WTC Survivor Grief Study | Study Team
Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress, Uniformed Services University
CSTS conducts research, education, consultation, and training on preparing for and responding to the psychological effects and health consequences of trauma and loss. These events include both natural (e.g., hurricanes, floods, tsunamis) and human made disasters (e.g., motor vehicle and plane crashes, war, terrorism). CSTS will be primarily responsible for study design, study approvals, and overseeing study-partner activities outlined in reports to the funding agency.
Principal Investigator
Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress
Uniformed Services University
Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress
Uniformed Services University
Stephen Cozza, MD
Professor, Psychiatry and Pediatrics, Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress, Uniformed Services University
Stephen J. Cozza, MD is Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the Uniformed Services University where he serves as Associate Director, Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress (CSTS) and is responsible for the Child and Family Program. He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. He received his medical degree from the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
He completed his residency in General Psychiatry and fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC. Dr. Cozza is a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in the specialties of General Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He has served in a variety of positions of responsibility in the Department of Psychiatry at Walter Reed Army Medical Center to include Chief, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Service, Program Director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Program and Chief, Department of Psychiatry.
He retired from the U.S. Army in 2006 after 25 years of military service. Dr. Cozza’s professional interests have been in the areas of clinical and community response to trauma in both military and civilian communities, including the impact of deployment and combat injury, illness and death on military service members, their families and their children. Dr. Cozza has highlighted the impact of deployment, injury, illness and death on the children and families of military service members.
He has also examined the risk for prolonged grief disorder, a unique grief-related clinical condition, in families affected by sudden and violent deaths, including those bereaved due to combat, suicide, homicide, accident, and terrorism. He is published in the scientific literature and has presented on these topics at multiple national and international scientific meetings. Dr. Cozza serves as a scientific advisor to several national organizations that focus on the needs of military children and families.
Co-Principal Investigator
Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress
Uniformed Services University
Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress
Uniformed Services University
Joscelyn Fisher, PhD
Research Associate Professor, Psychiatry, Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress, Uniformed Services University
Joscelyn E. Fisher is a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Uniformed Services University (USU) and a Project Director/Research Psychologist for the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine at the Center for Study of Traumatic Stress (CSTS). She received a Bachelor of Arts (majors: Music and Psychology) from the University of Virginia and a PhD in Psychology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). She then completed her post-doctoral training at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center (MPRC) at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) where she transitioned to a faculty position (Instructor).
Broadly stated, her research has focused on investigating symptom or diagnostic overlap/comorbidity and how symptoms/diagnoses alone or in combination differentially affect, or are affected by, emotion and/or cognitive processes. At CSTS, she has been investigating indicators of risk and resilience and their associations with depression, anxiety, grief and other health outcomes in bereaved family members as part of several studies, including the National Military Family Bereavement Study (NMFBS), Stepping Forward in Grief (SFG), Bereavement Due to Terrorism, and the Bereavement Coping Study.
Dr. Fisher has authored/co-authored a number of scientific papers and has been awarded several research grants, including a National Research Service Award –NRSA from NIMH while at UIUC, a Young Investigator Award from NARSAD while at UMB and a grant from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention while at CSTS/USU.
The Center for Prolonged Grief at Columbia University
The Center for Prolonged Grief (CPG) at Columbia University School of Social Work is committed to improving the lives of bereaved people by increasing knowledge and understanding of Prolonged Grief (formerly known as complicated grief) through research, training, and community outreach. The CPG was established in 2013 to disseminate findings from over two decades of clinical research and work with grievers. The CPG team is principally responsible for designing and providing single, virtual information sessions about grief for study participants.
Co-Investigator
Columbia School of Social Work
Columbia School of Social Work
M. Katherine Shear, MD
Center Director
Columbia School of Social Work
Dr. M. Katherine Shear is the Marion E. Kenworthy Professor of Psychiatry and the founding Director of the Center for Prolonged Grief at Columbia University School of Social Work. Dr. Shear is a clinical researcher who first worked in anxiety and depression. For the past 25 years, she has focused on understanding and treating people who experience persistent, intense grief, which is now an official diagnosis called Prolonged Grief Disorder in the ICD-11 and DSM-5. She developed and tested Complicated Grief Therapy/Prolonged Grief Disorder Therapy, a short-term, strength-based intervention that helps foster adaptation to loss and confirmed its efficacy in three large NIMH-funded studies.
