Alan Peterson, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio, leads 22 institutions throughout the U.S. in research projects related to post-traumatic stress disorder.
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Top scientists from Texas and around the nation gathered in San Antonio Jan. 7-8 for a meeting of The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas (TAMEST) to discuss the latest tactics for protecting and healing military personnel.

Among the researchers at the conference was Alan Peterson, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio, who brought attendees up to date on research being conducted to prevent and treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD is a potentially debilitating psychological response many armed forces personnel experience due to combat stress.

Dr. Peterson leads STRONG STAR research consortium
Dr. Peterson, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, is consortium director of STRONG STAR, short for the South Texas Research Organizational Network Guiding Studies on Trauma and Resilience.

STRONG STAR, the largest research program ever undertaken to help military personnel cope with PTSD, is a $35 million research program funded by the Department of Defense’s Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury Research Program. This multidisciplinary consortium is also multi-institutional, with 22 partnering institutions that include 10 from San Antonio, seven more in Texas and five in other parts of the U.S.

“A nationally important problem is going on and no one individual or institution has the answer,” Dr. Peterson said.

Reliving the horrors of war
PTSD occurs after a person has been exposed to a traumatic event that is the worst in his or her life. Those affected often re-experience the event over and over through thoughts, nightmares and dreams. “People with PTSD practice avoidance. They avoid thoughts and places that remind them of the event. They also have extreme response to common events, such as going to a movie, that remind them of their experience,” Dr. Peterson said.

Nurturing resilience
As the STRONG STAR name spells out, a major focus of the consortium is on resilience, the positive capacity a person has to cope with stress, catastrophe and trauma. As part of the consortium’s 16 research projects, investigators are evaluating two types of interventions — Prolonged Exposure and Cognitive-Processing Therapy — that may help those returning from war better cope with their experiences and retain or regain their resilience. Prolonged Exposure involves repeated exposure to memories of the trauma, leading to a reduction in its effect on the person. Cognitive-Processing Therapy involves reliving the experience through writing and other means.

Research studies have shown these treatments to be effective for the prevention and treatment of PTSD in up to 80 percent of civilian patients. STRONG STAR is now looking at the best way to deliver these evidence-based treatments to active-duty military and veterans for the successful prevention and treatment of combat-related PTSD.

“If we can achieve similar results in terms of preventing and treating PTSD in returning warriors, the benefit will be huge,” Dr. Peterson said. “If we’re even half as successful, we’ll make a dramatically positive impact on the lives of military members, veterans and their families.”

PTSD costs the U.S. $4.3 billion in disability payments each year and represents 20.5 percent of all U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs compensation claims. More than 500,000 Vietnam veterans have chronic PTSD and new claims continue to increase. Researchers are screening for PTSD in more than 88,000 military members who have deployed to Iraq.

UT System Chancellor Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D., new TAMEST president
TAMEST was founded in 2004 by U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison to bring recognition to Texas’ top achievers in medicine, engineering and science. Its membership includes Nobel laureates and 240 members of the National Academies. UT System Chancellor Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D., former president of the UT Health Science Center San Antonio, is the 2010 president of TAMEST.