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Alain Brunet, PhD

Researcher, Douglas Institute
Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University
President, Traumatic Stress section of the Canadian Psychological Association

Areas of Expertise

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, assessment, peritraumatic responses, early interventions, neurobiological correlates, neuroimaging, internet, psychophysiology

Profile

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to a life-threatening event. Research on PTSD has increased dramatically in the aftermath of the attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. on September 11, 2001.

As a clinical psychologist and associate professor of psychiatry at McGill University, Alain Brunet, PhD, has been investigating the impact of trauma exposure on individuals for over 15 years, with a special focus on characterizing the risk factors and developing effective treatments for PTSD, such as early intervention and reconsolidation blockade.

In 2001, Alain Brunet developed the Peritraumatic Distress Inventory or PDI - the first instrument to assess the recalled amount of distress experienced at the time of a traumatic event. The PDI is currently being utilized by more than 30 teams across the world and has been translated into eleven languages.

Alain Brunet is Editor in chief of The International Journal of Victimology and Assistant Editor of the Journal of Traumatic stress. In 2008, he founded i-trauma Web site, intended for victims and professionals of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders.

Awards and Distinctions

2008
Co-recipient of a grant from the U.S. Army to pursue work on an innovative treatment for PTSD (to block memory reconsolidation).
Recipient of a grant from the Douglas Institute Foundation for the development of the Web site Info-trauma.
Made the top ten discoveries list for 2008 in Quebec in the Québec Science magazine.

2006
Visiting professor, Université de Toulouse, to study victims of the 2001 AZF fertilizer factory explosion in Toulouse.
Named to the 2006 Maclean’s annual Honour roll as one of the 39 Canadians who make the world a better place to live.
Named "Personality of the Week" by the Montreal newspaper La Presse. 

2005
Awarded a Research Scholar grant at the Junior 2 level from the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ).

2003
Receives the Pfizer-Heinz Lehmann Award. 

2002
Awarded a Young Investigator Award by Le Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ).

More on his research work 

Desperate to Forget, by Tania Elaine Schramek 
Ending the Nightmares: Douglas Research is Hopeful for New Treatment 

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Last updated : 3/10/2009