Heather Elizabeth Whitson

Whitson

Professor of Medicine

Dr. Whitson's research is focused on improving care options and resilience for people with multiple chronic conditions.  In particular, she has interest and expertise related to the link between age-related changes in the eye and brain (e.g., How does late-life vision loss impact the aging brain or cognitive outcomes?  Is Alzheimer's disease associated with distinctive changes in the retina, and could such changes help diagnose Alzheimer's disease early in its course?).  Dr. Whitson leads a collaborative Alzheimer's Disease initiative that brings together investigators from Duke University and the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, with a bold vision to transform dementia research and care across Eastern North Carolina. Dr. Whitson is also interested in improving health services to better meet the needs of medically complex patients.  Within the Duke Aging Center, she leads research efforts aimed at promoting resilience to late-life stressors (e.g., surgery, sensory loss, infection).  She has developed a novel rehabilitation model for people with co-existing vision and cognitive deficits, and she is part of a inter-disciplinary team seeking to improve peri-operative outcomes for frail or at-risk seniors who must undergo surgery.  As a co-leader of a national resilience collaborative, she seeks to better understand the biological and psychological factors that determine how well we "bounce back" after health stressors.  

Appointments and Affiliations

  • Professor of Medicine
  • Associate Professor in Ophthalmology
  • Professor in Ophthalmology
  • Professor in Head & Neck Surgery and Communication Sciences
  • Professor in Neurology
  • Director of the Duke Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development

Contact Information

  • Office Location: Dept of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710
  • Office Phone: (919) 660-7500
  • Email Address: heather.whitson@duke.edu

Education

  • Duke University, 2006
  • Duke University, 2004
  • Duke University, 2003
  • M.H.S. Duke University, 2009
  • M.D. Cornell University, 2000

Courses Taught

  • NEUROSCI 494: Research Independent Study 2

In the News

Representative Publications

  • Colon-Emeric, C; Schmader, K; Cohen, HJ; Morey, M; Whitson, H, Ageing and physical resilience after health stressors., Stress Health, vol 39 no. S1 (2023), pp. 48-54 [10.1002/smi.3241] [abs].
  • Abadir, PM; Bandeen-Roche, K; Bergeman, C; Bennett, D; Davis, D; Kind, A; LeBrasseur, N; Stern, Y; Varadhan, R; Whitson, HE, An overview of the resilience world: Proceedings of the American Geriatrics Society and National Institute on Aging State of Resilience Science Conference., Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, vol 71 no. 8 (2023), pp. 2381-2392 [10.1111/jgs.18388] [abs].
  • Villalobos, D; Reese, M; Wright, MC; Wong, M; Syed, A; Park, J; Hall, A; Browndyke, JN; Martucci, KT; Devinney, MJ; Acker, L; Moretti, EW; Talbot, L; Colin, B; Ohlendorf, B; Waligorska, T; Shaw, LM; Whitson, HE; Cohen, HJ; Mathew, JP; Berger, M, Perioperative changes in neurocognitive and Alzheimer's disease-related cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers in older patients randomised to isoflurane or propofol for anaesthetic maintenance., Bja: British Journal of Anaesthesia, vol 131 no. 2 (2023), pp. 328-337 [10.1016/j.bja.2023.04.019] [abs].
  • Fohner, AE; Whitson, HE; Aronson, L, What could go wrong? Reflections and roadmap for successfully engaging with public media., Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (2023) [10.1111/jgs.18472] [abs].
  • Browndyke, JN; Wright, MC; Yang, R; Syed, A; Park, J; Hall, A; Martucci, K; Devinney, MJ; Shaw, L; Waligorska, T; Moretti, EW; Whitson, HE; Cohen, HJ; Mathew, JP; Berger, M; MADCO-PC Investigators(†),, Corrigendum to 'Perioperative neurocognitive and functional neuroimaging trajectories in older APOE4 carriers compared with non-carriers: secondary analysis of a prospective cohort study' (Br J Anaesth 2021; 127: 917-928)., Bja: British Journal of Anaesthesia, vol 130 no. 5 (2023) [10.1016/j.bja.2023.02.009] [abs].