Transforming Research into Impact: A Bass Connections Team Addresses Mental Health and Justice With Durham Partners

For several years, Duke faculty members Nicole Schramm-Sapyta and Maria Tackett have led a Bass Connections project that exemplifies the power of sustained, community-engaged research. What began as an inquiry into the opioid epidemic has evolved into a long-term collaboration with Durham County partners — including the Detention Facility, Justice Services Department and Crisis Intervention Team — to provide a clearer understanding of how mental health intersects with incarceration. Their work is shaping scholarship, informing programs and policy and empowering students to become changemakers. 

Being able to tell stories and communicate is one of the most important tools.

In a Trinity Duets podcast, which focuses on the human side of research collaborations, the faculty duo share insights into what makes their partnership thrive. “Being able to tell stories and communicate is one of the most important tools,” says Tackett, who focuses on statistical analysis while Schramm-Sapyta contributes her deep expertise in mental health. “We both bring a different expertise to the table, and we need both sides of the expertise in order to make this work happen,” Tackett adds, underscoring the value of interdisciplinary collaboration. This collaborative philosophy is central to the team’s approach — combining rigorous data analysis with human-centered storytelling to drive change. 

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Their Bass Connections project, “Mental Health and the Justice System in Durham County,” addresses the overrepresentation of individuals with mental illness in the incarcerated population. Durham offers many programs to support this population, and the team’s goal is to determine which interventions are most effective — helping stakeholders make informed decisions about how to deploy limited public resources.

Using data from the Durham County Detention Facility merged with Duke Health records, the team built a dataset covering over 23,000 individuals booked between 2014 and 2023, including more than 17,000 who received care at Duke Health. This year, the team expanded its work to include qualitative research — conducting focus groups and interviews with people who have experienced incarceration while managing mental illness or substance use disorders. 

In a recent interview, Schramm-Sapyta reflects on the origins of the project and its evolution: “My first project began in 2016 when a pharmacist colleague approached me while I was the administrator for the Brain & Society theme of Bass Connections,” she explains. “We were both interested in the opioid epidemic and wanted to understand different perspectives beyond our academic research. That project allowed us to learn about the law enforcement perspective on the opioid epidemic, which facilitated connections and next steps.” 

For their current Bass Connections project, Schramm-Sapyta and Tackett began analyzing anonymized medical records to better understand mental health trends among incarcerated populations. Their findings have helped evaluate the effectiveness of programs within the detention facility and contributed to broader conversations about justice reform. 

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In a recent op-ed based on the team’s findings, Schramm-Sapyta references House Bill 307, a bipartisan North Carolina bill passed in response to the fatal stabbing of Iryna Zarutska aboard a Charlotte light rail train. The legislation aims to tighten bail rules for violent offenders, expand mental health evaluations and involuntary commitment procedures, and direct the North Carolina Collaboratory to study the intersection of mental health and the justice system.

Looking forward, Schramm-Sapyta writes, “much more work is needed if we truly want to address the connections between mental illness and crime.” She urges state leaders to provide more funding for a broad spectrum of mental health services and also fund long-term care for the mentally ill. This call to action underscores the urgency of the team’s work and its relevance to current events in North Carolina.

The team’s structure is designed to foster continuity and growth. Students have tended to join the team before their sophomore year and often remain involved for multiple years. “We find a huge benefit to having juniors and seniors who’ve been with the team for 2-3 years,” Schramm-Sapyta notes. Graduate student project managers play a pivotal role, guiding students through statistical and qualitative research while helping them align their academic goals with the team’s mission. 

We’ve seen students develop into true leaders.

The impact on students is profound. Schramm-Sapyta recalled watching one student grow from a quiet first-year to a confident senior defending a Graduation with Distinction thesis. Others have interned with community partners, coauthored papers and brought fresh ideas to the team’s work. “In tough times, we’ve seen students develop into true leaders,” she says. “It has often been a student who helped the team refocus on our core mission and make progress even though things weren’t perfect.”

In recognition of their creativity, intellectual vision and commitment to student mentoring, Schramm-Sapyta and Tackett received the Bass Connections Leadership Award. As one student, Will Lieber, wrote in his nomination letter: “Dr. Tackett and Dr. Schramm-Sapyta go to incredible lengths to ensure that we are serving the needs of the county, and they have routinely introduced me to community stakeholders and voices that have been critical in informing each step of our research process.”

Our community partners have affirmed that they appreciate our work and want more of our insight.

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While academic success is often gauged through publications and honors, Schramm-Sapyta emphasizes that broader impact is harder to measure — but no less important. “Every time we come out of a meeting our community partners have affirmed that they appreciate our work and want more of our insight,” she says. The team’s research has informed Durham’s cash bail reform and highlighted the need for supportive services for individuals with serious mental illness. Their work has informed the development of a new mobile mental health clinic sponsored by Duke and converting a 51-bedroom property into permanent supportive housing.

The team’s focus group interviews have also shaped programming at the Justice Services Center, offering insights into what works. As Tackett notes, “Sometimes the story of one person is way more compelling than any of the statistics I can do with data from thousands and thousands of people.” 

At the heart of this sustained collaboration is a commitment to listening and relationship-building. “We’ve built sustainable partnerships by having something useful to offer, staying connected and continuously listening and learning,” Tackett says. “It’s all about personal relationships with people in Durham who care about the same issues that we do.”

Main image: Left to right: Maria Tackett (second from left) and Nicole Schramm-Sapyta (middle) meet with students on their Bass Connections team. (Photo: Chris Hildreth for Duke Mag)