Joseph E. Comaty received his M.S. in Experimental Psychology from Villanova University; his Ph.D. in Psychology with a specialization in Clinical Neuropsychology from the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in Illinois; and his postdoctoral Master of Science degree in Clinical Psychopharmacology (MSCP) from Alliant University/CSPP of California. He is a licensed psychologist in Louisiana and Illinois and a licensed Medical Psychologist (i.e., prescribing psychologist) in Louisiana.

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Dr. Comaty retired from the Louisiana Department of Health, Office of Behavioral Health, in 2013, where he was the Chief Psychologist, Medical Psychologist, and Director of the Division of Quality Management. He served as an adjunct assistant professor of psychology at Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge from 1994 to 2017, as an adjunct instructor in Psychology in 2021, and as emeritus faculty of the Southern Louisiana Internship Consortium (SLIC) in psychology at LSU until 2019. He served as a member of the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists (LSBEP) from 2006 to 2010 and as its chair from 2010 to 2011.

Dr. Comaty is a past charter member of the APA Designation Committee for Postdoctoral Education and Training Programs in Psychopharmacology for Prescriptive Authority from 2010 to 2014, and served as its chair from 2013 to 2014. He is currently a chair of site review teams for APA’s Commission on Accreditation. Additionally, he was Secretary of APA Division 55 (Society for Prescribing Psychology) 2021-2023 and currently serves as the Representative of APA Division 55 to the APA Council.

In August 2024, Dr. Comaty was elected an APA Fellow of Division 55, and in August 2025, of Division 18 (Psychologists in Public Service). He became Board Certified in Serious Mental Illness Psychology under the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) in November 2025 and passed the oral examination for certification in Psychopharmacological Psychology under ABPP in March 2026.

Dr. Comaty was appointed Secretary of the American Board of Psychopharmacological Psychology (ABRxP) in 2025. He is a former member of, and a current consultant to, the Model Act and Regulation Revision Committee for the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB). He currently serves as Chair of the PEP Examination Development Committee (EDC) for ASPPB. He was a member of the Louisiana Department of Health IRB from 2010 to 2022 and Chair from 2019 to 2022. He has conducted forensic fitness-for-duty evaluations for Matrix, Inc., in Baton Rouge, LA, from 2013 to 2022. Appointed to the Clinical Psychologists Licensing and Disciplinary Board, Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, September 2025 to present.

Dr. Comaty’s research is in the areas of behavior therapy, pharmacology, and clinical psychopharmacology. He is the author of over 60 articles, book chapters, and presentations. He is a co-author of the psychopharmacology textbook, Julien’s Primer of Drug Action, the most recent edition of which was published in 2023. He has served on federal grant review committees and has been a reviewer for Psychiatric Services, The Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, the Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research, the Journal of Psychology & Clinical Psychiatry, and npj Mental Health Research.

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