Richard F. Mollica, MD, MAR is the Director of the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma (HPRT) of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He received his medical degree from the University of New Mexico and completed his Psychiatry residency at Yale Medical School. While at Yale he also trained in epidemiology and received a philosophy degree from the Divinity School. In 1981, Dr. Mollica co-founded the Indochinese Psychiatry Clinic (IPC). Over the past two decades HPRT and IPC have pioneered the mental health care of survivors of mass violence and torture. HPRT/IPC’s clinical model has been replicated throughout the world.
Dr. Mollica has received numerous awards for his work and is the author of the book Healing Invisible Wounds: Paths to Hope and Recovery in a Violent World. In 1993, he received the human rights award from the American Psychiatric Association. In 1996, the American Orthopsychiatry Association presented him with the Max Hymen Award. In 2000 he was awarded a visiting professorship to Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan, for his contributions during the Kobe earthquake. In 2001 he was selected as a Fulbright New Century scholar. Under Dr. Mollica’s direction, HPRT conducts training, policy, and research activities for traumatized populations around the world. HPRT’s screening instruments are considered a gold standard in the field and have been widely translated into over thirty languages. HPRT’s scientific work has helped place mental health issues at the center of the recovery of post-conflict societies.
Dr. Mollica has published over 160 scientific articles. He and his team over the past 30 years have cared for over 10,000 survivors of extreme violence worldwide. Through his research, clinical work, and trainings he is recognized as a leader in the treatment and rehabilitation of traumatized people and their communities.
Eugene F. Augusterfer, LCSW, is the Director of Telemedicine for the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma (HPRT) and a core faculty member of HPRT’s Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery Program. At HPRT, he has helped develop HPRT’s innovative model that addresses the need for sustainable care in post-disaster areas through the use of telemedicine, including mobile technology or mHealth. In addition to his telemedicine work with HPRT, he is actively involved in the broader field of telemedicine as the Chair Emeritus of the American Telemedicine Association Mental Health Group. As such, he has been instrumental in the design, development and implementation of telemedicine programs for a number of organizations, including governmental agencies and private industry. Additionally, he is actively involved in many of HPRTs development programs.
He has provided advice and guidance to key senior executives in the international community including the United Nations Development Programme (Disaster Response), the World Bank, and the World Economic Forum on issues related to mental health, disaster recovery and telemedicine.
In addition to his affiliation with the HPRT, he maintains a clinical psychotherapy practice and is a member the Georgetown University Medical School – McLean Psychiatric Study Group (founding member), the World Bank Global Mental Health and Psychosocial Working Group (founding member and co-leader), and the World Economic Forum, Wellness Initiative, Geneva, Switzerland.
He has authored, co-authored and presented numerous papers on various topics in the mental health field, most recently focused on post-disaster trauma recovery.
Due, in part, to his relationship with some of the best and brightest at the World Bank, he has developed an interest in understanding the intersection of mental health well-being and economic factors, such as livelihood training and economic self-sustenance.
