Dr. Shawn G. Rhind is a senior Defence Scientist in the Operational Health and Performance section at Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) and an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto. He earned his PhD in immunobiology from the University of Toronto and completed a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) postdoctoral fellowship at the Defence and Civil Institute of Environmental Medicine (DCIEM). His research examines biomolecular mechanisms underlying neuroendocrine–immune dysfunction and adaptations to extreme physiological stress and traumatic injury by focusing on pathological cytokine dysregulation, excessive leukocyte activation, and vascular endothelial dysfunction that can lead to multiple organ damage. Spanning fundamental lab-based studies to human clinical trials, Dr. Rhind’s work aims to elucidate the biological basis of combat-related psychophysiological trauma, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and to develop therapeutic interventions for hemorrhagic shock and brain injury in battlefield settings.
Dr. Rakesh Jetly is the former Chief Psychiatrist for the Canadian Armed Forces and currently is the Head of the Centre of Excellence on Mental Health, Directorate of Mental Health. He is also an Associate Professor of psychiatry at Dalhousie University (Halifax), Queen’s University (Kingston), and the University of Ottawa. He holds a PhD in Medicine from the University of Toronto in 1991. In 1996, he was accepted into the University of Toronto Postgraduate Training Program in Psychiatry and was
promoted to major in 1997. Upon graduation in 2000, he was certified as a Fellow in the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (psychiatry) and posted to CF Health Services Centre (Atlantic). He has an interest in operational
mental health with a focus on PTSD and has worked within Canada and with allies (NATO) to advance the field. Research and academic interests are varied and include suicide prevention, Nabilone as a treatment for PTSD-related nightmares, neurofeedback, pharmacogenomics, and other innovations in mental health. Recent international collaborations include a lecture series on morality and mental health as well as chairing Research Task Groups (RTG) Leveraging Technology in Mental Health and Personalized Medicine. His career achievements include being named a fellow of the CIMVHR and the American
Psychiatric Association.
Dr. Joseph B. Long is the chief of the Blast-Induced Neurotrauma Branch of the Center for Military Psychiatry and Neuroscience at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Silver Spring, MD. In this capacity, he heads a research team using animal models and biofield surrogates to validate and characterize scaled experimental blast exposure conditions and assessments of outcomes relevant to blast-injured warfighters. His research targets the definition of the biomechanical and neurobiological underpinnings of blast TBI; the determination of the contributions of operational, environmental, and psychological stressors and
nutritional deficiencies to mTBI severity; and the establishment of effective countermeasures to improve return to duty rates and readiness. He received his BSc degree in Biology from Bucknell University in 1977 and his PhD degree in Pharmacology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine in 1982. Before becoming a civilian researcher at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, he served for 7 years of active duty in the US Army.
