Dr. Spira serves as Director of the Pacific Island Division of the National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD), which facilitates access to care through emphasis on ethno-cultural issues, active duty and Guard/Reserve personnel, and telehealth. Dr. Spira received his MA in Psychology with a focus on Cognitive Neurosciences from UC San Diego; a MPH with social epidemiology emphasis from UC Berkeley, and a PhD with emphasis in Clinical Health Psychology from UC Berkeley. He completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford, and a Research Fellowship in Neurology at Scripps in La Jolla. Dr. Spira directed the Health Psychology and Consultation-Liaison Programs at Naval Medical Center San Diego, served as President of the American Academy of Clinical Health Psychology, and served on the board of the American Board of Professional Psychology.

Dr. Spira’s research focuses on deployment related issues, including assessment and treatment of mild traumatic brain injury, prevention of PTSD through stress inoculation training, innovative treatments for PTSD including the use of virtual reality exposure therapy, and polytrauma treatment.