Elspeth Cameron Ritchie, a colonel in the United States Army, holds a master's degree in public health and a medical degree. She trained at Harvard University, George Washington University, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, where she is an associate professor of psychiatry. Her assignments and other missions have taken her to Iraq, Israel, Korea, Somalia, and Vietnam. She brings a unique public health approach to the management of disaster and combat mental health issues and is internationally renowned as an expert on the subject. She also has published numerous articles on forensic, disaster, and military operational psychiatry. She is the recipient of the William Porter and Bruno Lima awards. Ritchie is currently the psychiatry consultant to the US Army Surgeon General. She is also the author of "Interventions Following Mass Violence and Disasters: Strategies for Mental Health Practice."




