Alicia Locker is a behavioral neuroscientist at RAND. Her work focuses on strengthening the resilience of people, systems, and communities so that civilians, service members, and civil servants can complete their daily missions and live their best lives. Her research spans mental health in military and veteran populations, caregiver support, military readiness, and applications of biotechnology, biometrics, and artificial intelligence.
Locker has experience addressing traumatic brain injury in veterans, enhancing military medical transport, and improving soldier performance and wellness. Recently, she has supported Department of War efforts to mitigate harmful behaviors in the military through targeted prevention. She has also led projects advancing the identity (ID) ecosystem across federal and state systems to secure borders and enhance national security, as well as a Paralyzed Veterans of America project that aims to understand how health care needs are met for veterans with spinal cord injury and disorders (SCI/D) through VA and community partnerships.
Previously, she served under an Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) assignment at the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Biometric and Identity Management (OBIM), liaising with academic researchers and representing OBIM Future's Identity at the European Association for Biometrics and other international collaborations.
Locker earned her Ph.D. in neuroscience from Pennsylvania State University, studying the neurobiological underpinnings of adolescent drug use. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health/CDC, focusing on causes and treatments for Gulf War Illness, and contributed to research at UPMC on cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia.
Ph.D. in neuroscience, Penn State University; B.S. in neuroscience, Allegheny College
Academic Engagement Specialist at Office of Biometric and Identity Management - Department of Homeland Security
