Michelle Fernando is an Assistant Professor at the Cobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, Staff Psychologist at the VA Boston Healthcare System Brockton PTSD Clinic, and an Affiliated Investigator at the National Center for PTSD Behavioral Sciences Division.

Dr. Fernando received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Eastern Michigan University. She completed her Predoctoral Internship at the VA Boston Healthcare System and Postdoctoral Clinical Research Fellowship at the National Center for PTSD, Behavioral Sciences Division.

Clinically, Dr. Fernando’s work focuses on providing evidence-based, culturally-informed assessment and treatment to veterans with PTSD. She has expertise in PTSD assessment, trauma-focused therapy, and evidence-based transdiagnostic and substance-use focused interventions.

Dr. Fernando’s research centers on examining care systems in PTSD treatment, particularly identifying best practices for engaging individuals with marginalized ethnoracial identities and those who have experienced military sexual trauma. She has published and presented on topics such as racial trauma assessment, the influence of identity on psychosocial functioning in veterans with PTSD, the role of family involvement in PTSD treatment, and racial differences in the expression of PTSD and other trauma-related factors.

In addition to her clinical and research work, Dr. Fernando holds several administrative roles. She is the Co-Chair of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) PTSD SIG and serves on the Editorial Review Board for Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. She serves as a non-evaluative mentor and supervisor for the VA Boston Clinical Psychology Internship Program. This work has been recognized through the ADAA BIPOC Membership Scholarship (2023) and the VA Boston ICARE Values Award (2022).