Researchers´ Profiles - James Berner

James E. Berner is the Senior Director for Science in the Division of Community Health of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium and has served as a part-time clinician since 1984. He directs the Alaska Native Traditional Food Safety Monitoring program, which assesses contaminant and micronutrient levels in pregnant Alaska Native women, and evaluates health effects in mothers and newborn infants. He has been the key national expert for the U.S. on the Human Health Advisory Group of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP), a Program of the Arctic Council, since 1999. Dr. Berner was co-lead author of the chapter on the impact of climate change in the health of Arctic residents in the Arctic Climate Impact Assessments. In April 2005 he was appointed to the National Academy of Sciences Polar Research Board.

Dr. Berner graduated from Oklahoma University Medical School in 1968. He spent three years in the U.S. Navy Medical Corps, completed residency training, and is board certified in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. He has practiced medicine in the Alaska Native health care system since 1974.

e-mail: jberner@anmc.org