Dr. Dean Kilpatrick is Co-Principal Investigator for the National Center for Disaster Mental Health Research. He received a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Georgia. He is Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, SC.
He is also Director of the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center at MUSC. His research interests include using epidemiological methods to study the scope, nature, and mental health impact of potentially traumatic events (PTEs) including violent crime, natural disasters and terrorism.
Another research interest is how environmental and genetic factors interact to influence resilience and psychopathology following exposure to PTEs. He and his colleagues have conducted studies of several disasters including Hurricane Hugo, the Loma Prieta Earthquake, Hurricane Andrew, the Los Angeles Civil Disturbances, the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks on the World Trade Center, the 2004 Florida Hurricanes, and Typhoon Xangsang in Vietnam.
He is Past President of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies and Past Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of Traumatic Stress.