Major “Ben” Paul is a United States Army Social Work Officer. He is a board-certified Licensed Clinical Social Worker. He began his active federal service in 2013.
Ben earned his B.S. in Psychology with a related field in Political Science; and commissioned through Pitt’s Army ROTC program in 2010. He completed his MSW from Pitt under the Army’s Educational Delay program in 2013. Upon receipt of his LCSW, he served as a behavioral health officer for two brigade combat teams and deployed. While deployed, he provided crisis intervention, psychotherapy, traumatic event management, and coordinated psychiatric medical evacuations for Service Members. He became a Board Certified Diplomate in Clinical Social Work in 2018.
Ben’s research interests date back to 2008 at Pitt’s Center for Sleep and Circadian Science, working as a research assistant on DOD-funded studies looking at sleep disturbances, trauma, and traumatic brain injuries in Military Veterans. He completed one of two MSW practicum at VAPHS. Previous symposia topics targeted outcomes for applying cognitive and brief behavioral therapy for insomnia in group settings; a case series and literature review on developing a psychotropic formulary; and examining suicide-related behaviors in airborne brigades.
He currently serves as the Study Coordinator for the Involuntary Psychiatric Commitment Study. This is a qualitative study that seeks to unpack racial disparities in the involuntary psychiatric commitment of youth and young adults in Allegheny County. Funding: Pitt Momentum Funds 2022-2023.
Ben is an Enhancing Triage and Utilization for Depression and Emergent Suicidality (ETUDES) Center scholar (’23). His faculty mentor is Dr. Katie Greeno.
Paul, BT, Greeno, CG, Kloepper, MF, Identifying Suicide-Related Predictors Using Overseas Airborne Infantry Brigade Serious Incident Reports, Military Medicine, Volume 189, Issue Supplement_3, September/October 2024, Pages 165–170.
Paul BP, Manley DP, Berry-Caban CS, Kuntz JS, Thomas CL, The Challenges of Medication Management in a Deployed Setting: A Literature Review- and Experience-Based Recommendation. Mil Med. 2024 (manuscript under review)
Stocker RP, Cieply MA, Paul B, Khan H, Henry L, Kontos AP, Germain A. Combat-related blast exposure and traumatic brain injury influence brain glucose metabolism during REM sleep in military veterans. Neuroimage. 2014 Oct 1;99:207-14. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.05.067. Epub 2014 Jun 2. PubMed PMID: 24893322; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4112017.
Stocker RP, Paul BT, Mammen O, Khan H, Cieply MA, Germain A. Effects of Blast Exposure on Subjective and Objective Sleep Measures in Combat Veterans with and without PTSD. J Clin Sleep Med. 2016 Jan;12(1):49-56. doi: 10.5664/jcsm.5392. PubMed PMID: 26414975; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4702186.
Conference Presentations
Paul, B., (Forthcoming/April, 2024). Identifying Barriers and Facilitators to Care for Soldiers with Suicide-Related Incidents. Podium Presentation at the 2024 ABCSW Annual Conference
Paul, B., Involuntary Psychiatric Commitments: A Watershed Moment in Mental Health Care. (Forthcoming/March, 2024). Pitt 2024 Health Disparities and Social Justice Poster Competition
Miranda, OS, Wang, L, Paul, BT, Greeno, CG, (February, 2024). Integration of Multi-Modal Electronic Medical Records Data To Predict Suicide-Related Events Risk Among Patient Diagnosed With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Presented at the AMSUS Annual Meeting.
Paul, B., Lammers, J., Germain, A. (2023, August). Suicide-Related Behaviors in Airborne BCTs, CONUS and OCONUS: Descriptive Comparison. Military Health System Research Symposium (2022, September); and AMSUS Annual Meeting (2023, February).
Paul, B., Thomas, C., (2017, November). The Behavioral Health Combat Pill Pack: A Case Series and Literature Review. Presented at the 126th AMSUS Annual Meeting from and XII Annual Womack Army Medical Center Research Symposium
Paul, B., Bartram, T. (2016, November). Cognitive Behavioral Treatment of Insomnia with an Active Duty Population across different behavioral health clinics. Presented at the 125th AMSUS Annual Meeting.
Paul, B., Stocker, R., Germain, A. (2012, October). Can Sleep Disturbances be Attributed to Blast Exposure in (OIF/OEF) Veterans beyond the effects of PTSD and Combat Exposure? Presented at the 3rd Annual Rita M. McGinley Symposium: The Face of the Veteran at Duquesne University; and Twelfth Annual Department of Psychiatry Research Day, WPIC.
Paul, B., Stocker, R., Germain, A. (2013, June). Effects of Blast Exposure and PTSD on Subjective and Objective Sleep Measures in Combat Exposed Veterans. Presented at the Sleep Medicine Conference, Sleep Research Society.
Stocker, R., Paul, B., Germain, A. (2013, June). Neurobiological Sequelae of Blast Exposure in Military Veterans during Wakefulness and REM Sleep. Presented at the Sleep Medicine Conference, Sleep Research Society.
- Broadly: Health care delivery of evidence-based practices
- Specifically: Earlier detection of suicide-related behaviors in the military community; youth and young adult populations
