Michele Easter | Scholars@Duke

Michele Easter
Assistant Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

At the Services Effectiveness Research Program, I am a co-investigator, analyst, and manager for projects on mental health/substance use services and policy research. Our group conducts longitudinal studies of criminal justice outcomes and crisis-driven service utilization to assess the effects of policies (e.g., mental health-based firearms disqualification) and services (e.g., medication-assisted treatment for substance dependence). We also collaborate with community partners to study and promote the use of psychiatric advance directives. My research interests center on the conceptualization of illness and recovery by people with behavioral disorders, specifically the extent to which they endorse and identify with biologically-based explanatory models. My dissertation was on how women with eating disorders understand and interpret the idea that genes play a role in eating disorders.

Current Appointments & Affiliations

Assistant Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Social and Community Psychiatry, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences 2018

Contact Information

905 West Main Street, DUMC Box 3071, Durham, NC 27710
DUMC 3071, Durham, NC 27710
michele.easter@duke.edu (919) 385-0862

Background
Education, Training, & Certifications
- Ph.D., University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill 2010
Research
Selected Grants
Publications & Artistic Works
Selected Publications
- Academic Articles
  - Robertson, Allison G., Michele M. Easter, Hsiu-Ju Lin, Dalia Khoury, Joshua Pierce, Jeffrey Swanson, and Marvin Swartz. “Gender-specific participation and outcomes among jail diversion clients with co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders.” J Subst Abuse Treat 115 (August 2020): 108035. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsat.2020.108035.
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  - Swanson, Jeffrey W., Michele M. Easter, Kelly Alanis-Hirsch, Charles M. Belden, Michael A. Norko, Allison G. Robertson, Linda K. Frisman, Hsiu-Ju Lin, Marvin S. Swartz, and George F. Parker. “Criminal Justice and Suicide Outcomes with Indiana's Risk-Based Gun Seizure Law.” J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 47, no. 2 (June 2019): 188–97. https://doi.org/10.29158/JAAPL.003835-19.
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  - Robertson, Allison G., Michele M. Easter, HsiuJu Lin, Linda K. Frisman, Jeffrey W. Swanson, and Marvin S. Swartz. “Medication-Assisted Treatment for Alcohol-Dependent Adults With Serious Mental Illness and Criminal Justice Involvement: Effects on Treatment Utilization and Outcomes.” Am J Psychiatry 175, no. 7 (July 1, 2018): 665–73. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2018.17060688.
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  - Swanson, Jeffrey, Michele Easter, Mira Brancu, Mira VA Mid-Atlantic MIRECC Workgroup, and John A. Fairbank. “Informing Federal Policy on Firearm Restrictions for Veterans with Fiduciaries: Risk Indicators in the Post-Deployment Mental Health Study.” Adm Policy Ment Health 45, no. 4 (July 2018): 673–83. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-018-0881-y.
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  - Robertson, Allison G., Michele M. Easter, Hsiu-Ju Lin, Linda K. Frisman, Jeffrey W. Swanson, and Marvin S. Swartz. “Associations between pharmacotherapy for opioid dependence and clinical and criminal justice outcomes among adults with co-occurring serious mental illness.” J Subst Abuse Treat 86 (March 2018): 17–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsat.2017.12.003.
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  - Easter, Michele M., Jeffrey W. Swanson, Allison G. Robertson, Lorna L. Moser, and Marvin S. Swartz. “Facilitation of Psychiatric Advance Directives by Peers and Clinicians on Assertive Community Treatment Teams.” Psychiatr Serv 68, no. 7 (July 1, 2017): 717–23. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201600423.
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  - Swanson, J. W., M. A. Norko, H. J. Lin, K. Alanis-Hirsch, L. K. Frisman, M. V. Baranoski, M. M. Easter, A. G. Robertson, M. S. Swartz, and R. J. Bonnie. “Implementation and effectiveness of connecticut's risk-based gun removal law: Does it prevent suicides?” Law and Contemporary Problems 80, no. 2 (January 1, 2017): 179–208.
  - Swanson, Jeffrey W., Michele M. Easter, Allison G. Robertson, Marvin S. Swartz, Kelly Alanis-Hirsch, Daniel Moseley, Charles Dion, and John Petrila. “Gun Violence, Mental Illness, And Laws That Prohibit Gun Possession: Evidence From Two Florida Counties.” Health Aff (Millwood) 35, no. 6 (June 1, 2016): 1067–75. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2016.0017.
