Samuel Thielman, MD, PhD

Samuel Thielman, MD, PhD, is Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University School of Medicine. He previously served as the Director of Mental Health Services for the U.S. Department of State. Dr. Thielman was the State Department psychiatrist in Nairobi, Kenya during the years after the East Africa bombings. He was based in Nairobi from 2000 to 2003 and from 2006 to 2008. During that time, Dr. Thielman coordinated much of the mental health response to the bombings for the American and Kenyan employees of the U.S. government. He was also involved in various aspects of the State Department's mental health support for Foreign Service personnel following the invasion of Iraq and the expansion of the war on terrorism. In 2014-2015, he served as Senior Advisor for Resilience at the Foreign Service Institute. Currently, Dr. Thielman serves as a behavioral health consultant for NGOs with personnel in high-threat assignments. His clients have included Samaritan’s Purse, Open Doors International, Irex, and Konterra. He is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.