Blog

Alicia Swan, PhD

Dr. Alicia Swan leads the Rehabilitation Research program at the South Texas Veterans Health Care System (STVHCS) at Audie L. Murphy Memorial Hospital in San Antonino, Texas. Her work explores long-term outcomes for Veterans with a history of mild Traumatic Brain Injury (AKA concussion) with an emphasis on understanding and treating sensory dysfunction and/or multimorbidity among the relatively young Post-9/11 Veteran cohort. She is a funded investigator with both the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), contributing to the Long-term Impact of Military-Relevant Brain Injury Consortium (LIMBIC-CENC) as a site principal investigator, TBI Model Systems …

Michael France, MPAS, Maj, Retired

Joe McDonough, PhD

Dr. Joe McDonough is Vice President of the Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Division, one of the 11 divisions at Southwest Research Institute. In his role as vice president, he manages five departments including Pharmaceuticals and Bioengineering, Fire Technology, Analytical and Environmental Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, and the Center for Nuclear and Regulatory Waste Analysis. He has worked 34 years in drug and vaccine discovery and development in multiple therapeutic areas; diabetes, antivirals, oncolytics, and antidotes for the military threats. He is retired from the army reserves having deployed with Joint Special Operations Command for Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq in 2021 …

Meredith Stensland, PhD

Dr. Meredith L. Stensland is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the School of Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. She holds a Ph.D. in social work, with a clinical background in hospice and gero-psychiatry. Her research interests include non-pharmacological approaches for managing chronic pain in older adults, treatment adherence, and the impact of animal-assisted interventions on pain and depression in healthcare settings. She is the founding director of Healing Hounds, a therapy canine visitation program for patients, staff, and faculty in the Psychiatry department. In her current …

John D. Roache, PhD

Dr. John D. Roache, Ph.D. is a tenured Professor in the departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, and is Chief of the Psychiatry Division of Alcohol and Drug Addiction.  He also serves as the Director of clinical trials operations of the Institute for the Integration of Medicine & Science (IIMS) FIRST Program and as Deputy Director of the STRONG STAR PTSD Research Consortium and the Consortium to Alleviate PTSD (CAP).  For more than 35 years, he has been conducting research studies to understand the behavioral neurobiology of the causes, consequences, and treatments for alcohol and drug addiction.  However, his interests are …

Michael G. MacNaughton, PhD., P.E.

Dr. MacNaughton is responsible for more than 190 scientists, engineers, and support staff performing research and development in analytical and materials chemistry, medicinal chemistry, drug delivery, chemical engineering, microencapsulation, chemical warfare agent destruction and fire technology. Current Division initiatives include advanced destruction techniques for chemical agents; development of advanced drug and vaccine therapeutics; design of tissue scaffolds; encapsulation of pharmaceutics; advanced fluid bed technology for processing coal and tar sands; high level radiation services; analysis of ultratrace contaminants in air, food, and consumer products; large-scale fire suppression technology; and the nuclear power cycle. For over 40 years, Dr. MacNaughton has …

Julianne Flynn, MD

Dr. Julianne Flynn is the South Texas Veterans Health Care System (STVHCS) Chief of Staff. Dr. Flynn is currently serving our country as a Colonel in the Air Force Reserves where she is Squadron Commander for the 433rd Aeromedical Squadron in the 433rd Airlift Wing. Dr. Flynn is board certified in Internal Medicine, Psychiatry and Psychosomatics and on staff with University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA) as an Assistant Professor.   Dr. Flynn received her Medical Degree from the University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine in 1996 and completed an Internal Medicine and Psychiatry residency …

Heather Yun, MD

Amrita Kamat, PhD

Dr. Amrita Kamat is the Deputy Associate Chief of Staff for Research and Development and a Research Health Scientist at the Audie Murphy Veterans Administration Hospital, South Texas Veterans Health Care System.   She also holds a position as an Associate Professor in Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.  The primary focus of her research is to understand the regulation of glucose and lipid metabolism during aging and fetal development, with particular emphasis on the beta-adrenergic receptor-mediated mechanisms in the liver.

David Bell, MD

David Bell, MD, is a pulmonary and critical care medicine physician serving as the Associate Chief of Staff for Education for the South Texas Veterans Health Care System. He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy and the University of Virginia School of Medicine, which he attended through the Army’s Health Professions Scholarship Program. Prior to this position he spent 21 years in the Army where he served in various leadership roles in graduate medical education (GME), culminating in his position as Director, GME of Brooke Army Medical Center. He served overseas as a critical care physician at …