Terri Tanielian

Biography

Terri Tanielian is a senior social research analyst at the RAND Corporation and director of the RAND Center for Military Health Policy Research. She oversees RAND's diverse military health research portfolio and maintains relationships with senior military health leaders. She was the co–study director for a large, donor-funded assessment of the psychological, emotional, and cognitive consequences of deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan entitled Invisible Wounds of War: Psychological and Cognitive Injuries, Their Consequences, and Services to Assist Recovery. She also completed a congressionally mandated evaluation of a TRICARE demonstration to expand access to mental health counselors. Tanielian's areas of interest include psychological and behavioral effects of combat, terrorism, and disasters; public health emergency preparedness; and risk communication. She was the co–principal investigator for a study examining the U.S. Defense Department's response to and management of three anthrax-related incidents in 2005. This work built upon her earlier study of the relationship of health care decisionmaking and perception of risk among individuals treated for anthrax exposure during the fall of 2001.

Tanielian has published numerous peer-reviewed articles, and serves as editor for the Emergency Preparedness column in Psychiatric Services. She was a member of the planning committee for the 18th, 22nd, and 26th Annual Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy, which focused on mental health needs and recovery following September 11, Hurricane Katrina, and deployment of Reserve and Guard members to Iraq and Afghanistan, respectively.

Tanielian earned her B.A. in psychology from Boston University and her M.A., also in psychology, from American University.