Robert Heinssen

HeinssenRAISE 2.0 – Establishing a National Early Psychosis Intervention Network in the U.S.

Thursday, October 20, 10:30 – 11:15 a.m., Washington

Director, Division of Services and
Intervention Research. National Institutes of Mental Health

Dr. Robert Heinssen, Ph.D. is Director of the Division of Services and Intervention Research at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Since 1999, Dr. Heinssen has played a key role in launching major NIMH research initiatives in the areas of prodromal psychosis, first episode schizophrenia, and neuroscience-based assessment and remediation of cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. He is NIMH Science Officer for the North American Prodrome Longitudinal Study (NAPLS) and Study Director for the Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode (RAISE) initiative. From 2008 to 2010, Dr. Heinssen played a pivotal role in launching the NIMH-Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Service members, the largest study of mental health risk and resilience ever conducted among military personnel.

He has won several awards, including the Special Presidential Commendation from the American Psychiatric Association; the Department of Health and Human Services’ Hubert H. Humphrey Award for Service to America; the National Institutes of Health Director’s Award; and the NIMH Supervisor of the Year Award. Dr. Heinssen serves as NIMH liaison to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.

Dr. Heinssen earned a doctoral degree in clinical psychology from Catholic University of America. He completed a clinical fellowship at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School and residency at Chestnut Lodge Hospital, where he worked for 13 years as a researcher and clinician. He is a board certified, licensed clinical psychologist. Dr. Heinssen is the founder and past president of the Schizophrenia Special Interest Group within the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Clinical Psychology. Dr. Heinssen has authored over 50 journal articles and book chapters, and is a regular presenter at major scientific meetings.