Dr. Shear is widely recognized for her work in bereavement, including both research and clinical awards from the Association for Death Education and Counseling and invited authorship of articles for Uptodate and the New England Journal of Medicine. Her work includes more than 330 peer-reviewed publications. She’s developed several widely used assessment instruments and a PGDT instruction manual.
Trainer & Supervisor
Columbia School of Social Work
Columbia School of Social Work
Natalia Skritskaya, PhD
Research Scientist & PGDT Trainer
Columbia School of Social Work
Dr. Natalia Skritskaya is a researcher at the Center for Prolonged Grief, Columbia University and clinical psychologist in private practice. For more than a decade Dr. Skritskaya has been involved in research on prolonged grief and its treatment, trained clinicians in evidence-based prolonged grief therapy and directly worked with people struggling with difficult losses.
She authored or co-authored more than 30 scientific articles and several book chapters and has been particularly interested in assessment of typical grief-related cognitions and understanding their role in prolonged grief. Additionally, Dr. Skritskaya has a background in cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders with an interest in mind-body connection.
Voices Center for Resilience
Established in 2001, VOICES provides long-term support services for thousands of victims’ families, responders and survivors. Using social work practices, VOICES implements a wide array of programs that provide continuity of care and address the ongoing psychological needs of the 9/11 community. Programs include individual consultation and referrals, virtual support groups, educational workshops and an annual symposium in NYC. VOICES will provide consultation in the design of study materials, to ensure that materials are sensitive to the 9/11 survivor community. VOICES will also serve as a resource and referral center.
Co-Investigator
Voices Center for Resilience
Voices Center for Resilience
Mary Fetchet, LCSW
Founding Director & President
Voices Center for Resilience
Mary Fetchet is the Founding Director and President of Voices Center for Resilience (VOICES), formerly Voices of September 11th, an organization she co-founded following the death of her 24 year old son Brad in the September 11th terrorist attacks. Her unique background as a mother of a victim along with 29 years of expertise as a clinical social worker, influenced VOICES creation of a new paradigm in providing long-term support services that promote mental health care and resilience. Using social work practices, she developed a wide array of innovative programs that provide continuity of care and promote resiliency in the lives of those impacted. VOICES has served tens-of-thousands of victims’ families, survivors, responders, and families of those who have died of 9/11-related illnesses.
Ms. Fetchet is equally committed to leveraging VOICES 21 years of expertise to assist communities in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from other tragedies. Working collaboratively with public-private partnerships in the United States and abroad, she shares lessons learned, provides training and conducts research. A co-author of several publications based on research findings from, “Investigating the Long-term Impact of Bereavement due to Terrorism,” she also led the creation of the Preparing for After: How to Help Victims of Mass Violence and a two-day training to prepare community stakeholders - VOICES of Experience: Helping Communities Heal After Traumatic Events.
A strong advocate for victims’ rights and mental health care for victims’ families, responders and survivors, Ms. Fetchet provides a unique perspective on the long-term needs of those impacted by tragedy. As an advocate for public policy reforms to make the country safer, she was instrumental in advocating for the establishment of the 9/11 Commission which led to sweeping government intelligence reforms and testified on five occasions before the United States Congress and the 9/11 Commission. Ms. Fetchet has served on dozens of advisory boards including the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, INVICTM, the Family Steering Committee for the Establishment of the 9/11 Commission, and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, to mention a few.
A 1994 graduate of Columbia University School of Social Work (CUSSW), Ms. Fetchet has received numerous awards for her work, including the induction into the Hall of Fame at Columbia University School of Social Work, ABC News Person of the Year, and NBC News Making a Difference.
Co-Investigator
Voices Center for Resilience
Voices Center for Resilience
Stephanie Landau
9/11 Community Project Director
Voices Center for Resilience
Stephanie Landau has served as VOICES Project Director to oversee and implement outreach efforts for the CDC’s World Trade Center Health Program for over a decade. She managed outreach and education for the survivor community, connecting them with medical and mental health services that are available for those who qualify. As part of this work, Stephanie continues to coordinate collaborative efforts with World Trade Center Health Program partners and clinical centers.
