LTC OSCAR A. CABRERA, Ph.D.

LTC, USA
Scientist, Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress
Research Psychologist, Consortium for Health and Military Performance
Uniformed Services University

Lieutenant Colonel Cabrera earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. He earned his Master’s Degree in Psychology, his Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology, and a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Cognitive Psychology, at the University of Houston, TX.

Following his commission into the Army Medical Department, Lieutenant Colonel Cabrera was assigned as Research Psychologist at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR). Subsequently, he served as Chief of Research Operations at the US Army Medical Research Unit-Europe in Heidelberg, Germany. He returned to the WRAIR in 2008, where he served as the Chief of Deployment Health Analysis, and then as Deputy Chief of the Department of Military Psychiatry. From 2010 to 2012, he was assigned as Deputy Director for Advanced Development in the Military Operational Medicine Research Program (MOMRP) at Ft. Detrick, MD. His follow-on assignment was at Ft. Rucker, AL, where he served as Chief of Cognitive Assessment and Diagnostics at the US Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory. In 2013, he transferred to the US Army Combat Readiness Center, where he served as Command Psychologist. In 2015, Lieutenant Colonel Cabrera returned to Ft. Detrick, MD, where he served as Deputy Director of the Plans, Programs, Analysis and Evaluation Directorate within Headquarters, US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (MRMC). From 2017 to 2021, he was assigned to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA, where he served as the Director of the US Army Medical Research Directorate – West (USAMRD-West), a research detachment of the WRAIR.

Lieutenant Colonel Cabrera has deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan as a member of the Army’s Mental Health Advisory Teams (MHATs), chartered by the Office of the Surgeon General to assess the behavioral health of the deployed Force and develop recommendations for optimal distribution of behavioral health assets in Theater. He has made multiple contributions to the Army and to the scientific community via participation in large-scale military epidemiological studies, as well as publication of peer-reviewed manuscripts focused on psychological health and resilience. Lieutenant Colonel Cabrera is a certified Medical Acquisition Officer, holding the 8X Additional Skill Identifier (ASI), and is a member of the Army Acquisition Corps. His awards include the Meritorious Service Medal with 4 Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, and the Iraq Campaign Medal.

Lieutenant Colonel Cabrera is married and has two sons.