Roger Pitman, MD, recognized by CIMIT community

THIS PAGE HAS BEEN FORMATTED FOR EASY PRINTING

CIMIT Executive Director John A. Parrish, MD, recently recognized Dr. Roger A. Pitman for his vision and leadership in founding the CIMIT PTSD Program.

“A pre-eminent leader in his field, Dr. Pitman helped CIMIT shape and launch our PTSD program. He has embraced the power of CIMIT convening and established a new standard for multi-institutional, cross-disciplinary collaboration by tapping into the passion of the psychiatry research community’s desire to make advances in this highly complex condition,” Dr. Parrish remarked during a recent gathering of the regional PTSD Work Group. “By mobilizing this community, we are well positioned to engage all who want to contribute to this important area of research and to make a difference in the lives of millions who quietly struggle each day with PTSD.”

A stalwart advocate for patients, Dr. Pitman encouraged CIMIT to initiate several dozen projects aimed at improving upon current approaches to diagnosis and treatment. Through his efforts, the PTSD program has been seamlessly integrated with three other areas of innovation within the CIMIT Neurocluster: Neurotechnology, Trauma & Casualty Care, and TBI & Neurotrauma .

In establishing the vision for the PTSD program, Dr. Pitman emphasized a patient-centered approach that recognizes the impact of PTSD on individuals and their families. CIMIT investments in this area of research are guided by the fact that many patients suffer from combinations of conditions. And, to address this patient need, physician-scientists must draw on a range of specialty resources in developing innovative solutions.

In thanking Dr. Pitman for founding the CIMIT PTSD Program, Dr. Parrish stated, “PTSD is an area of growing importance to our stakeholders from the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs. More importantly, as a society, we have an obligation to the women and men who are returning from Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom to mobilize our resources and to find solutions that address the unmet needs of patients with TBI and PTSD. Dr. Pitman has brought together this very diverse research community so that we may accelerate that process.”

Parrish concluded his remarks by stating, ‘The CIMIT community will be forever grateful for convening this team of exceptionally talented and accomplished experts in psychiatry and PTSD. We are confident that through your efforts, progress is already being made.”

Roger Pitman serves as director of the MGH Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Psychophysiology Laboratory is a Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and an internationally recognized researcher, teacher, and clinician focusing on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He has 210 publications in the medical literature.