Robert Kerns (academic)
Robert D. Kerns is an American clinical psychologist, academic and author. He is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, Neurology and Psychology at Yale University and Senior Research Scientist of Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine. He is also a Program Director of National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs Pain Management Collaboratory Coordinating Center.
Education
Kerns received a B.A. in psychology from West Virginia University in 1974. He then joined Southern Illinois University, where he received an M.A. in Bioclinical Psychology in 1977 and a Ph.D. in Bioclinical Psychology in 1980.Career
Upon completion of his doctoral degree in 1980, Kerns joined the staff at the West Haven VA Medical Center as Chief of the Counseling Section of the Psychology Service. From 1981 to 2010, Kerns was the director of Comprehensive Pain Management Center, VA Connecticut Healthcare System. He was an attending psychologist at Primary Care Clinic, VA Connecticut Healthcare System from 1992 to 2016. He was the chief of psychology service, at VA Connecticut Healthcare System from 1987 to 2008. He was the director of Postdoctoral Fellowship Training Program in clinical health psychology, VA Connecticut Healthcare System from 2002 to 2007. Kerns served as the inaugural national program director for pain management, VA Central Office from 2005 to 2013 and as founding director of Pain Research, Informatics, Multi-morbidities, and Education Center, VA Connecticut Healthcare System from 2008 to 2016. He retired from federal government employment in January 2016.Kerns joined Yale University's Department of Psychiatry as assistant clinical professor in 1982, associate professor in 1988 and full professor of psychiatry, neurology and psychology in 2003. In July 2023 he transitioned to professor emeritus and Senior Research Scientist of Psychiatry at Yale. Throughout his career, Kerns has made important scientific and scholarly, educational and public policy contributions related to pain and pain management. Since the early 2010s, Kerns has been engaged in multiple government initiatives as a subject matter expert on pain management in the United States. He has contributed foundational work on the development and application of measures for assessing key dimensions of Pain Care Quality, a Stepped Care Model of Pain Management and core competencies for pain psychologists. He served as a member of the Institute of Medicine Committee for Advancing Pain Research, Care and Education, as co-chair of one of the work groups that drafted the National Pain Strategy, as a member of the Federal Pain Research Strategy. He currently serves as a member of the executive committee, Analgesic, Anesthetic and Addiction Clinical Trials Translations, Innovations, and Opportunities Network, and as a member of the Healthy People 2020/2030 Chronic Pain Workgroup, Department of Health and Human Services.
Kerns is professional advisory board member for the American Chronic Pain Association since 1993 and board of directors member of A Place to Nourish your Health since 2019. He also serves as a member of the editorial boards of several scientific journals, including Pain Medicine and Clinical Journal of Pain.