Meet Our Plenary Speakers

Frank Corrigan, MBChB, MD, FRCPsych
Frank Corrigan, MD, FRCPsych qualified in Medicine in 1976 (MBChB, Glasgow) and began his career in psychiatry in 1977. Throughout a career spanning over 30 years as an NHS Consultant Psychiatrist in Scotland, Frank combined his extensive clinical experience with research on the neurobiology of trauma and its underpinnings in major psychiatric disorders.

Frank  is the developer of DBR. He is a Consultant Psychiatrist based in Scotland and was an EMDR Consultant and a CRM trainer. Frank has a special interest in the neuroscience and treatment of complex trauma and dissociative disorders and has published extensively in the field. He is co-author of Neurobiology and Treatment of Traumatic Dissociation: Toward an Embodied Self (Lanius et al., 2014), along with numerous scientific papers, and he co-wrote The Comprehensive Resource Model: Effective Techniques for Healing Complex Trauma with Lisa Schwarz, Dr Rajiv Raju and Dr Alastair M Hull in 2016. More recently, he co-wrote Deep Brain Reorienting: Understanding the Neuroscience of Trauma, Attachment Wounding, and DBR Psychotherapy with Dr Hannah Young and Dr Jessica Christie-Sands, published in 2025. He is involved in a clinical and neuroimaging study of the effects of DBR on PTSD with Professor Ruth Lanius at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.

Milissa L. Kaufman, MD, PhD
Milissa Kaufman, MD, PhD, serves as Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. She is a trauma psychiatrist, clinician, and researcher focused on advancing evidence-based care for individuals affected by post-traumatic stress disorder and dissociative identity disorder. As Kingdon Saylor Endowed Director of Trauma Programs at McLean Hospital, she provides strategic leadership across trauma-focused clinical services, research initiatives, and educational programs. Dr. Kaufman founded and co-directs the Dissociative Disorders and Trauma Research Program and serves as Medical Director of the Trauma Continuum of Care at Hill Center.

Dr. Kaufman plays a central role in building clinical and research capacity in trauma psychiatry. She directs both the Trauma Scholar Program and the Initiative for Integrated Trauma Research, Training, and Care at McLean and oversees trauma psychiatry education for the Massachusetts General Hospital/McLean Hospital Psychiatry Residency. She serves on the Board of Directors of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation and has received numerous local, national, and international awards recognizing contributions to research, clinical care, and training.

The Dissociative Disorders and Trauma Research Program (DDTRP), co-led by Dr. Kaufman and Dr. Lauren Lebois, uses a multimodal approach to study trauma-related dissociation, integrating clinical and neurocognitive assessment with functional and structural neuroimaging and genetic methods. A central aim of the DDTRP is the identification of biomarkers of dissociation and recovery. This biomarker-focused work has been supported by multiple awards from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

For more than a decade, the lab has partnered with a DID/PTSD lived-experience advisory panel (LEAP). Panel members contribute to study design, implementation, and dissemination, helping to shape research questions, contextualize findings, and guide responsible communication of results.