PTSD: National Center for PTSD

Brian Smith, PhD

Research/Investigator

Women's Health Sciences Division

See staff directory for contact information.

Academic Appointment

• Boston University School of Medicine, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry

Education

• Virginia Commonwealth University, Social and Behavioral Health/Health Psychology, Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2002-2004
• Virginia Commonwealth University, Experimental Psychology (Social Psychology), PhD, 2001
• Virginia Commonwealth University, Experimental Psychology (Social Psychology), MS, 2000
• Virginia Commonwealth University, Psychology, BS, 1996

Expertise and Interests

• Effects of traumatic stress and PTSD on health, functioning, and well-being across life domains (e.g., work, family, health-related quality of life), with a focus on aging
• Age- and gender-related differences in health mechanisms and outcomes associated with stress
• The social context of health, including psychosocial risk and resilience factors and social psychological predictors of health-related behaviors and outcomes
• Public health implications of trauma
• Advanced statistical methods in health sciences research

Membership in Professional Societies

• International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies
• American Psychosomatic Society
• Trauma Psychology (American Psychological Association, div 56)
• Association for Psychological Science
• Health Psychology (American Psychological Association, div 38)
• Gerontological Society of America

Awards and Honors

• Honorable Mention, Military Family Research Institute Award for Excellence in Research on Military and Veteran Families, 2018
• Outstanding Social Psychology Doctoral Student of the Year, Virginia Commonwealth University, 2001
• Psychology Honors, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1996

Selected Publications

Smith, B.N., Spiro, A., Frayne, S.M., Kimerling, R., Cypel, Y., Reinhard, M.J., Kilbourne, A.M., & Magruder, K.M. (in press). Impact of wartime stress exposures and mental health on later-life functioning and disability in Vietnam-Era women veterans: Findings from The Health of Vietnam-Era Women's Study (HealthViEWS). Psychosomatic Medicine.

Maskin, R.M., Iverson, K.M., Vogt, D., & Smith, B.N. (2019). Associations between intimate partner violence victimization and employment outcomes among male and female post-9/11 veterans. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 11, 406-414. doi: 10.1037/tra0000368

Vogt, D., Danitz, S.B., Fox, A.B., Sanders, W., & Smith, B.N. (2019). Do functional impairments promote or hinder mental health treatment seeking: Differential results for women and men. Psychiatry Research, 271, 612-620. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2018.12.031

Smith, B.N., Taverna, E.A., Fox, A.B., Schnurr, P.P., Matteo, R.A., & Vogt, D. (2017). The role of PTSD, depression, and alcohol misuse symptom severity in linking deployment stressor exposure and post-military work and family outcomes in male and female veterans. Clinical Psychological Science, 5, 664-682. doi: 10.1177/2167702617705672

Smith, B.N., Tyzik, A.L., Neylan, T.C., & Cohen, B.E. (2015). PTSD and obesity in younger and older veterans: Results from the Mind Your Heart Study. Psychiatry Research, 229, 895-900. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2015.07.044

Members of the press interested in scheduling an interview please see the contact for the media page.