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CAPT Meena Vythilingam, M.D.
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CAPT Meena Vythilingam, M.D.
CAPT (USPHS) Meena Vythilingam is currently serving as the Acting Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use. She is also the inaugural Director of the HHS Center for Health Innovation and the Senior Advisor for Mental Health and Opioids in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
CAPT Vythilingam is a board certified psychiatrist who completed her psychiatry residency and postdoctoral fellowship at Yale University School of Medicine. Prior to her psychiatry training at Yale, she completed a residency in psychological medicine at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore, India. After her post-doctoral fellowships, she was appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University. She transitioned to the Mood and Anxiety Disorder Program, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Bethesda, MD, where she continued to lead clinical research. Over the course of her career, Dr. Vythilingam has published more than 75 peer-reviewed articles on the pathophysiology and/or treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), mood disorders, psychological resilience, suicide prevention, mood and substance use disorders, co-authored the VA DoD clinical practice guidelines for PTSD, and oversaw the publication of clinical practice tools for depression, PTSD, and substance use disorder.
After commissioning in the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (USPHS) in 2009, CAPT Vythilingam served in numerous leadership assignments in the Department of Defense (DoD), US Marine Corps and HHS, where she spearheaded department-wide mental health policies, directed programs, led program evaluations and oversaw public-private partnerships. Amongst her numerous achievements, CAPT Vythilingam conceptualized, implemented and evaluated a new pre, and post Deployment DoD Mental Health Assessment policy and program with more than 2.2 million assessments completed to date. She convened and led an interdepartmental Opioid Rapid Response Team which facilitated local care coordination for more than 25,000 patients in the Appalachian region after closure of illegal pain clinics by law enforcement and established a "Science to policy" opioid series to translate the latest research to HHS guidance and programs. CAPT Vythilingam developed a strategic plan, and established a public private partnership to implement the delivery of mental health services for children and families separated at the border. She designed and directed a nationwide, Federal, state and local partnership to investigate a suicide cluster in active duty Marines and veterans from a battalion exposed to severe combat trauma, and helped reengineer the delivery of health services across Military Treatment Facilities. She designed and implemented program evaluations of three National Guard psychological health programs and the OASH Office for Women’s Health. CAPT Vythilingam continues to evaluate and treat patients at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
CAPT Vythilingam has received numerous awards to include the USPHS Distinguished Service Medal, USPHS, DoD and Navy Marine Corps Meritorious Service Medals, Commendation Medals, Applied Public Health Physician of the Year, and an Army Achievement Medal. She was recognized by the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs as one of the Military Health System Female Physicians of the Year.
Last Updated
Last Updated: 01/13/2021