Overview
Catherine Staton MD MSc
Dr. Staton is a Professor in Emergency Medicine (EM), Neurosurgery, Population Health & Global Health with tenure at Duke University. She is the Director of the GEMINI (Global EM Innovation & Implementation) Research Center and the EM Vice Chair of Research Strategy & Faculty Development. Her research integrates innovative implementation methods into health systems globally and locally to improve access to acute care. In 2012, with an injury registry at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center, Tanzania Dr. Staton demonstrated 30% of injury patients had at risk alcohol use, providing preliminary data for a K01/Career Development Award. Her K01 award adapted a brief alcohol intervention to the KCMC ED and Swahili. This intervention has been proven to reduce 24 binge drinking events per year compared to usual care, and the team is now funded to plan for regional implementation. Dr. Staton and her mentor and collaborator Dr. Mmbaga are co-PD of the “The TReCK Program: Trauma Research Capacity Building in Kilimanjaro” to train 12 masters and doctoral learners to conduct innovative implementation and data science projects to improve care for injury patients. The success of this program has been impressive with learners writing, submitting and being awarded and R21 to improve care for older adult trauma patients at KCMC. Dr. Staton also is working stateside as an implementation scientist on both health system and quality care at Duke as well as implementation science for climate change work in the Carolinas. Dr. Staton and GEMINI partners with over two dozen faculty from low- and middle-income countries to conduct research, has mentored over 150 learners from undergraduate to post-doctoral levels from high, middle and low- income settings and has over 200 manuscripts.
Current Duke Appointments & Affiliations
Recent Scholarly Works
The Challenges of Predicting Rare Outcomes: A Critical Appraisal of Machine Learning Using the Pediatric Resuscitation and Trauma Outcome (PRESTO) Model in a Tanzanian Injury Registry.
Journal article World J Surg · September 3, 2026 BACKGROUND: Injuries are responsible for 950,000 deaths per year among children and adolescents under 18 years old. Trauma prediction scores are useful in determining severity and prognosis of injury patients. The pediatric resuscitation and trauma outcome ... Full text Link to item CitePredicting Outcomes of Traumatic Brain Injury Using Machine Learning Models Among Patients at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre, Tanzania: A Registry-Based Cohort Study.
Journal article Health Sci Rep · August 2026 BACKGROUND: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains a major global health burden, disproportionately affecting low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where access to neurocritical care is limited. Accurate and context-appropriate prognostic models are cruci ... Full text Link to item CiteFrom understanding disaster risk to risk reduction solutions
Journal article International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction · June 15, 2026 Anthropogenic global change is intensifying natural hazards necessitating urgent, just and sustainable solutions that mitigate risks without compromising the Earth systems crucial for human survival. Advances in the field of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) h ... Full text CiteRecent Grants
IDEAS for Hope: A Brief Telehealth Intervention to Reduce Suicide Risk and Improve HIV Care Engagement in Tanzania
ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2026 - 20312/3 CTSA K12 Program at Duke University
ResearchMentor · Awarded by National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences · 2025 - 2030Adapting a telehealth intervention for suicide prevention among patients with Alcohol Use Disorder in Tanzania
ResearchCo-Principal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2026 - 2029View All Grants