Dr. Nuwan Jayawickreme is a licensed psychologist in the state of New Jersey.  He earned a B.A. from Gettysburg College in English and Psychology, and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his predoctoral internship at Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY.  Before joining Touro, Dr. Jayawickreme was a Professor of Psychology for 12 years at Manhattan College, Bronx, NY.  Dr. Jayawickreme has extensive training in the evidence-based treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, and depression. He spent 7 years at the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania Perlman School of Medicine (5 years as a Ph.D. student under the supervision of Dr. Edna Foa, and 2 years as a postdoctoral fellow), where he received specialized training in Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE) for PTSD and Exposure and Response Prevention Therapy for OCD.  In addition, he has been trained as a supervisor in PE for PTSD.

Dr. Jayawickreme’s research program focuses on PTSD, trauma-related anxiety, depression, measurement issues, war-related mental distress, and the role that culture plays in the development, experience, assessment, and treatment of mental illness.  He has published more than two-dozen peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, has presented at numerous local and national conferences, and has co-edited three scientific journal issues focusing on mental illness in war-affected populations. His research lab at Touro is the Trauma Research from International Perspectives (TRIP) lab. The TRIP lab focuses on cultural variations in reactions to trauma and chronic stress, with a particular focus on communities affected by ethnic strife. 

Education

• Ph.D. – University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
• Predoctoral Internship – Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY    
• Postdoctoral Internship – Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety, University of Pennsylvania Perlman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA
• B.A. (in Psychology and English, with Honors) – Gettysburg College

Research

PTSD, trauma-related anxiety, depression, measurement issues, war-related mental distress, and the role that culture plays in the development, experience, assessment, and treatment of mental illness

Publications

• FC Thomas, R Divirgilio, N Jayawickreme, S Sivayokan, K McShane, .... "Coping with the long‐term impact of civil strife: A grief‐centered analysis of Tamil Sri Lankan communities affected by ethnopolitical conflict." Applied Psychology: Health and Well‐Being 16 (3), 822-850, 2024
• L Zapffe, K Hennig, N Jayawickreme, E Jayawickreme. "What does it mean to flourish, languish, and grow? A qualitative analysis of civilian interviews from survivors of the 1994 Rwandan genocide." SSM-Mental Health 4, 100274, 2023
• N Mousa Almatar, N Jayawickreme, WG Foote, A Demaske, .... "Examining associations between personal growth initiative and subjective trajectories of life satisfaction among survivors of ethnopolitical violence in Rwanda and Sri Lanka." Applied Psychology: Health and Well‐Being 15 (2), 499-515, 2023
• N Jayawickreme, S Knight, A Rasmussen, AG Ryder. "Cultural issues in psychological assessment." Elsevier, 2022
• A O'Neill, N Jayawickreme, LER Blackie, A Demaske, MA Goonasekera, .... "Knowing when someone is resilient: Development and validation of a measure of adaptive functioning among war-affected Sri Lankan Tamils." SSM-Mental Health 1, 100026, 2021
• N Jayawickreme, A Saw. "Introduction to special issue on promoting health and well-being in forcibly displaced asian populations.." Asian American Journal of Psychology 12 (3), 159, 2021
• A Demaske, LER Blackie, N Jayawickreme, E Jayawickreme. "Examining the functional utility of personal growth initiative in a war-affected Sri Lankan Tamil sample.." Asian American Journal of Psychology 12 (3), 215, 2021

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