Steven L. Bernstein, MD, has been named as the inaugural Chief Research Officer for Dartmouth-Hitchcock (D-H), Associate Dean of Clinical Research at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, and Director of the C. Everett Koop Institute at Geisel.
Dr. Bernstein currently serves as Professor and Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Yale School of Medicine and Professor of Public Health (Chronic Disease Epidemiology) in the Yale School of Public Health.
As Chief Research Officer for D-H, Dr. Bernstein will oversee all aspects of research at D-H, including serving as the designated Institutional Official for Research, leading D-H’s Office of Research Operations, and overseeing development and implementation of a forward-looking strategic plan for growth of our clinical, translational, population-based research portfolio.
“Our rapidly growing research enterprise is poised to take the next step toward national prominence,” noted D-HH Chief Clinical Officer Edward J. Merrens, MD, MHCDS. “Dr. Bernstein’s appointment moves us closer to our goal of having a significant impact on health locally, nationally and even internationally.”
As Associate Dean for Clinical Research for Geisel, Dr. Bernstein will be responsible for growing and supporting the School’s clinical and translational research programs, and, working with colleagues from across D-H and Dartmouth College, will develop opportunities and processes for clinical and translational research that span our organizations.
In his role as director of the C. Everett Koop Institute, Dr. Bernstein will lead the Institute’s efforts to advance health and well-being through research, education, and policy activities to protect the public health and prevent disease. The Institute seeks to mitigate threats posed by the unhealthy promotion and use of consumer products, including tobacco, alcohol, and highly processed foods, as well as prescription drugs. In his current roles at Yale, Dr. Bernstein develops screening and treatment interventions for tobacco users in hospital settings, and programs to train providers in tobacco control.
“Dr. Bernstein has a long and deep experience in building training and research programs, engaging in policy-relevant research and advocacy, mentoring junior colleagues, and advising on institution-wide matters of research governance, training, and support,” noted Geisel School of Medicine Dean Duane Compton, PhD. “We are delighted to welcome him as a colleague and a partner.”
Dr. Bernstein holds a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, and he earned his medical degree from the Temple University School of Medicine. He trained in residencies at SUNY Health Sciences Center in New York and at Long Island Jewish Medical Center. Dr. Bernstein was a fellow in hematology-oncology at SUNY Health Sciences Center and was a visiting fellow in clinical epidemiology at the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program at Yale.
His research has received funding from a broad range of agencies, including the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and other agencies and foundations. His work has appeared in journals as diverse as Health Affairs, the American Journal of Public Health, Annals of Emergency Medicine, and Nicotine and Tobacco Research.
Dr. Bernstein has strong interests in implementation science and is the founding Director of the Yale Center for Implementation Science.
He is currently studying the efficacy of a brief counseling intervention, nicotine replacement therapy, a telephone quit line service, and an SMS texting program in helping adult smokers in the emergency department quit tobacco. Another project in which Dr. Bernstein is immersed is using network analysis to model patterns of adherence and abstinence in human health behavior.
He has additional interests in teaching the principles of public health, population health, and prevention to medical students, residents, and practitioners, and he has maintained an active clinical practice in the Emergency Department at Yale New Haven Hospital.
Dr. Bernstein will join D-H and Geisel in early February 2021.
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health (D-HH), New Hampshire’s only academic health system and the state’s largest private employer, serves a population of 1.9 million across northern New England. D-H provides access to more than 2,000 providers in almost every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH. DHMC was named again in 2020 as the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by U.S. News & World Report, and recognized for high performance in 9 clinical specialties and procedures. Dartmouth-Hitchcock also includes the Norris Cotton Cancer Center, one of only 51 NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation; the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, the state’s only children’s hospital; affiliated member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene, and New London, NH, and Windsor, VT, and Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire; and 24 Dartmouth-Hitchcock clinics that provide ambulatory services across New Hampshire and Vermont. The D-H system trains nearly 400 residents and fellows annually, and performs world-class research, in partnership with the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and the White River Junction VA Medical Center in White River Junction, VT.
Founded in 1797, the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth strives to improve the lives of the communities it serves through excellence in learning, discovery, and healing. The Geisel School of Medicine is renowned for its leadership in medical education, healthcare policy and delivery science, biomedical research, global health, and in creating innovations that improve lives worldwide. As one of America’s leading medical schools, Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine is committed to training new generations of diverse leaders who will help solve our most vexing challenges in healthcare.
