San Francisco VA Health Care System

Dr. Shira Maguen speaking at the San Francisco Presidio Officers' Club on Veterans research and advancing care for women Veterans.

Shira Maguen, Ph.D. is the mental health director for the Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) Integrated Care Clinic and staff psychologist on the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Clinical Team at the San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC). She has been with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) since 2001 and with the SFVAMC since 2005. Dr. Maguen is also an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UC San Francisco School of Medicine. Dr. Maguen is passionate about advancing women Veteran health care. She is the SFVAMC site lead for the VA Women’s Practice Based Research Network (PBRN) and co-director of the SFVAMC PTSD/dementia MIRECC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. She is involved with both the research and clinical components of the PTSD programs. “One of my inspirations in advancing women’s care has been Senator Tammy Duckworth, a Black Hawk helicopter pilot Iraq War Veteran who lost both legs after being hit by an RPG. Duckworth served as Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs with the Department of Veterans Affairs and later became a senator for Illinois after retiring from the U.S. Army as a lieutenant colonel. She has shattered the glass ceiling for women by serving as a leader and role model on multiple fronts,” said Dr. Maguen.

Dr. Maguen’s research areas include PTSD, moral injury, suicide, risk and resilience factors in Veterans, with a focus on women Veterans. Dr. Maguen was the recipient of a VA Health Services Research and Development grant that examined the impact of killing in Veterans of war and moral injury.

Dr. Maguen feels passionate about shifting the paradigm in women’s research. She feels there needs to be more studies focused of issues unique to women Veterans and a greater number women Veterans should be included in current and future studies. “More research is needed on resilience of female Veterans to better understand the impact of strengths on functioning,” said Dr. Maguen.

She is currently the principal investigator on a VA grant examining a brief behavioral treatment for insomnia in primary care and another Department of Defense grant focused on evaluation of evidence-based treatments for PTSD using natural language processing. Dr. Maguen recently completed a grant focusing on eating behaviors in female Veterans with trauma and an implementation grant focused on expanding PTSD care for Veterans.

Dr. Maguen is the author of over 100 peer-reviewed publications, most of which focus on Veteran mental health. She also works in a clinical capacity within the OEF/OIF Integrated Care Clinic and treating Veterans with evidence-based treatments for PTSD. She supervises research mental health fellows and other trainees in evidence-based treatments for PTSD, and provides mentorship for trauma-focused research fellows.

“My passion to do more research in the area of women Veterans and mental health has been driven by the gaps in research that I saw existed and how much we did not know that could directly impact clinical care and assist with providing stronger care for Veterans,” said Dr. Maguen.

 

Thank you, Dr. Maguen, for your dedication, teamwork, and passion for serving our nation’s Veterans.