Joseph Boscarino, Ph.D, M.P.H.,will be recognized by the International Society of Traumatic Stress (ISTSS) with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the research of traumatic stress.
ISTSS - an international, interdisciplinary professional organization that promotes the advancement and exchange of knowledge about traumatic stress - awards its highest honor to an individual whose work exemplifies excellence in the research, understanding and advocacy of traumatic stress.
As an epidemiologist, social psychologist and Vietnam veteran, Dr. Boscarino's career has been devoted to understanding the psychopathology of post traumatic stress disorders (PTSD), their relationship to medical problems and the development of brief, post-disease mental health interventions. He has built a reputation for cutting-edge research that has theory and practice implications. Following the World Trade Center attack in New York, his research team was funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH) to the study mental health consequences of this event, which resulted in several landmark findings in the field. Currently he is collaborating with molecular biologists and genetic investigators at Geisinger to uncover the genetic link between PTSD and subsequent psychopathology, making it possible to predict an individual's likelihood of developing PTSD following exposure to a traumatic event, as well as psychological resilience to such exposures.
In addition, Dr. Boscarino is involved with assessing the health impact of PTSD and traumatic brain injury (TBI) among trauma patients seen in Geisinger's Trauma Center. He is also investigating the role of PTSD in the onset and course of inflammatory diseases, including ischemic heart disease and rheumatoid arthritis. At Geisinger, he is currently funded by the NIH to develop the next generation of PTSD prediction models that can be used by healthcare providers in routine clinical practice.
"Dr. Boscarino's serious and long-term commitment to understanding PTSD has helped those with PTSD and the professionals who care for patients.We are honored and delighted to see his work recognized by the ISTSS," noted Walter "Buzz" Stewart, director, the Center for Health Research at Geisinger.
A Vietnam veteran, Dr. Boscarino says his work is also inspired by his identical twin brother, also a Vietnam veteran, who was 100 percent disabled by combat PTSD following the Battle for Hue during the 1968 Tet Offensive.
Dr. Boscarino has published more than 100 papers and has been honored for his contributions in the PTSD field by the American Psychological Association and the Vietnam Veterans of America. In his letter recommending Dr. Boscarino for the award, past ISTSS President and noted trauma stress scholar Charles Figley, Ph.D., described Dr. Boscarino as, "a caring and passionate human being who recognized that through research the truth emerges to help understand and help war veterans....transforming his battlefield experience into a way to help others."
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