Dr. Robert N McLay
Robert Neil McLay is a psychiatrist and the Research Director for the Mental Health Directorate at Naval Medical Center San Diego. Dr. McLay’s primary research interests involve the effects of stress on the brain. He has studied this at the molecular, cellular, behavioral, and clinical levels. He is currently involved in trials examining the use of Virtual Reality in the treatment of PTSD, the genetics of this disorder, and the role of sleep and medications in resilience against combat stress. He is the author of the upcoming book Ghosts and the Machine: stories of Iraq, Afghanistan and Virtual Reality Treatments for PTSD. He served with the Navy at NMCSD, Marine Base Twenty-nine Palms, Naval Hospital Yokosuka, and was deployed with First Marine Division to Iraq in 2008, where he served as the psychiatrist for Camp Fallujah Iraq. While in Iraq was the first provider to use Virtual Reality to treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the combat environment.
