Denise Sloan, PhD, professor of psychiatry and senior clinician investigator in the Behavioral Science Division of the National Center for PTSD at VA Boston Healthcare System, has received the Robert Laufer, PhD, Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. 

The award is bestowed upon an individual or group who has made an outstanding contribution to research in the field of traumatic stress. Sloan is the fifth faculty member from the school and center to receive it. 

An expert on psychosocial interventions for traumatic stress disorders with a specific interest in efficient and effective treatment approaches for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Sloan has worked on the development of novel psychotherapeutic approaches to the treatment of PTSD that produced strong scientific evidence across many forms of traumatic life events including combat, sexual trauma, and intimate partner violence. She has conducted a series of studies that lead to the development of written exposure therapy and a five-session psychosocial intervention and has conducted multiple large-scale treatment studies examining the efficacy and effectiveness of the treatment. 

Robert S. Laufer, PhD, was a sociologist who made early and important contributions to the field of traumatic stress and PTSD through his research on the effects of war experiences on Vietnam combat veterans. The International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies is dedicated to sharing information about the effects of trauma and the discovery and dissemination of knowledge about policy, program, and service initiatives that seek to reduce traumatic stressors and their immediate and long-term consequences.