News

Science & Medicine: MDMA could revolutionize PTSD treatment for the military

June 8, 2026

Could adding the mood-altering drug ecstasy to psychotherapy help people in the military who’ve been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder recover in just two weeks? Alan Peterson, PhD, professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UT San Antonio) Long School of Medicine, thinks it could, and he’s preparing a study to test that theory. “We believe these medications will increase your neuroplasticity so that you can fully benefit from the therapy that you’re pursuing,” Peterson explained. He is the director of the STRONG STAR Consortium, a national research network focused on identifying the best prevention and treatment for psychological health issues affecting military members, veterans, and first responders.

Alan Peterson on Unexpected Opportunities: NSU Commencement 2026: Business, Computing, & Psychology

May 11, 2026

Speaking at commencement ceremonies for his alma mater, Nova Southeastern University, STRONG STAR Director Alan Peterson, PhD, advised graduates to seize unexpected opportunities that come in their lives. Recounting his own experiences in life, from working with his mentor at NSU to his first military deployment on Sept. 11, 2001, to figuring out how to treat PTSD in a combat zone, to the formation of the STRONG STAR Consortium, he showed how both unexpected challenges and experiences in life can be opportunities to grow and to make our mark on the world. Sharing his own hard-earned life lessons, Dr. Peteron called upon new graduates to seize the “unexpected opportunities,” be entrepreneurial, and remain optimistic, leveraging stress to their advantage to achieve their vision. “Optimism is a force multiplier,” Dr. Peterson shared, urging grads to never stop believing in themselves.

Science & Medicine: For veterans with traumatic brain injuries, AI offers a new weapon against post-traumatic headaches

May 10, 2026

Don McGeary, PhD, a professor with UT Health San Antonio and STRONG STAR collaborator, speaks with Texas Public Radio’s Bonnie Petrie in a recent episode of the “Petrie Dish” to discuss advances in treating chronic headaches following a head injury, such as a concussion. He and his team already have shown great success with a cognitive behavioral therapy they designed specifically for post-traumatic headaches, with clinical trials showing the therapy significantly reduces headache disability and commonly co-occurring post-traumatic stress. He believes the benefits could be even greater with more personalized treatment, so he’s training an artificial intelligence machine learning model to, among other things, help patients better predict their headaches so they can take advance steps to avoid or better cope with them.

A San Antonio veteran’s search for relief led him to a psychedelic drug in Mexico

May 3, 2026

Amid the national attention on the study of psychedelics in treating posttraumatic stress disorder and other psychological health conditions affecting military service members and veterans, this story by the San Antonio Report examines the potential risks and benefits through the personal story of veteran Brian Mosely.  Alan Peterson, PhD, a clinical psychologist at UT Health San Antonio and director of STRONG STAR, tells the San Antonio Report that he sees potential in using psychedelics like ibogaine and MDMA in treating PTSD, but as complements to established psychotherapy treatment such as Prolonged Exposure.

Breakthrough findings in the battle against combat PTSD

April 20, 2026

Health Rounds: New procedure dramatically improves combat-related PTSD

April 9, 2026

An advanced version of a procedure that uses magnetic fields to stimulate brain ‌nerve cells appears to be extremely effective for combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a study of active military ‌and veterans.

MRI-guided brain stimulation improves PTSD recovery in veterans

April 7, 2026

MRI-guided navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) improves treatment outcomes for military personnel who suffer from combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), researchers have reported.

Study findings suggest that “navigated TMS can be an efficacious addition to behavioral therapy for combat-related PTSD,” according to a team led by Peter Fox, MD, of the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. The results were published April 7 in JAMA Network Open.

UT Health San Antonio researchers report breakthrough findings significantly reducing symptoms for combat PTSD victims

April 7, 2026

Adding navigated TMS to psychotherapy can ‘greatly improve’ quality of life An advanced version of a procedure using magnetic fields to stimulate brain nerve cells in treating depression was significantly effective for 85% of active military and veterans suffering from combat post-traumatic stress disorder enrolled in a recent study, when added to psychotherapy. The breakthrough study led by UT Health San Antonio researchers used their patented MRI-guided, robotic-controlled form of transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS, which they termed “navigated TMS.” They added navigated TMS to the treatment plan for one of two groups of a total 119 active-duty military and veteran participants with combat PTSD – 92% with severe or extremely severe conditions – during a 30-day residential program at Laurel Ridge Treatment Center in San Antonio. Those who received the navigated TMS treatment in addition to the highest level of psychotherapy for PTSD had more clinically significant symptom reduc …

Fibromyalgia-PTSD Link Shows Bidirectional Relationship With Exposure to Combat Environments

February 18, 2026

Spending time in a war zone can lead to chronic mental and physical pain. Now, research points to a link between two common disorders that can leave service members struggling.

Published in the journal Arthritis Care & Research, a longitudinal cohort study of 1761 US military service members found that those who had posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) before deployment were nearly three times more likely to develop fibromyalgia after returning home (odds ratio, 2.96; 95% CI, 2.08-4.22). Those with fibromyalgia before deployment had more than threefold greater likelihood of developing PTSD after deployment (odds ratio, 3.12; 95% CI, 1.63-5.95).

This is the largest prospective study to date linking the stress of combat deployment to the onset of fibromyalgia.

“We had the advantage of observing a large population before and after exposure to an environment that often involves significant stress,” said lead study author Jay Higgs, MD, a retired rheumatologist with Brooke Army Medical Center and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Here’s what the team found and why it matters.

PTSD due to combat deployment may trigger fibromyalgia onset

February 16, 2026

Stress associated with combat deployment to a warzone among U.S. military service members is a significant factor in the onset of fibromyalgia, according to data published in Arthritis Care & Research.