Silva Named a Duke Star

Silva Named a Duke Star

Susan Silva Susan Silva, associate professor, received a 2019 Duke Stars Honor from Duke University for her research, mentorship, and teaching in the Schools of Nursing and Medicine and at Duke Clinical Research Institute. Silva notes, “It is exciting to take what I have learned from my own research endeavors and pass this knowledge on to others so that they can build upon this information to improve the safety and quality of care of patients and their families.”

Before coming to Duke, Silva was the Director of the Neurobehavioral Assessment Core and Associate Director of the Data Management and Biostatistics Core of the NIH Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Center at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Medicine. She was also the recipient of a National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression Young Investigator Research Award.

While at Duke, Silva was the Statistical Principal Investigator of the Treatment of Adolescents with Depression Study. This 13-site clinical trial was recognized by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry as a landmark study that was instrumental in establishing guidelines for treating adolescents with depression. The study team was the recipient of two prestigious national research awards.

Silva was invited in 2002 to serve on the NIMH Data Safety and Monitoring Board, providing oversight of large multi-center clinical trials supported by the NIMH Child and Adolescent Interventions and Mental Health Services Division. She continues to be a statistical member of this committee as well as other NIMH committees related to the conduct of mental health research.

Silva was the Statistical Principal Investigator of the NIMH Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Trials Network comprised of 200 academic and community clinical sites and established for the purposes of conducting large pragmatic adaptive treatment strategy trials (e.g., SMART, MOST). Launched in 2008, this was the first pragmatic trials network in the field of psychiatry. While at Duke Clinical Research Institute, Silva also served as the Statistical Principal Investigator for several large NIH and SAMSHA research networks in mental health, reproduction medicine, and cardiovascular health.

Silva has received other awards for her research in health science and is the author/co-author of over 175 peer-reviewed research publications. Silva’s research has informed her teaching. Over the past 20 years, Silva has been the recipient of multiple awards for outstanding teaching and mentorship. Her teaching portfolio includes curriculum development for courses related to cognitive neuroscience, neuropsychology, psychometrics, research design, clinical trials methods, biostatistics, and data science. Her outstanding teaching has been formally recognized at NCSU, UNC-CH, and Duke University.

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