Deputy Chief
Department of Military Psychiatry
Division of Neuropsychiatry
Walter Reed Army Institute of Research
Washington, DC

Kathleen M. Wright, Ph.D., is an adjunct associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and a scientist in the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. She is currently Project Director for the Psychological Screening Research Program at the U.S. Army Medical Research Unit-Europe, an overseas laboratory of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. Her program specializes in the development of valid, effective, pre and post-deployment psychological screening procedures for the assessment and triage of service members with mental health problems. Previous assignments include serving as the Deputy Chief of the Department of Military Psychiatry in the Division of Neurosciences at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and as the Research Director for the Congressional Commission on Military Training and Gender-Related Issues.

Dr. Wright’s advanced degrees include a Doctor of Philosophy in psychology from Cornell University, a Master of Arts in psychology from the New School for Social Research, and a Master of Science in administration from George Washington University. She completed a two-year NIMH post-doctoral fellowship in clinical psychology at the Yale University School of Medicine. Her research interests include the psychological effects of combat and peacekeeping deployments; individual and community responses to trauma and disaster; and the design of prevention and early intervention strategies to improve recovery following exposure to trauma. She has experience participating as a member of a response team following mass casualty events and has conducted psychological research in the field during the Persian Gulf War (Operation Desert Shield), on peacekeeping missions in Bosnia and in Kosovo, and at field sites throughout the United States and Germany.