Theresa Hernandez, an associate professor of psychology at the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ at Boulder, is one of 16 people in the nation selected to participate in a special two-year national security program.
The Defense Science Study Group is designed to inform outstanding scientists in their early careers about technical aspects of national security issues, especially in fields that have not traditionally been associated with critical defense needs. It is run by the Institute for Defense Analyses for the U.S. Department of Defense.
Hernandez is the first psychologist to participate in the program since it was established in 1986. The Defense Department will seek insights from group members on a variety of national security problems.
Hernandez has taken a three-day trip to Washington, D.C., to meet with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and will visit Air Force and Army bases this summer. The group meets for about 20 days a year and is briefed by military personnel at a variety of command levels.
Hernandez' research focuses on how the brain responds to injury and how recovery takes place. Her work for the study group could benefit people who sustain brain injuries by improving treatment strategies, she said.
She has taught at CU-Boulder since 1990.
Other members of the group come from institutions including Yale, Berkeley, UCLA, the California Institute of Technology and the Colorado School of Mines. Previous CU-Boulder members of the study group include Robert Davis of chemical engineering and Steven George of chemistry and biochemistry.