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  - Robertson, Allison G., Jeffrey W. Swanson, Hsiuju Lin, Michele M. Easter, Linda K. Frisman, and Marvin S. Swartz. “Influence of Criminal Justice Involvement and Psychiatric Diagnoses on Treatment Costs Among Adults With Serious Mental Illness.” Psychiatr Serv 66, no. 9 (September 2015): 907–9. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201500134.
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  - Easter, Michele. “Interpreting genetics in the context of eating disorders: evidence of disease, not diversity.” Sociol Health Illn 36, no. 6 (July 2014): 840–55. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.12108.
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  - Easter, Michele M. “"Not all my fault": genetics, stigma, and personal responsibility for women with eating disorders.” Soc Sci Med 75, no. 8 (October 2012): 1408–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.05.042.
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  - Cadigan, R Jean, Michele M. Easter, Allison W. Dobson, Arlene M. Davis, Barbra B. Rothschild, Catherine Zimmer, Rene Sterling, and Gail Henderson. “"That's a good question": university researchers' views on ownership and retention of human genetic specimens.” Genet Med 13, no. 6 (June 2011): 569–75. https://doi.org/10.1097/GIM.0b013e318211a9c2.
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  - Easter, M. M. “Freedom in speech: Freedom and liberty in U.S. presidential campaign discourse, 1952-2004.” Poetics 36, no. 4 (August 1, 2008): 265–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.poetic.2008.03.001.
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  - Henderson, Gail E., Larry R. Churchill, Arlene M. Davis, Michele M. Easter, Christine Grady, Steven Joffe, Nancy Kass, et al. “Clinical trials and medical care: defining the therapeutic misconception.” Plos Med 4, no. 11 (November 27, 2007): e324. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0040324.
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  - Easter, Michele M., Laura A. Linnan, Margaret E. Bentley, Brenda M. DeVellis, Andrea Meier, Pamela Y. Frasier, Kristine S. Kelsey, and Marci K. Campbell. “"Una mujer trabaja doble aqui": Vignette-based focus groups on stress and work for Latina blue-collar women in eastern North Carolina.” Health Promot Pract 8, no. 1 (January 2007): 41–49. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524839905278916.
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  - Easter, Michele M., Gail E. Henderson, Arlene M. Davis, Larry R. Churchill, and Nancy M. P. King. “The many meanings of care in clinical research.” Sociol Health Illn 28, no. 6 (September 2006): 695–712. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9566.2006.00537.x.
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  - Henderson, Gail E., Michele M. Easter, Catherine Zimmer, Nancy M. P. King, Arlene M. Davis, Barbra Bluestone Rothschild, Larry R. Churchill, Benjamin S. Wilfond, and Daniel K. Nelson. “Therapeutic misconception in early phase gene transfer trials.” Soc Sci Med 62, no. 1 (January 2006): 239–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.05.022.
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  - King, Nancy M. P., Gail E. Henderson, Larry R. Churchill, Arlene M. Davis, Sara Chandros Hull, Daniel K. Nelson, P Christy Parham-Vetter, Barbara Bluestone Rothschild, Michele M. Easter, and Benjamin S. Wilfond. “Consent forms and the therapeutic misconception: the example of gene transfer research.” Irb 27, no. 1 (January 2005): 1–8.
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  - Henderson, Gail E., Arlene M. Davis, Nancy M. P. King, Michele M. Easter, Catherine R. Zimmer, Barbra Bluestone Rothschild, Benjamin S. Wilfond, Daniel K. Nelson, and Larry R. Churchill. “Uncertain benefit: investigators' views and communications in early phase gene transfer trials.” Mol Ther 10, no. 2 (August 2004): 225–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymthe.2004.05.013.
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  - Easter, Michele M., Arlene M. Davis, and Gail E. Henderson. “Confidentiality: more than a linkage file and a locked drawer.” Irb 26, no. 2 (March 2004): 13–17.
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Scholarly, Clinical, & Service Activities
Presentations & Appearances
- Moving Forward with Psychiatric Advance Directives in North Carolina. NAMI NC Annual Conference. National Alliance on Mental Illness-NC. October 7, 2016 2016
Outreach & Engaged Scholarship
- Data+ Project Leader. Data+. 2019 2019

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Education, Training, & Certifications

Selected Grants

Selected Publications

Academic Articles

Presentations & Appearances

Outreach & Engaged Scholarship