Dr. Andrew Sherwood

Biography

Andrew Sherwood is a professor at the Duke University Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience. His research focuses on the biological, behavioral, and sociocultural factors involved in the etiology and management of hypertension, coronary artery disease, and congestive heart failure. He studies the role of stress, depression, sedentary lifestyles, and inadequate sleep in disease onset and progression. His specific research areas explore ethnicity and gender factors related to hypertension pathogenesis, mechanisms by which menopause increases cardiovascular disease risk in women, and how stress provokes episodes of myocardial ischemia in coronary artery disease patients. He emphasizes exercise and behavioral treatments as alternatives to antidepressant medications for patients with depression and has developed coping skills interventions to improve quality of life for patients with congestive heart failure. His cognitive-behavioral therapy approaches also address insomnia in patients with cardiovascular disease. He employs various psychophysiological assessments, observational studies, and interventional trials. His multidisciplinary research collaborates with various distinguished colleagues at Duke University and the University of North Carolina.

Research Interests