Bernstein, Gail M.D.

Gail A. Bernstein, M.D.
Associate Professor

Head of the new Program in Child and Adolescent Anxiety and Mood Disorders.  She is the recent recipient of an Endowed Professorship in Child and Adolescent Anxiety Disorders.  Dr. Bernstein completed a pediatric residency and child psychiatry fellowship at the University of Wisconsin, as well as completing a psychiatry residency and postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Minnesota.  Dr. Bernstein is tripled-boarded (Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, General Psychiatry, and Pediatrics).  She joined the University of Minnesota Department of Psychiatry in 1985. 

Her primary research interests include anxiety disorders in children and adolescents, school refusal, and caffeine use and dependence in youth. Dr. Bernstein recently completed an NIMH-funded grant for the investigation of multimodal treatment for adolescents with school refusal.  She won the 2000 Children’s Mental Health Alliance Psychotherapy Award for the manuscript that best advances the understanding of psychotherapy published by a child and adolescent psychiatrist.  This paper, which was published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, was based on efficacy data from her NIMH-funded treatment study.  Dr. Bernstein is currently on the editorial board of several scientific journals.

Educational Summary:
University of Minnesota - School of Medicine - M.D., 1977
Residency in Psychiatry - University of Wisconsin, 1977-78
Residency in Pediatrics - University of Wisconsin, 1978-81
Residency in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry – University of Wisconsin 1981-82
Residency in Psychiatry - University of Minnesota, 1983-84
Postdoctoral Research Fellow - University of Minnesota, 1984-85.

Relevant Prior Experience:
Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota, 1985-92
Associate Professor, University of Minnesota, 1992-2002
Director, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 1996-00
Head, Program in Child and Adolescent Anxiety and Mood Disorders, 2001-present
Endowed Associate Professorship, Child and Adolescent Anxiety Disorders, University of Minnesota, 2001-02

Responsibilities/Activities In This Residency:
Outpatient supervisor
Inpatient supervisor
Course director, Resident didactics
Lecturer, Resident didactics

Research/Scholarly Interests:
Anxiety disorders in children and adolescents
School refusal
Caffeine use, effects and dependence in youth
Children's Mental Health Alliance Psychotherapy 
NIMH Ad Hoc Grant Reviewer 

Email: berns001@umn.edu