MHI Post Doctoral Fellow Accomplishments
Roxana E. Delgado, PhD, MS
Dr. Delgado is a Professor and Scholar in Military Research at the University of Texas Health San Antonio, School of Nursing and one of the investigators at the VA Elizabeth Dole Center of Excellence for Veteran and Caregiver Research. Dr. Delgado completed post-doctoral work as a Military Health Institute Fellow at the School of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. She is a health scientist and epidemiologist with extensive military medical research experience before her transition to academia.
Dr. Delgado developed the “Military and Veteran Caregiver Portfolio,” a research platform that addresses the short and long-term health-related outcomes of caregivers of wounded, ill, and injured service members and veterans. Her research focuses on predictors and health outcomes in military caregivers, with an emphasis on the long-term trajectory of disease and illness. One of her latest research studies identified phenotypes of distress as predictors of suicidal ideation in a cohort of military and veteran caregivers.
Her professional experience was inspired by her firsthand experience as the wife of a combat-wounded veteran and Purple Heart Recipient. She is a nationally recognized speaker, author, researcher, and avid advocate for traumatic brain injury and the science of caregiving. She serves on various advisory boards to inform national policies and programs for Veterans and caregivers. A 2015-16 Elizabeth Dole Foundation Fellow representing the State of Texas, she is passionate about what she does, and her goal is to dedicate her life and profession to contributing to science and helping wounded, ill and injured Veterans and their caregivers discover ways to thrive.
Casey Stroud, PhD
Dr. Stroud is a Tenure Track Assistant Professor, board certified clinical psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSCA) and the South Texas Research Organizational Network Guiding Studies on Trauma and Resilience (STRONG STAR) Consortium. His career has focused on the etiology, pathology, and treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and factors that impact treatment outcomes. Following his doctorate, Dr. Stroud completed a two-year trauma research fellowship with the Military Health Institute (MHI) under the mentorship of Drs. Alan Peterson and Jim Mintz and was involved in planning, conducting, and disseminating the results of large randomized clinical trials (RCT) of first-line psychotherapies for PTSD.
These experiences led to early career success through publications, presentations, and grant submissions, some of which are now ongoing federally funded trials. In 2021, Dr. Stroud was awarded a NCATS, NIH Mentored Research Career Development KL2 Award (2021-2024) to examine biological mechanisms of PTSD, the endocannabinoid system, and pharmacotherapeutics that target this system (e.g., cannabidiol) to augment first-line PTSD psychotherapies. In 2022, he was awarded an Institute for Integration of Medicine and Science Translational Pilot Award (2022-2024) to investigate transcranial direct current stimulation combined with psychotherapy for PTSD.
