Terri Tanielian is a nationally recognized expert in veteran and military health policy, behavioral health, suicide prevention, and resilience. From 2021 to 2025, she served in the Biden-Harris Administration as Special Assistant to the President for Veterans Affairs and Behavioral Health. In this role, she led the Administration’s efforts to improve services for veterans, families, caregivers, and survivors, and to transform the nation’s approach to mental health and substance use.
As President Biden’s lead advisor on veterans’ issues, Ms. Tanielian played a central role in securing bipartisan passage of the PACT Act, delivering new benefits to over 1.2 million veterans exposed to toxic substances. She led the White House Strategy to Reduce Military and Veteran Suicide and represented the U.S. at international commemorative events, including the 2023 Invictus Games and the 80th anniversaries of D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge.
Ms. Tanielian previously served as a Senior Behavioral Scientist at the RAND Corporation, where she led influential research on mental health, military caregiving, and the psychological impacts of war—including the landmark studies Invisible Wounds of War, Hidden Heroes, and The Deployment Life Study. Ms. Tanielian regularly employed mixed methods in her research, designing and conducting analyses of administrative and survey data as well as semi-structured qualitative interviews. Her work has shaped national policy, and she has testified before Congress multiple times. She has authored over 110 peer-reviewed publications.
She has advised organizations including the National Academy of Medicine, The Carter Center, and the Bush Institute’s Military Service Initiative. In 2019, she served as a Congressional Fellow with the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, drafting legislation on veteran suicide prevention. She also currently serves on several non-profit Boards, including the Invisible Wounds Foundation, the Military Family Advisory Network, and the SAFE Project.
Ms. Tanielian holds a Master of Arts in Psychology from The American University and a Bachelor of Arts from Boston University.
