Peter W. Tuerk

Dr. Peter W. Tuerk is a Research Director at Virtually Better. He is a scientist-practitioner who specializes in behavioral health intervention, research, and the integration of technology into clinical education and evidence-based protocols for the treatment of anxiety-related disorders. He earned his doctorate in clinical psychology at the University of Virginia and is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences within the Military Sciences Division at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston SC.

Dr. Tuerk serves as Section Chief of the PTSD Clinical and Telehealth program at the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, an innovative clinic that has expanded the delivery of evidence-based behavioral specialty care locally and to 10 associated facilities in three states via telehealth technologies, including home-based telehealth intervention. He conducts research and clinical trials focused on the enhancement and dissemination of evidence-based treatments for anxiety and the integration of technology into normative mental health care settings.

Dr. Tuerk has significant experience in clinical training and provider adoption/rejection of mobile applications and supportive technologies for use with existing behavioral health treatment modalities, serving as a trainer for the DoD, VA, and NGOs in international settings. He has served as PI, site-PI, Co-I, or Consultant on 18 federally- and industry-funded grants and is currently active in the dissemination of public health information via peer-reviewed scientific publications, web-based media, and as a selected Technology Entertainment and Design (TED) Talk presenter.

Dr. Tuerk chaired the VA National Strategy Taskforce to Promote Evidence-Based Treatments via Telehealth and serves as editor for Springer International’s Behavioral Telehealth Series. He was recently named a Top 100 producer in the U.S. Purpose Economy for scientific and clinical contributions, and is the recipient of VA’s highest honor, the Olin E. Teague Award for “outstanding achievement in the rehabilitation of war-injured veterans.”