Stony Brook Medicine will lead a new program aimed at preventing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among emergency responders. The initiative, which will start in 2026, involves resiliency training for first responders through fire stations and emergency medical services organizations in New York and Texas.
The project is funded by a five-year grant of $3.3 million from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), running through June 2030.
Adam Gonzalez, professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Stony Brook University’s Renaissance School of Medicine, heads the Stony Brook team. Anka Vujanovic leads the Texas A&M University team, while Rebecca Schwartz oversees data coordination at The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research at Northwell Health.
The Worker Resilience Training (WRT) program, developed by federal health agencies, is a four-hour interactive workshop that educates first responders about traumatic exposures and PTSD. It also teaches coping strategies and resilience practices such as stress management and healthy lifestyle habits.
“First responders risk their lives every day to protect our communities. We are honored to have the opportunity to give back and to work collaboratively to support their physical and mental health,” said Gonzalez, principal investigator and founding director of the Mind-Body Clinical Research Center in RSOM’s Neurosciences Institute.
A previous clinical trial led by Gonzalez included 167 participants. That study found that WRT helped prevent symptoms of PTSD and depression compared to a control group. Participants also showed improvements in stress management, physical activity, and healthy behaviors over three months.
The new study aims to recruit about 800 firefighters and EMS workers over five years, with recruitment starting in early spring 2026. The effort will focus on fire stations and EMS organizations on Long Island, Westchester County, Rockland County in New York State, as well as the Houston area in Texas.
Researchers hope that if successful, the program could be expanded nationwide to help build resilience among first responders across the country.
For additional details about the NIMH grant supporting this project, see this abstract.