Denese Shervington

Dr. Denese Shervington has an intersectional career in public health and academic psychiatry. She is the President of The Institute of Women and Ethnic Studies (IWES), a community-based translational public health institute in New Orleans. She is also the Chair of Psychiatry at Charles R. Drew University. Dr. Shervington has held Clinical Professorships in the Departments of Psychiatry at Columbia University and Tulane University.

A graduate of New York University School of Medicine, she also received a Masters of Public Health in Population Studies and Family Planning from Tulane University School of Public Health. She completed her residency in Psychiatry at the University of California San Francisco and is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. A Fellow of the American Psychiatry Association, in 2018 she received the Award for Excellence in Service and Advocacy; prior to which she received the Jeanne Spurlock Minority award. Dr. Shervington is also a member of the American College of Psychiatrists.

In July 2019, Dr. Shervington testified before the Congress of the United States House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight and Reform on Childhood Trauma. She also co-chairs the New Orleans City Council (R-18-344) Children Youth Planning Board Taskforce on Childhood Trauma. In 2020, Dr. Shervington was appointed as a member of the Scientific Board of the Centre for Society and Mental Health at Kings College, London. She has authored several papers in peer-reviewed journals addressing health disparities, the social determinants of health, and resilience in underserved communities. Her recent publication is Healing Is the Revolution, a guide to healing from historical, intergenerational, interpersonal, and community trauma. She also hosts the podcast Healing is the Revolution in which her guests share and explore their healing journey through their traumas. She is the proud parent of two amazing children, Kaleb and Iman, and grandchildren Ayelet and Haddassah.