Overview
Brandon Knettel, Ph.D. is Associate Director of the Duke Center for Global Mental Health and an Associate Professor with a primary appointment in the Duke University School of Nursing and a secondary appointment in the Duke Global Health Institute. His areas of specialization are global mental health and health behavior, with a focus on care engagement, nurse-led models of care, stigma reduction, and mental health support for people living with HIV. At DGHI, he teaches a course in Global Mental Health for the Master's of Science in Global Health program.
Dr. Knettel’s international projects are primarily located in Moshi, Tanzania, where he completed a one-year VECD Fogarty Global Health Fellowship to evaluate a community health worker program for HIV care engagement. He also completed a NIMH K08 Career Development Award to develop a brief telehealth counseling intervention to address suicidal ideation and improve care engagement among people living with HIV and was co-PI of a DGHI pilot grant to improve the understanding of cancer-related stigma in Tanzania.
Current Appointments & Affiliations
Recent Publications
Results of a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of IDEAS for Hope: A Brief Telehealth Intervention for Suicide Prevention and HIV Care Engagement in Tanzania.
Journal Article J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr · December 15, 2025 OBJECTIVE: People living with HIV (PLWH) face greatly elevated risk of mental health challenges, including suicide. In Tanzania, there is a critical shortage of providers and interventions to address suicide risk. The 3-session IDEAS for Hope intervention ... Full text Link to item CiteDevelopment of an Opioid Stigma Scale for People Living With Chronic Pain.
Conference Pain management nursing : official journal of the American Society of Pain Management Nurses · December 2025 PurposeHigh levels of stigma among patients with chronic pain contribute to negative psychological well-being. Existing measures have not focused on opioid stigma among individuals with chronic pain who may have legitimate need for opioid therapy. ... Full text CiteDevelopment and psychometric properties of a general cancer stigma scale.
Journal Article International journal of cancer · December 2025 Cancer stigma negatively impacts diagnosis, quality of life, and survival outcomes, yet stigma reduction efforts are hindered by the lack of a valid and universal scale to measure cancer stigma. This study aimed to develop and validate a global cancer stig ... Full text CiteRecent Grants
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Sauti ya Vijana (The Voice of Youth), a Mental Health and Life Skills Intervention to Improve HIV Outcomes Among Young People Living with HIV in Tanzania
ResearchPsychologist · Awarded by National Institute of Mental Health · 2021 - 2026Building Research Capacity for Mental Health Nursing in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre · 2023 - 2025Assessing the Feasibility and Acceptability of a Telehealth Hub to Reduce Suicidality and Improve HIV Care Engagement in a Tanzanian Health System
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2021 - 2025View All Grants