Yuval Neria (Hebrew: יובל נריה; July 9, 1952) is a Professor of Medical Psychology at the Departments of Psychiatry and Epidemiology at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC), and Director of Trauma and PTSD Program, and a Research Scientist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI) and Columbia University Department of Psychiatry. He is a recipient of the Medal of Valor, Israel's highest decoration, for his exploits during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Early life Neria grew up in Israel, and spent his childhood in the city of Holon with his younger sister, Nurit, and two parents, Zipora and Jacob Neria. At the age of 18, he joined the Israeli army and subsequently participated in the 1973 Yom Kippur War and the 1982 Lebanon war. In the Yom Kippur War, his performance as a tank commander in the Sinai front (where, in several battles, his tank was hit but he kept fighting, taking command of up to 10 different tanks before being injured and evacuated), earned him the Medal of Valor, the highest decoration for combat bravery in Israel, at the age of 22. Neria's political views and body of work were deeply influenced by his war experiences. He was one of the founders of the Israeli grassroots movement "Peace Now," which sought to facilitate reconciliation between Israel, the Palestinians, and Arab countries. Neria has published a war novel, Fire (Zmora Bitan, 1986) (Esh in Hebrew), based on his painful experiences in the Yom Kippur 1973 War, and was later involved in efforts to improve policies regarding mental health care for returning war veterans and prisoners of war with post trauma psychopathology. Education and career Neria completed his studies in philosophy (BA), political science (BA) and clinical psychology (MA) in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and received his doctorate (PhD) in psychology from the Haifa University, Israel, in 1994. He was the recipient of the Alon Fellowship for Outstanding Early Career Researcher, from Israeli Council for Higher Education (CHE) and served on the faculty of Tel Aviv University from 1995 to 2001. In the autumn of 2001, after the attacks of September 11, 2001 (9/11) he moved to New York following his recruitment to Columbia University in New York City with his wife, Mariana, a clinical psychologist, and his three children. Research Neria's line of research has been focused on the emotional consequences of exposure to traumatic events. He has