Dr. Talbott’s career over four decades has embraced many important subjects and causes, beginning with his influential research and writing about trauma treatment for Vietnam War veterans and the phenomenon of PTSD. In 1978, he published a groundbreaking book critiquing what he viewed as the mindless deinstitutionalization of mental health patients. He has advocated a balanced service system of hospital and community care to serve the needs of the severely and chronically mentally ill. He led commissions appointed by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and President Jimmy Carter to investigate deinstitutionalization.

As President of the APA in 1984-85, Dr. Talbott focused attention on the chronically mentally ill. He designed the State-University Collaboration Project, which sought to marry public and academic resources so that states and universities could multiply their efforts to train and recruit high-quality psychiatrists. He is currently involved in curriculum reform at the University of Maryland’s School of Medicine.