Featured Speakers

Profiles in Resilience Speaker

Kim “KC” Campbell, MBA, MA (Col, U.S. Air Force, Retired)

Kim “KC” Campbell is a retired Colonel who served over 24 years in the U.S. Air Force as a fighter pilot and senior military leader. She has flown 1,800 hours in the A-10 Warthog, including more than 100 combat missions protecting troops on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2003, she was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for Heroism after successfully recovering her battle-damaged airplane after an intense close air support mission. As a senior military leader, Col Campbell led hundreds of airmen both at home and abroad in deployed locations and enabled them to succeed in their missions. Assignments include leadership roles as a Group Commander, responsible for over 1,000 Air Force personnel in South America, Central America, and the Caribbean; Military Assistant to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, advising the number three civilian official in the Department of Defense on national security and defense policy formulation; Air Force Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, a pre-eminent think tank promoting international leadership and engagement; and, most recently, Director of the Center for Character and Leadership Development at the Air Force Academy. She is now a keynote speaker and executive coach with Victory Strategies, a leadership development and coaching firm. She also is the author of the bestselling book, Flying in the Face of Fear: A Fighter Pilot’s Lessons on Leading with Courage.

Keynote Speaker

Tetiana Nickelsen, PhD, MBA

Dr. Tetiana Nickelsen is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Texas A&M University College of Medicine. Her research focuses on trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with particular emphasis on the implementation and dissemination of evidence-based treatments in real-world, under-resourced, and conflict-affected settings. Dr. Nickelsen is actively involved in collaborative initiatives to expand access to evidence-based PTSD care in Ukraine during the ongoing war. Her work includes training and supporting Ukrainian mental health professionals, examining barriers and facilitators to treatment implementation, and developing implementation strategies. Her research interests also include understanding the mechanisms through which trauma-focused interventions produce therapeutic change and translating this knowledge into more effective and scalable approaches to care. Her broader work applies implementation science and global mental health perspectives to strengthening mental health systems, expanding access to evidence-based care, and building sustainable clinical capacity in underserved communities.

Other Featured Speakers

Justin C. Baker, PhD, ABPP

Dr. Justin Baker is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at The Ohio State University and the Director for the Suicide and Trauma Reduction Initiative (STRIVE), a research and clinical treatment program that prioritizes evidence-based treatment for veterans, first responders, and civilians suffering from trauma and/or suicide. He is a board-certified clinical psychologist and military veteran focused on improving interventions for trauma- and suicide-related disorders. His work has been funded by the Department of Defense and other private foundations. Dr. Baker is also a national consultant and sought-out trainer for suicide-focused treatments. A recent recipient of the Outstanding Research Accomplishment Individual/Academia Award for Excellence from the 2025 Military Health System Research Symposium, his work has been featured in various media outlets to include CNN, Psychiatric Times, CBS, ABC News, CNN Health, NPR The American Homefront Project, Yahoo, and U.S. News & World Report.

Peter Colvonen, PhD

Dr. Peter Colvonen is an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Digeo, clinician at the Telemental Health Clinic, and principal investigator on an RR&D Merit award. He is an investigator at the VA Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health clinical research unit and director of the VA Center of Excellence Sleep Research Consortium. His research program aims to optimize treatments for PTSD and sleep disorder. He ran the fully remote electrical vestibular system stimulation (VSS) headset leading to the first ever FDA approval of VSS treatment for PTSD.

Amy S. Garrett, PhD

Dr. Amy Garrett is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at The University of Texas at San Antonio Long School of Medicine. Her research is focused on neuroimaging investigations of the mechanisms of psychotherapy for youth with posttraumatic stress symptoms. Dr. Garrett has received F32, K01, and R01 grants from the National Institute of Mental Health to study neural abnormalities in youth with PTSD and how these abnormalities change during the process of trauma-focused psychotherapy.

Rivkah Ginat-Frolich, PhD

Dr. Rivkah Ginat-Frolich is a licensed clinical psychologist and Senior Research Associate at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her research focuses on understanding the mechanisms of change underlying cognitive-behavioral treatments for anxiety and related disorders, such as interpretation biases and threat learning. At The Center for Trauma Recovery (CTR), Dr. Ginat-Frolich and her team conduct longitudinal research examining the implementation, uptake, and effectiveness of evidence-based psychological treatments within Israel’s public mental health system following training and supervision. This work aims to better understand how evidence-based treatments can be effectively integrated into routine clinical practice in Israel and ultimately improve access to and quality of care. As part of her work with the CTR, Dr. Ginat-Frolich is also involved in a public awareness campaign designed to empower individuals through accessible, scientifically grounded information and support informed decision-making about mental health treatment.

