The Department has expanded its research into mental health with the additions of University Distinguished Professor Velma McBride Murry, PhD and Assistant Professor Carrie Fry, PhD, to the roster of primary faculty since 2020.
Dr. Murry has long studied the impact of policies on mental health, particularly in minority youth populations, and her work has advanced knowledge of how contextual factors, including racism, familial dynamics and other issues impact youth development and mental wellbeing. Her work has been instrumental and led the development of two preventative intervention programs, the Strong African American Families program and Pathways for African American Success.
In 2023, Dr. Murry was appointed to serve a four-year term on the National Advisory Mental Health Council, which advises the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the director of the National Institute for Mental Health.
Dr. Fry’s research also explores mental health, particularly areas related to substance use disorders, depression and access to treatment. Her recent work has delved deeply into issues related to opioid use disorder and mental health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Fry in 2023 is involved in a $3.2-million grant from the National Institute on Mental Health to study mental health resources in Tennessee schools, which has become an increasing concern among parents in the state and nationally, a 4-year study to be led by University Distinguished Professors Melinda Buntin, PhD, Mike Curb Chair of the Department of Health Policy and Carolyn Heinrich, PhD, Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Public Policy and Education.
Emerging public health researchers who are in or have completed the Department's doctoral program have also studied mental health. Nathaniel Tran, PhD, the Department's first doctoral graduate, studies mental health in LGBTQ+ populations. In 2022, Tran earned the Laurence G. Branch doctoral research award for his paper comparing mental health prevalence, severity, and help for LGBQ+ adults to straight adults.