DAVID M. BENEDEK

David M. Benedek, M.D., is a Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at Uniformed Services University (USU) and Associate Director of its Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress (CSTS). A retired U.S. Army Colonel with combat deployments, he previously chaired USU's Department of Psychiatry and is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.

His research focuses on:

• Military and disaster psychiatry: Trauma response, PTSD, and resilience in servicemembers.
• Forensic psychiatry: Legal and ethical dimensions of mental health in military contexts.
• Neuroscience: Brain-behavior relationships in trauma survivors.

He leads major studies including ARMY STARRS-LS and DARPA STRENGTHEN, focusing on risk assessment and intervention strategies.

Awards and Honors:

• Defense Superior Service Medal
• Legion of Merit
• APA’s Nancy C.A. Roeske Award for medical education
• Order of Military Medical Merit (2009)

At CSTS, he develops clinical guidelines and training programs for disaster mental health. He formerly directed Walter Reed's Center for Forensic Behavioral Sciences and continues to shape military psychiatry through roles in the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry.