Dr. Mark Bates, B.A., Ph.D.

Director, Resilience and Prevention (R&P),
Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE)

Dr. Mark Bates, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, clinical psychologist and former pilot, serves as the director of the Resilience and Prevention Directorate at DCoE.

Prior to joining DCoE, Dr. Bates was assigned as the clinical psychology residency training director at Malcolm Grow Medical Center at Andrews Air Force Base, where he developed a model of community based psychology with supporting training competencies and metrics. His first assignment after residency was as the mental health flight commander at Hanscom, Mass., which offered excellent opportunities to collaborate with other Services, components and Veterans Affairs facilities across New England and New York.

Dr. Bates was an airlift pilot for his first nine years on active duty. His flying experiences included combat support missions during Desert Storm and humanitarian missions in the Philippines and Turkey. His final flying job was the Group C-12 chief of standards and evaluations. During this post he completed a Master’s degree in counseling psychology at the University of La Verne extension in Alaska, writing his Master’s thesis on stress and performance in aviation.

Bates received his Doctorate from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and completed a residency in clinical psychology at Malcolm Grow Medical Center. He is a 1988 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Areas of Expertise:

• Overview of DCoE
• Performance Enhancement
• Resilience
• Suicide Prevention

To request this speaker, please submit your request using the Speaker Request Form. Thank you.

Army Col. Charles Engel, M.P.H., M.D.

Director,
Deployment Health Clinical Center

Army Col. Charles Engel has served as the director for the Deployment Health Clinical Center (DHCC) for the past 13 years. He is an accomplished psychiatric epidemiologist and health services researcher. Col. Engel has extensive experience in the academic field and has been instrumental in joint Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of Defense (DoD) efforts to develop and implement guidelines for depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, post-deployment health evaluation and medically unexplained physical symptoms.

Col. Engel’s research has been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Aging, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, DoD, and VA. He leads the large-scale primary care clinic implementation and evaluation initiative for RESPECT-Mil (Re-Engineering Systems of Primary Care Treatment in the Military) for post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. RESPECT-Mil has touched nearly 200,000 primary care visits in 46 military primary care clinics worldwide during its 18-month lifespan.

Col. Engel is an active duty Officer in the U.S. Army with 27 years of service. He has often served as a DoD advisor on post-war physical and mental health. He is also assistant chair (research) and associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS). He has authored or coauthored over 100 published articles and 175 scholarly abstracts. His work has addressed topics such as mental health in primary care, medically unexplained symptoms, persistent post-war physical symptoms, post-traumatic stress disorder, clinical trial methods, clinical practice guideline development and implementation, and environmental risk communication.

Col. Engel is a highly regarded medical educator, having received the 2005 American Psychiatric Association’s Nancy C.A. Roeske Award for Excellence in Medical Student Education and the 2003 Association of Military Surgeons of the United States William Porter Award for Outstanding Contributions in Psychiatry.

He directs an innovative Disaster & Preventive Psychiatry Fellowship that was one of the first of its kind worldwide. This USUHS research and mental health policy fellowship awards an M.P.H. degree and provides excellent public health research training.

Col. Engel is devoted to improving the research literacy of mental health professionals, and for the past thirteen years he has taught a unique clinical epidemiology and critical research appraisal course for clinical psychiatrists.

To request this speaker, please submit your request using the Speaker Request Form. Thank you.

Dr. Gregory A. Gahm, B.A., Ph.D.

Director,
National Center for Telehealth & Technology T2

Dr. Gahm is a clinical neuropsychologist and researcher bringing over 20 years of experience in military behavioral health, research and technology to his role as the Director of the National Center for Telehealth & Technology (T2) and T2 Directorate. He has been a pioneer in the Department of Defense’s (DoD) assessment of new technologies including automated assessments, screening, clinical business processes, virtual reality and telehealth.

Prior to joining DCoE, Dr. Gahm served as the chair of the Psychology Department at Madigan Army Medical Center in Ft. Lewis, Wash. As chair, Dr. Gahm supervised more than 100 personnel with three training programs and helped create multiple innovative programs recognized nationally as best practices. Additionally, Dr. Gahm served for many years as the behavioral health lead for Military Health Services enterprise systems development.

Dr. Gahm also developed and serves as the director of the DoD Suicide Risk Management & Surveillance Office. Dr. Gahm completed a Bachelor’s degree at UCLA, a Doctorate in clinical psychology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in neuropsychology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Areas of Expertise:

• Identifying intersections for technology and psychology and translating those into real world solutions.
• Research across multiple areas of PH/TBI with a particular focus on new technologies and suicide.
• Organizational development and leadership. Identifying intersections

To request this speaker, please submit your request using the Speaker Request Form. Thank you.

USPHS Capt. Janet Hawkins, MSW, MPA

USPHS Capt. Janet Hawkins is a social worker currently serving with the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) with the Resilience and Prevention Directorate. She received her Masters in Social Work (MSW) from California State University, San Bernardino. She also has her Masters in Public Administration (MPA) from Troy State University. USPHS Capt. Hawkins has over 20 years experience in the psychological health field providing both direct practices and leadership in improving the quality of psychological health care both within the military and civilian communities. Prior to DCOE, she was employed with the Health and Resources Services Administration (HRSA) and the Unites States Air Force (USAF).

Areas of Expertise/Experience:

• Suicide Prevention
• DCoE Overview

To request this speaker, please submit your request using the Speaker Request Form. Thank you.

Ms. Katherine (Kathy) M. Helmick, MS, RN, CNRN, CRNP

Deputy Director - Traumatic Brain Injury
Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE)

Ms. Kathy Helmick currently serves as the deputy director for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) at DCoE. She brings considerable clinical and research experience in the field of neuroscience to her position as well as over 70 regional, national and international presentations to include many peer-reviewed publications.

Ms. Helmick has served in a variety of leadership, advisory, and operational roles, including positions such as deputy director for the Clinical and Educational Affairs Office for Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC); manager with the Office of Clinical Standards at DVBIC; neurological surgery nurse practitioner at Hodes Neurosurgery in Louisville, Ky; nurse practitioner/clinical care coordinator at the University of Louisville Hospital in Louisville, Ky; and clinical research coordinator in the Division of Neurosurgery at the Medical College of Virginia Hospitals.

Ms. Helmick holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Bachelor of Science in family and child development from Virginia Tech University. She has earned the following certifications: Certified Adult Nurse Practitioner (ANP) through the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) and Certified Neuroscience Registered Nurse (CNRN) through the American Board of Neuroscience Nursing (ABNN).

Areas of Expertise:

• Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) - Mild to Severe
• Military TBI
• Overview of DCoE

To request this speaker, please submit your request using the Speaker Request Form. Thank you.

George Lamb, LCSW

DCoE Strategic Communications, acting Outreach and Collaboration division chief, social work consultant

Mr. Lamb currently serves as the acting division chief of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) Clearinghouse, Outreach and Advocacy directorate’s Outreach and Dissemination division. The chief supervises and manages the division’s dissemination and activities; provides marketing guidance; and coordinates outreach. His work entails managing reports, recommendations, analysis and research efforts in support the directorate’s outreach mission.

Mr. Lamb attended the University of South Carolina where he earned a degree in psychology and sociology and was a work-study employee for the Department of Veterans Affairs with the Beaufort County Veterans’ Affairs office. He earned a master’s degree in social work from USC in May 2000.

Mr. Lamb served 16 years with the U.S. Marines Corps. During his service he was deployed to Southwest Asia during the Gulf War as part of the rapid deployment force. Additionally, Mr. Lamb was deployed with NATO in support of Operation Deny Flight in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In July 2000, Mr. Lamb began his work at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Northport, NY with Mental Health Intensive Case Management. In 2006, he became the center’s Operation Iraqi Freedom /Operation Enduring Freedom Outreach coordinator and assisted with care coordination of returning combat veterans. Additionally, he worked with the polytraumatic patients in the Polytrauma Network Site, located in Richmond, Va.

Areas of Expertise:

• Overview of DCoE
• Advocacy for Families
• Case Management
• Transition
• inTransition Overview

To request this speaker, please submit your request using the Speaker Request Form. Thank you.

Vladimir Nacev, Ph.D.

Subject Matter Expert, Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention

Vladimir Nacev, Ph.D. is a subject matter expert on alcohol and substance abuse prevention with the Resilience and Prevention Directorate Defense Centers of Excellence (DCOE). He is a clinical psychologist with 30 years of clinical experience and 26 years as a university professor at undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate schools. He is a Diplomate and board certified clinical psychologist with the American Board of Professional Psychology while also holding two other board certificates, three licenses, and membership in over half a dozen [psychology] professional organizations. He also completed a post doctoral fellowship in child and adolescent psychology and has qualified as a forensic psychologist. He is also a graduate of the Army’s Command and General Staff College.

Dr. Nacev is a retired Navy Commander who served at the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Pentagon (Joint Chiefs of Staff for Intelligence) and Bureau of Naval Personnel where he had varied clinical and administrative assignments. Since his retirement from the Navy, he has been working as an operational psychologist in the intelligence community. He has also lectured on the psychology of terrorism, espionage, debriefing of terrorists, leadership and management development, and vulnerabilities of an intelligence officer. He has served on dozen deployments and has lived abroad for five years as a clinical, combat, and operational psychologist.

Dr. Nacev has given workshops and presentations at the American Psychological Association’s Annual Conventions on “Providing Psychological Services during Traumatic Events,” “Self-care while Providing Psychological Services during Traumatic Events,” and “Teasing among School Aged Children. In addition, he has lectured on “The Challenges of Being an Expert Witness” and “Sexual Harassment in the Work Place.” He was also a panelist, set by the Department of Defense Dependents Schools, to examine the “Effects of Frequent Moves on the Psychological and Behavioral Development of Children.” More recently he has lectured on the “Psychology of Terrorism,” “Psychology of Humor,” and “Providing Counseling Services during Traumatic Events: Dealing with Disasters, Man-Made or Natural.”

Areas of Expertise:

• Anxiety
• Behavioral Treatments of War-related Psycho-physiological Disorders
• Combat and Operational Stress Control
• Compassion Fatigue
• Depression
• Health Care Programs for Traumatic Events Public Health
• Health Promotion and Illness Prevention
• Military Psychiatry
• Organizational Development and Leadership
• Overview of DCoE
• Posttraumatic Stress
• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Psychological Fitness
• Psychological Heath
• Psychological Treatment of PTSD
• Psychology Training and Education
• Psychosocial Treatments / Psychotherapy
• Resilience
• Serious Mental Illness
• Suicide Prevention
• Treatment of Performance Anxiety
• Treatment of Psychiatric Illness
• Vocational Rehabilitation / Employment

To request this speaker, please submit your request using the Speaker Request Form. Thank you.

Dr. Lolita T. O’Donnell, RN, Ph.D.

Deputy Director, Clearinghouse, Outreach & Advocacy Directorate,
Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE)

Dr. O’Donnell, a Medical-Surgical Clinical Nurse, is one of DCoE's original staff members since its establishment in November 2007. She was involved with the initial planning and continues to be involved with the development of the Concept of Operations, Strategic Plan, and programs and initiatives in outreach and advocacy efforts for service members, veterans and their families with psychological health and traumatic brain injury concerns. Dr. O’Donnell oversees and manages the operation of DCoE’s 24/7 Outreach Center staffed by trained, professional Health Resource Consultants with expertise in psychological health and traumatic brain injury.

Prior to DCoE, Dr. O’Donnell was an Assistant Professor of Nursing at the College of Nursing and Health Science at George Mason University from 2003-2007. Dr. O’Donnell coordinated the 2nd Degree accelerated BSN nursing program and taught nursing research, leadership, nursing administration and all phases of clinical nursing. From 1990 – 2003, Dr O’Donnell’s civilian nursing experiences at Sibley Memorial Hospital, Washington, D.C. included medical/surgical nursing, case management, quality and risk management and hospital accreditation. Her military experience includes serving as a Clinical Nurse in the U.S. Air Force Nurse Corps, 1988-1993 and as a Flight Nurse in the U.S. Air Force Reserve Corps. She deployed during Desert Storm and Desert Shield and received the Air Force Commendation Medal for excellence.

Dr. O’Donnell completed her doctoral studies and graduate work in Nursing Administration, Policy Ethics and Research at George Mason University. Her nursing research focus is on case management and ethics. Dr. O’Donnell is a copy editor and manuscript reviewer on a variety of nursing specialties for Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Areas of Expertise:

• Overview of DCoE
• Psychological Heath and Traumatic Brain Injury Initiatives
• Advocacy for Families
• Case Management and Transition
• Nursing and Health Care Management, Administration
• inTransition Overview

To request this speaker, please submit your request using the Speaker Request Form. Thank you.

Air Force Col. Christopher Robinson, B.A., M.A., M.P.H., Ph.D.

Deputy Director - Psychological Health
Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE)

Air Force Col. Christopher Robinson is a clinical health psychologist who brings expertise in public behavioral health and health policy to his role as the senior executive director for psychological health at DCoE. Robinson previously served as the director of the Strategies, Plans and Programs Directorate and recently returned from a deployment to Afghanistan where he served as the Combat Stress Detachment Commander for Regional Command-East.

Prior to joining DCoE, Robinson served as the 78th Medical Operations Squadron commander at Robins Air Force Base in Ga., where he led all health care operations provided by 130 health care workers. Robinson directed medical operations at seven outpatient clinics including family medicine, immunizations, pediatrics, women’s health, physical therapy, mental health and family advocacy. Additionally, he implemented the Air Force Medical Service’s goals and objectives and ensured compliance with all Department of Defense and Air Force professional and accreditation standards.

Col. Robinson has also served as the program manager of the Air Force Alcohol Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment Program and the Air Force Drug Demand Reduction Program.

Col. Robinson received his Doctorate in psychology from Texas A&M University. He earned his Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees from the University of Oklahoma and also holds a Master’s degree in public health from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

Areas of Expertise:

• Psychological Treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders
• Behavioral Treatments of War-related Psychophysiological Disorders
• Treatment of Performance Anxiety
• Chronic Illness Rehabilitation
• Health Promotion and Illness Prevention

To request this speaker, please submit your request using the Speaker Request Form. Thank you.