Joshua C. Morganstein, M.D.

Joshua C. Morganstein, M.D.

Dr. Joshua C. Morganstein is Associate Professor and Assistant Chair in the Department of Psychiatry and Assistant Director at the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress (CSTS) in the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and a Captain in the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service. He is a Chair of the Committee on the Psychiatric Dimensions of Disaster and Distinguished Fellow at the American Psychiatric Association. Dr. Morganstein received his medical degree from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. He completed a combined residency in Psychiatry and Family Medicine in the National Capital Consortium in Washington, DC. Dr. Morganstein leads the Disaster Mental Health and Public Health education and consultation services at the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress. In this capacity he has been an invited speaker and consultant for national organizations and interagency partners. Dr. Morganstein provided mental health subject-matter expertise to the United Nations’ 2015 Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. He co-authored the first Curriculum Recommendations for Disaster Behavioral Health Professionals and a co-author for a landmark Presidential report on the Impact of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States. Dr. Morganstein authored numerous articles, chapters, and technical reports on the mental health impact of various disaster events including climate-related disasters, mass violence, terrorism, pandemics, and nuclear exposure. He is Assistant Editor for the second edition of the Textbook of Disaster Psychiatry. Dr. Morganstein has studied the effects of stress and trauma in organizational settings, including recent work with military drone intelligence personnel and communities impacted by the 2013 mass shootings at the Washington Navy Yard. Dr. Morganstein was commissioned as a U.S. Air Force officer from 1997-2013. He served as the Medical Director for community and outpatient mental health at Misawa Air Base in Japan and deployed to Afghanistan as the senior Air Force Psychiatrist in theatre where he oversaw delivery of psychiatric care for 90,000 service members during Operation Enduring Freedom. Dr. Morganstein served as the sole behavioral health advisor to the Commander, Joint Task Force National Capital Region-Medical overseeing the transition of mental health, substance use and traumatic brain injury services during the largest Base Realignment and Closure in the history of the Department of Defense. In 2013, Dr. Morganstein completed an inter-service transfer from the U.S. Air Force to the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service in pursuit of his interest in public health and disaster mental health. Dr. Morganstein was recognized with the U.S. Air Force Major Command Clinical Excellence Field Grade Officer of the Year award and the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine’s Resident Teacher of the Year award. Dr. Morganstein’s uniformed service awards include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Presidential Unit Citation, Joint Meritorious Unit Award, Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster, and the National Defense Service Medal.