Paul Holtzheimer, MD

Dr. Paul Holtzheimer is the Deputy Director for Research at the VA’s National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. He is Professor of Psychiatry and Surgery at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, and a staff psychiatrist at the White River Junction VA Medical Center. He also directs the National PTSD Brain Bank. He has served on the Council of the Society of Biological Psychiatry and on the Board of Directors for the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, and he is a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. Dr. Holtzheimer’s research program studies the neural circuitry of PTSD, depression and related disorders to inform the development of better interventions. His expertise includes brain imaging and brain stimulation therapies (including transcranial magnetic stimulation, electroconvulsive therapy, vagus nerve stimulation, and deep brain stimulation). He also oversees preclinical research focused on using electrophysiology and brain stimulation to study and treat the neuropsychiatric consequences of traumatic brain injury. Dr. Holtzheimer is an author on over 150 publications in psychiatry, neurology, neurosurgery and neuroimaging. He has received research funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Veterans Affairs and multiple non-profit foundations.

Svitlana Kalashchenko, MD, PhD

Dr. Svitlana Kalashchenko is an Associate Professor in the Department of Emergency and Tactical Medicine at Bogomolets National Medical University (Ukraine). Her work focuses on emergency medicine, public health, healthcare emergency preparedness, and psychophysiological assessment of professionals working in high-risk environments. She earned her PhD in 2022 with research on psychophysiological assessment and preventive rehabilitation of security sector personnel. Her research interests include psychological resilience, PTSD prevention, mental health of emergency responders and healthcare professionals, tactical medicine, CBRN medical preparedness, and health system resilience during crises and armed conflicts. Since 2022, she has participated in international projects on emergency preparedness and health system resilience in collaboration with the European Commission, the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and other international partners. Dr. Kalashchenko is the author of more than 100 scientific publications and co-author of three educational textbooks. Her current research aims to strengthen the resilience of healthcare professionals and improve evidence-based approaches to preventing psychological trauma among high-risk occupational groups.

Shannon Kehle-Forbes, PhD, LP

Dr. Shannon Kehle-Forbes the Director of the Center for Care Delivery & Outcomes Research, a VA Health Systems Research Center of Innovation at the Minneapolis VA Healthcare System. She is also a Research Psychologist with the Women’s Health Sciences Division of the VA’s National Center for PTSD and a Professor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota. Her research focuses on improving evidence-based psychotherapies for veterans with PTSD and co-occurring conditions (e.g., substance use disorders, moral injury, functional impairments). Specifically, her work at the intersection of clinical effectiveness and implementation seeks to improve clinical outcomes for complex trauma-affected Veterans in routine clinical care. Her current work includes pragmatic and Hybrid Type I randomized clinical trials and has been funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense, and the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute.

Don McGeary, PhD, ABPP

Dr. Don McGeary is Professor and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at The University of Texas at San Antonio Long School of Medicine. He also holds cross appointments with the Department of Psychology at UT San Antonio and as a Research Health Scientist with the South Texas Veterans Health Care System. With a PhD in Clinical Psychology from The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, his postdoctoral fellowship in Clinical Health Psychology at Wilford Hall Medical Center, and 7 years in civil service with the US Air Force and US Army, he joined UT Health San Antonio in 2011. He has since developed research programs as a Principal Investigator focusing on chronic pain in the context of military trauma and become a nationally recognized expert in military and veteran pain management. His most recent work focuses on the use of machine learning paradigms to predict changes in pain trajectories and using pain trajectory data to develop individualized treatments for military pain.

Shannon R. Miles, PhD

Dr. Shannon Miles is a clinical psychologist at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital and Associate Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery, Brain and Spine, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa. Her research and clinical work focus on the interplay between mental and physical health after polytrauma (i.e., injury to more than one organ system). Clinically, she assists military veterans and service members in their recovery after traumatic brain injury, including the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder and aggression. Dr. Miles has over 60 peer reviewed publications on mental health disorders and traumatic brain injury. She has contributed to 14 federal grants, including serving as principal-investigator or site principle-investigator on 9 grants. She has been funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense.

Barbara L. Niles, PhD

Dr. Barbara Niles is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and a Principal Investigator with the Behavioral Science Division of the National Center for PTSD at VA Boston Healthcare System. She conducts clinical trials with veterans that examine complementary and integrative treatment approaches. Her research provides evidence of acceptability and explores the impact of Tai Chi and wellness promotion on PTSD and other postdeployment maladies. These interventions can simultaneously address both psychological and physical health concerns, including chronic pain, a common comorbidity for veterans with PTSD. Dr. Niles is an active member of VA Boston’s PTSD Clinical Team and supervises pre- and post-doctoral trainees. She completed her predoctoral internship at VA Boston, expecting to stay for only one year, but found working with veterans with PTSD to be so compelling that she has spent her entire career in VA.

Alan L. Peterson, PhD, ABPP (Lt Col, U.S. Air Force, Retired)

Dr. Alan Peterson is a Professor and the Chief of the Division of Behavioral Medicine within the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Joe R. & Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. He is a board-certified clinical health psychologist through the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP), the Krus Endowed Chair in Psychiatry, and the Associate Director of Research for the Military Health Institute. He is also a Professor in the Department of Psychology at The University of Texas at San Antonio. Dr. Peterson is the Director of the STRONG STAR Consortium and the Consortium to Alleviate PTSD, which include over 150 research collaborators and 50 institutions worldwide. He is also the Director of the National Center for Warrior Resiliency, which was established by the Texas Legislature in 2017. He served previously as the Chair of the Department of Psychology and the Director of the Clinical Health Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program at the U.S. Air Force’s Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio. Dr. Peterson retired from the Air Force in 2005 after 21 years of active duty service that included deployments in support of Operations Noble Eagle, Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom. He has clinical and research expertise in the areas of behavioral medicine, psychological trauma, and resiliency. He has published 9 books and over 400 scientific manuscripts, and he has given over 800 presentations and invited addresses at national and international meetings.

