will be immersed in an innovative new training initiative focused on building skills to effectively integrate with community organizations and co-develop programs designed to mitigate the effects of violence and, in the long-term, prevent the intergenerational transmission of violence and its health impacts. The initiative will focus on the lives of children throughout New Orleans, with an emphasis on Central City, and places throughout the city where children are most affected by violence.
16. Dr. Denese Shervington testifies before Congress on childhood trauma related to natural disasters

    Dr. Denese Shervington from the School of Medicine and the Institute of Women and Ethnic Studies testified before the Congressional Committee on Oversight and Reform at the first ever hearing on childhood trauma. Dr. Shervington stressed how the impact of natural disasters and climate change must be factored into how the government addresses childhood trauma. She said, “Children need two things: caretakers to make them feel safe and to know their environment is safe. When Katrina happened, all of that was shattered. Children don’t have the language to talk about how they’re feeling and adults are often dependent on that while they themselves are trying to cope”.
17. Dr. Patty Kissinger on the intersection between drug use and contracting syphilis

    Public health officials grappling with record-high syphilis rates around the nation have pinpointed what appears to be a major risk factor: drug use. Research has shown that people who use drugs are more likely to engage in unsafe sexual behaviors, which put them at higher risk for sexually transmitted diseases. "The addiction takes over," said Dr. Patty Kissinger, an epidemiology professor at the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.
18. Dr. Stacy Overstreet highlights the need for trauma-informed care in New Orleans schools

    The impact of trauma in the lives of New Orleans students has been shown to alter a child’s brain development and other bodily systems, making it difficult for them to learn. In response, the Orleans Parish school board is working to improve support for traumatized students in public schools. Tulane University psychology professor Stacy Overstreet commented that 67 percent of children nationwide have been exposed to an adverse childhood experience.
19. New Presidential Chair for researching effect of violence on brain chemistry