Associate Professor
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Sarah Laughon graduated from The Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University in 2009 and then completed 2 years of residency training in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) before changing specialites. Sarah subsequently completed a General Psychiatry Residency at UNC in 2014 followed by completion of the UNC Consultation-Liaison (CL) Psychiatry Fellowship Program in 2015. Sarah joined the CL Psychiatry division in July of 2015 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UNC. In 2018, Sarah transitioned to the CL Psychiatry service leader and since that time has directed the service to provide psychiatric care to medically and surgically-ill patients throughout the general hospital. Her particular passion is working in and expanding the subspecialty of Burn Psychiatry by collaborating with burn surgeons and staff to provide dedicated, thorough, and specialized psychiatric care to burn-injured patients. Research projects focus on improving the management of critically-ill burn patients with delirium, chronic mental illness, acute stress disorder, and substance use disorders. Additional areas of focus include ICU psychiatry, liaising with and participating in the solid organ transplant program, creating and chairing the Burn & Trauma Injury SIG within the ACLP, creating and implementing a mid-career leadership course within the UNC Department of Psychiatry, co-directing a weekly CL psychiatry case conference, and teaching fellows, residents, and medical students on the CL psychiatry service and through formal lectures.