Mark Powers, PhD

Dr. Mark B. Powers is Associate Professor in the Department of Neuroscience and Director of the Clinical and Translational Research Center at The University of Texas at Dallas. He is a clinical psychologist and translational treatment researcher whose work focuses on developing and evaluating interventions for posttraumatic stress disorder and related conditions. His research has emphasized exposure-based treatments, mechanisms of fear extinction, treatment augmentation, and the translation of mechanistic neuroscience into novel clinical therapeutics. Dr. Powers has led and collaborated on federally funded clinical trials supported by the Department of Defense, NIH, DARPA, and other agencies. His recent work has focused on targeted plasticity therapy for PTSD, pairing prolonged exposure therapy with implanted vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) to enhance therapeutic learning. He led the clinical component of the first-in-human study of a miniaturized VNS system for treatment-resistant PTSD, which demonstrated the feasibility and safety of this approach and clinically meaningful, durable improvements in PTSD symptoms. This work has progressed to a Department of Defense-funded randomized, sham-controlled trial of VNS paired with prolonged exposure therapy. His broader research program includes PTSD treatment and prevention following traumatic injury and spinal cord injury, as well as strategies for improving the effectiveness and durability of evidence-based behavioral interventions.

Sheila A.M. Rauch, PhD, ABPP

Dr. Sheila A.M. Rauch, Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry at the Emory University School of Medicine, co-led design and now serves as Deputy Director of the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program. She also serves as Executive Associate Director of the Center for Visual and Neurocognitive Rehabilitation and Director of Mental Health Research and Program Evaluation at the Joseph Maxwell Cleland Atlanta VA Medical Center. For over 25 years, Dr. Rauch’s work in VA and academic medical settings is focused on developing programs, training providers, conducting research, and providing PTSD and anxiety disorders treatment with the goal of improving access to effective mental health treatment. She leads studies focused on the neurobiology involved in the development, maintenance, and treatment of PTSD and psychosocial factors in medical settings including pain and other physical health impacts of trauma. She has published over 320 scholarly articles, 23 chapters, and 6 books on anxiety disorders and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). She leads PTSD treatment outcome and mechanisms trials including pharmaceutical and therapy trials. She is a fellow in the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and a fellow in the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy.

Rebecca K. Sripada, PhD, ABPP

Dr. Rebecca Sripada is a Research Scientist with the VA Center for Clinical Management Research and a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan Medical School. As a clinical psychologist and health services researcher specializing in PTSD and trauma-related mental health care, her research focuses on improving access to and delivery of evidence-based treatments—especially among veterans and underserved populations. She leads studies using innovative trial designs (like SMART) to optimize therapies such as Cognitive Processing Therapy and Prolonged Exposure. Dr. Sripada also conducts stakeholder-engaged research to inform policy and adapt treatments for real-world settings, including community clinics and the VA.

Casey Straud, PsyD, ABPP

Dr. Casey Straud is a board-certified clinical psychologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology, College for Health, Community, and Policy at The University of Texas at San Antonio. He holds a joint appointment in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at UT San Antonio’s Joe R. & Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine. His research focuses on PTSD and related comorbidities, with particular interest in evidence-based psychotherapies, clinical trials, and biostatistics. Most recently, Dr. Straud’s research program has focused on neurobiological mechanisms of PTSD and novel therapeutics that can be combined with first-line psychotherapies to enhance PTSD treatment outcomes.

Jennifer J. Vasterling, PhD

Dr. Jennifer Vasterling serves as an Affiliated Investigator in the Behavioral Science Division of the National Center for PTSD, as the Chief of Psychology at VA Boston Healthcare System, as a Professor of Psychiatry at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, and as Lecturer in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Trained as a clinical neuropsychologist, much of Dr. Vasterling’s research has centered on neurocognitive correlates of PTSD and the longitudinal emotional and neuropsychological outcomes of war-zone participation. She has edited several books, including a volume focused on the neuropsychological concomitants of PTSD. Dr. Vasterling is a former member of the International Neuropsychological Society Board of Governors and former president of the Society for Clinical Neuropsychology (APA, Division 40).

James “Jim” Whitworth, PhD (CPT, U.S. Army)

CPT James Whitworth is a Research Physiologist with the U.S. Army Research Institute for Environmental Medicine and Affiliated Investigator with the Behavioral Science Division of the National Center for PTSD at VA Boston Healthcare System. His research focuses on using physical activity and exercise to improve physical and mental health outcomes among military service members, veterans, and trauma survivors. He is particularly interested in studying the role of exercise and other healthy lifestyle behaviors that can play a role in the treatment of PTSD. CPT Whitworth is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), Past President of the New England Regional Chapter of ACSM, and certified Tactical Strength and Conditioning Facilitator (TSAC-F).