| May 25, 2001 |
Contact: Roban
Johnson |
Mercer University School of Medicine has named Macon physician Joel O. Brende, M.D., chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, effective May 1.
Brende joined Mercer School of Medicine in 1987 as assistant clinical professor of psychiatry. In 1994, he was named associate professor of psychiatry and medicine, and achieved the rank of professor in 2000. He has served as director of the Behavioral Medicine Training Program at Mercer since 1996.
"We are pleased to have Dr. Brende serve as chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science," said W. Douglas Skelton, M.D., dean of the Medical School and senior vice president of university research and health affairs. "Dr. Brende's leadership skills, adept teaching ability and his clinical expertise make him an excellent choice as chair of the Department."
Prior to his work at Mercer, Brende completed his psychiatric training at the Menninger Foundation in Topeka, Kansas in 1972 and was a psychiatrist in the Veterans Administration system for 18 years until he moved to Columbus where he directed adult outpatient services at the Bradley Center from 1987 to 1991. He has also served as director of inpatient psychiatric services for military dependents and retirees at Martin Army Community Hospital in Fort Benning, staff psychiatrist at the Pastoral Institute in Columbus, and Clinical Director of the Regional Psychiatric Division of Central State Hospital in Milledgeville.
Brende's research interests focus on post-traumatic stress and assessing psychological symptoms and traumatic events in medical patients. His research findings have been published in numerous professional journals, including the Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis, American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases, Southern Medical Journal and the Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy. An accomplished author, Brende has written 20 scientific articles, co-authored 2 books, written 9 book chapters and 14 recovery workbooks for victims and survivors of war, abuse and natural disasters.
In addition to his role as chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Brende continues to practice at Mercer Health Systems, Macon, evaluating and treating psychiatric patients.
Mercer University School of Medicine opened in 1982 to help ease the shortage of physicians in rural and other medically-underserved areas of Georgia. Mercer is one of the largest Baptist-affiliated universities in the world and is the only independent university of its size in the country that offers educational programs in liberal arts, business, education, engineering, medicine, theology, pharmacy, nursing and law. For 11 consecutive years, U.S. News & World Report has ranked Mercer among the top colleges and universities in the South.
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