Stephanie has worked extensively on many research projects including the “Canadian Community Response Program: Recommendations on a Framework for Community Stakeholders in Preparing For, Responding To and Recovering from Acts of Mass Violence” as well as “Investigating the Long-Term Impact of Bereavement due to Terrorism: Factors that Contribute to Trauma, Grief, Growth and Resilience" and “Preparing For After” – an on-line resource kit for communities impacted by tragedy. She is currently, along with Executive Director Mary Fetchet , updating the two day professional training Voices of Experience to be launched in the fall.
Over the past 16 years, Stephanie has provided thousands of hours of case management services to assist 9/11 families, survivors, and responders in accessing resources and support services.
As project manager for the 9/11 Living Memorial Project, Stephanie scheduled and conducted hundreds of workshops in communities throughout the tri-state area and Washington, D.C. Her team met with over 1,600 families – assisting them through the emotional but therapeutic process of commemorating their loved ones. Today, the 9/11 Living Memorial Digital Archive commemorates the lives of the 2,977 who perished on 9/11 with an extensive collection of over 87,000 photographs, documents, and mementos. Along with the VOICES team, Stephanie is launching the expansion of the 9/11 Living Memorial to honor the lives of the thousands of responders and survivors who have died since, of 9/11-related illness.
Stephanie works closely with VOICES Director of Events in planning meaningful content for the survivor and responder community at the 2 Day Annual September Remembrance Symposium.
World Trade Center Health Registry
The World Trade Center Health Registry established in 2002 is the largest post-disaster Registry in U.S. history, with more than 71,000 voluntary enrollees. The Registry identifies and tracks the long-term physical and mental health effects of the 9/11 WTC attacks and gaps in care for 9/11-related health conditions. The Registry also responds to enrollees’ health needs and concerns and conducts outreach to refer enrollees to the WTC Health Program. With over 170 research papers published, the Registry shares findings and recommendations with enrollees, the public, and policymakers and informs the WTC Health Program and planning for future emergencies. The Registry will assist with the recruitment of study participants from among their enrollees and contribute existing data from prior WTC Health Registry surveys for participants in this study who have provided the appropriate consent.
Co-Investigator
WTC Health Registry
WTC Health Registry
Mark Farfel, ScD
WTC Health Registry
Mark Farfel, Sc.D. has served as the Director of the World Trade Center Health Registry since July 2005. The Registry is based in the Division of Epidemiology at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Prior to joining the Registry, Dr. Farfel served for 18 years as a faculty member in the Department of Health Policy and Management with a joint appointment in Environmental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He holds a doctoral degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and a BSc degree from the McGill University.
Co-Investigator
WTC Health Registry
WTC Health Registry
Robert Brackbill, PhD, MPH
Research Director
WTC Health Registry
Dr. Brackbill was the founding Principal Investigator for the World Trade Center Health Registry. He is currently Research Director for the Registry having served in this position for over 6 years. Dr. Brackbill has a PhD in experimental psychology from University of Minnesota and an MPH in Epidemiology from University of California, Berkeley.
He has done research in numerous areas of public health including occupational safety and health, behavioral risk factors, Sexually Transmitted Infections and behavioral correlates of HIV/AIDS, integrated public health surveillance, and currently 9/11 disaster related physical and mental health conditions, health related functioning, and quality of life. Dr. Brackbill has over 100 publications with over 6500 citations.
Co-Investigator
WTC Health Registry
WTC Health Registry
Felix Ortega, MPH
WTC Health Registry
As manager to the Panel Maintenance Unit WTC Health Registry, Mr. Ortega has a Master’s in Public Health policy and administration from Rutgers University. He oversees a team of analysts and coordinators that help maintain the Registry’s cohort of 9/11 survivors and responders for research, surveillance and for linking our enrollees to 9/11-related healthcare.
The team actively maintains and updates Registry enrollees’ contact information and trace enrollees with whom we have lost contact. They keep enrollees informed and engaged with Registry research and outreach by sending various communications to them throughout the year. They also support recruitment of Registry enrollees into approved 9/11-related research studies by researchers outside of the Registry.
