My research interests focus on bridging the gap between advanced data science and practical clinical care to protect the mental health, operational readiness, and cognitive performance of warfighters and veterans.
Specifically, I specialize in translating precision medicine, machine learning models, and predictive analytics into real-world clinical practices for suicide risk identification, targeted intervention, and cognitive performance optimization.
My research capabilities span the design, management, and implementation of large-scale clinical trials, with a particular focus on evaluating evidence-based psychotherapies and external facilitation strategies in clinical settings.
Grounded in my doctoral work, I am deeply interested in how childhood adversity and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) impact the long-term physical and psychological health of military personnel. Additionally, my work explores how peer-based lethal means safety programs, psychological traits like mental toughness, and trauma-informed treatments for complex challenges like chronic anger following military-related betrayal can be leveraged to optimize warfighter performance, facilitate successful military-to-civilian transitions, and build lasting behavioral resilience.
Clinical Social Work Internship Program (SWIP) | Fort Liberty (Bragg), NC | 2009 – 2012 Completed rigorous post-MSW clinical residency, establishing advanced competencies in evidence-based psychotherapies, crisis intervention, and military behavioral health. This served as the foundational training pipeline for LCSW licensure and Board Certified Diplomat (BCD) credentialing.
Combat Operational Stress Control & Tactical Medical Command | U.S. Army / CENTCOM AOR | 2003 – 2016 Theater-Level Psychological Support: Deployed as Combat Stress Detachment Commander and CENTCOM Theater Consultant; trained and coordinated behavioral health support networks across seven Middle Eastern nations to protect force readiness.
Frontline Tactical Medical Command: Managed real-world training, ground-level casualty care, and medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) operations under active combat conditions in Iraq as a Platoon Leader. Counter-Insurgency & Medical Reconstruction: Served as Brigade Medical Operations Officer, directing health plans for 4,000+ personnel. Led counter-insurgency operations to legitimize the Iraqi Ministry of Health (MoH) by mapping healthcare infrastructure across Baghdad districts and resolving security threats to prevent sectarian fault lines from disrupting the system of care.
| Edwards, E. R., Borowski, S., Nock, M. K., Benedek, D. M., Bentley, K. H., Geraci, J., Gildea, S. M., Goodman, M., Gupta, A., Kennedy, C. J., King, A. J., Kleiman, E. M., Liu, H., Luedtke, A., Maggio, S., Naifeh, J. A., Nassif, T. H., Paine, C., ... & Kessler, R. C. (in press). Predicting U.S. Army soldier suicide-related behaviors at the time of periodic health assessments. JAMA Psychiatry. |
| Borah, E., Geraci, J. C., Paine, C. M., Edwards, E., Glatt, S., Gitlin, S. A., … Goodman, M. (2026). Evaluation of the Overwatch Project for Active-Duty Servicemembers: Suicide Prevention with a Peer-Based Firearms Lethal Means Safety Training Approach. Archives of Suicide Research, 1–21. |
| Geraci, J. C., Goodrich, D. E., Finley, ... Paine, C., et al. (2026). Mitigating Suicide Risk During the Military-to-Civilian Transition: The VA Veteran Sponsorship Initiative. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 23(4), 519. |
| Nassif, T. H., Adler, A. B., Atkinson, R. D., … Paine, C., et al. (2026). SAFEGUARD: Transforming Military Suicide Prevention Through Predictive Analytics and Targeted Interventions. Current Psychiatry Reports, 28, 16. |
| Edwards, E. R., Lindner, N. R., Fonseca, E. M., Geraci, J., Paine, C., Seim, R., & Goodman, M. (in press). Mental toughness explains associations of stressful life events to harmful behaviors in a sample of US Army Soldiers. Federal Practitioner. |
| Jacoby, V. M., Young-McCaughan, S., Straud, C. L., Paine, C. M., et al. (2024). Testing a Novel Trauma-Informed Treatment for Anger and Aggression Following Military-Related Betrayal. Military Medicine, 189(S3), 842–849. |
| Betz, M. E., Stanley, I. H., Anestis, M. D., Bryan, C. J., ... Paine, C. M., et al. (2023). Firearm Suicide Prevention in the U.S. Military: Recommendations From a National Summit. Military Medicine, 188(9-10), 231–235. |
| Borah, E., Rosen, V., Fink, J., & Paine, C. M. (2022). Evaluation of a military informed care training with private sector healthcare providers. Military Behavioral Health, 10(3), 249-260. |
Area of Research
Institution Affiliations
HJF Clinical Supervisor and Assistant Professor in support of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress, Department of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences