Eugene F. Augusterfer, LCSW

Eugene F. Augusterfer, LCSW, is the Deputy Director of 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.