Dr. Robert Rosenheck is a distinguished psychiatrist and internationally recognized leader in mental health services research with over five decades of impactful contributions to the field. He currently holds the position of Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and serves as Affiliated Faculty at the Yale Institute for Global Health, maintaining significant influence in academic medicine. Additionally, he continues his role as Senior Investigator in Health Services at the VA New England MIRECC where he has shaped national mental health policy for veterans. After earning his A.B. from Harvard University in 1969 and his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1973, he established himself as a pioneering figure in mental health services research through his foundational work at the Department of Veterans Affairs. As founding Director of the VA Northeast Program Evaluation Center, he spent 22 years developing and evaluating innovative mental health programs that transformed care delivery systems for vulnerable veteran populations nationwide.
Dr. Rosenheck has published more than 900 scientific papers on critical topics including performance evaluation of large mental health systems, quality of care monitoring, and cost-effectiveness of treatments for serious mental illness, homelessness, and PTSD. He played a pivotal role as lead investigator for the cost-effectiveness components of the NIMH-funded Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE) for schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease, establishing new methodological standards for evaluating psychiatric interventions. His systematic evaluation of specialized programs for homeless veterans, Assertive Community Treatment teams, war-related PTSD interventions, and work restoration programs has directly informed evidence-based mental health policy across the Veterans Affairs system. His global mental health services research spanning China, Brazil, Nigeria, Ghana, and Chile has significantly advanced understanding of how to effectively implement mental health care models in diverse cultural and economic contexts while maintaining rigorous scientific standards.
Beyond his extensive research portfolio, Dr. Rosenheck has been instrumental in training generations of mental health services researchers through his leadership positions at Yale and the VA, fostering a legacy of methodological rigor in the field. His transformative contributions have earned him prestigious recognition from both the American Psychiatric Association and the American Public Health Association for advancing mental health care systems through evidence-based approaches. Through ongoing collaborations across multiple continents, he continues to advance the science of mental health services delivery to address the complex needs of veterans and other marginalized populations with serious mental illness. Dr. Rosenheck's enduring scholarly impact lies in his systematic approach to improving mental health care through rigorous evaluation, quality monitoring, and evidence-based implementation strategies that continue to shape health policy and practice globally.
