Heather L. Rusch, PhD, is a Clinical Investigator at the National Institutes of Health and recipient of the 2020 Ailes Muskin Career Development Leadership Award. Her research is mainly focused on developing innovative diagnostics and therapeutics for the treatment of trauma-related disorders, including PTSD. She investigates a range of psychological, neural, and molecular markers to better understand the factors that may increase human resilience in the face of traumatic stress. Dr. Rusch's research serves diverse trauma-exposed populations of civilians, military service members, medical students and residents, and healthcare professionals, including frontline healthcare workers that care for patients with COVID-19. Her work has been featured in the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), JAMA, New York Academy of Sciences, MedScape, Mindful Magazine, New York Magazine, Psychology Today, and other media outlets. Dr. Rusch is passionate about discovering evidence-based interventions that foster human resilience, as well as expanding access to quality care through health science policy and implementation science.
