Robert Stern, PhD
Associate Professor of Neurology
Co-Director, Alzheimer's Disease Clinical & Research Program
 Phone: 617-638-5678
Fax: 617-414-1197
Email: bobstern@bu.edu
Location: BU School of Medicine, Robinson Building – Suite 7800
Background
Dr. Robert Stern received his undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University and his Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Clinical Psychology from the University of Rhode Island. He completed his neuropsychology internship training at the Boston VA Medical Center, under the supervision of Dr. Edith Kaplan, and his postdoctoral fellowship training in both neuropsychology and psychoneuroendocrinology at the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine. He was on the faculty at UNC from 1990-1993, where he was Associate Director of the NIMH-funded Mental Health Clinical Research Center and Director of the Neurobehavioral Assessment Core. He then joined the faculty at Brown Medical School, where he was Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology, as well as Director of Neuropsychology and the Memory and Cognitive Assessment Program at Rhode Island Hospital. In 2004, Dr. Stern joined the Boston University School of Medicine’s Department of Neurology as an Associate Professor. In addition to being a researcher and educator, Dr. Stern is a licensed clinical neuropsychologist on staff at Boston Medical Center and is a member of the Boston University Neurology Associates.
Research Interests
Dr. Stern’s primary areas of funded research include: the cognitive and emotional aspects of dementia; thyroid-brain relationships; and driving and dementia. His current research program involves studies of the role of mild thyroid abnormalities on cognitive and mood functioning in the elderly (R01 funded by the National Institutes of Health), the development of methods of examining driving safety in the elderly and in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (funded by the national Alzheimer’s Association), and the long term clinical and neuropathological effects (including chronic traumatic encephalopathy) of repetitive concussion in retired athletes (in collaboration with Sports Legacy Institute). He has published on various aspects of neuropsychological assessment and is the senior author of several widely used neuropsychological tests and instruments, including the Boston Qualitative Scoring System for the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (BQSS), the Visual Analog Mood Scales (VAMS), and the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (NAB), a comprehensive battery of 33 new tests, the development of which was funded, in part, by the National Institute of Mental Health.
ADC role
Dr. Stern is the Co-Director of the BU Alzheimer’s Disease Clinical and Research Program (ADCRP). He also serves as Acting Director of the Clinical Core of the NIA-Funded BU Alzheimer’s Disease Core Center (ADC) and the Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy. He is the BU principal investigator for the ICARA study (the new “vaccine” clinical trial for the treatment of AD funded by Elan), the AD Care study for dementia caregivers (funded by Forest), and the Home Based Assessment (HBA) study (part of the Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study or ADCS). He is the principal investigator of the SAFE-Drivers Project (funded by the Alzheimer’s Association) and the Subclinical Hypothyroidism study (R01 grant funded by the National Institutes of Health). He was the principal investigator of the recently completed Driving and Dementia study. Dr. Stern is the Director of the neuropsychology fellowship program at the ADCRP and is an active lecturer, course director, and mentor for the BU Behavioral Neurosciences Program. Dr. Stern is also a clinical neuropsychologist who specializes in the assessment and diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. He is on the staff of Boston Medical Center and directs the BU ADCRP Memory Clinic.
Awards/Memberships
Dr. Stern is a Fellow of both the National Academy of Neuropsychology and the American Neuropsychiatric Association. He is also a member of the International Neuropsychological Society, the American Psychological Association, the International Society to Advance Alzheimer Research and Treatment, and the Massachusetts Neuropsychological Society. He has received an Independent Investigator Award from the National Alliance on Research in Schizophrenia and Depression and, while at Brown Medical School, was the recipient of the Outstanding Teaching Award in Psychology. Dr. Stern is on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, and the Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology. He is a member of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Committee of the Massachusetts/New Hampshire Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, and he is a member of the Medical Advisory Boards of Sports Legacy Institute and the National Graves’ Disease Foundation. He has been a grant reviewer for the National Institutes of Health, the Alzheimer’s Association, and other local and national foundations and agencies.
Publications
Recent peer-reviewed publications of Dr. Stern’s work include:
Nair, A., Gavett, B.E., Damman, M., Dekker, W., Green, R.C., Mandel, A., Auerbach, S., Steinberg, E., Hubbard, E., and Stern, R.A. (in press). Clock Drawing Test ratings by practicing dementia specialists: Inter-rater reliability and diagnostic accuracy. Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences.
Gavett, B.E., Poon, S.J., Ozonoff, A., Jefferson, A.L., Nair, A.K., Green, R.C., and Stern, R.A. (2009). Diagnostic utility of a list learning test in Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 15, 121-129. [PDF]
D’Ambrosio, L.A., Coughlin, J.F., Mohyde, M., Carruth, A., Hunter, J.D., & Stern, R.A. (2009). Caregiver communications and the transition from driver to passenger among people with dementia. Geriatric Rehabilitation, 25, 34–43.
Chung, W.W., Chen, C.A., Cupples, L.A., Roberts, J.S., Hiraki, S.C., Nair, A.K., Green, R.C., & Stern, R.A. (2009). A new scale measuring psychological impact of genetic susceptibility testing for Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s Disease and Associated Disorders. [PDF]
Stern, R.A., D’Ambrosio, L.A., Mohyde, M., Carruth, A., Tracton-Bishop, B., Hunter, J.D., Daneshvar, D.H., & Coughlin, J.F. (2008). At the Crossroads: Development and evaluation of a dementia caregiver group intervention to assist in driving cessation. Gerontology and Geriatrics Education, 29, 363-382.
Posternak, M.A., Novak, S.P., Stern, R.A., Hennessey, J.V., Joffe, R., Prange, A.J. Jr, & Zimmerman, M. (2008). A pilot effectiveness study: placebo-controlled trial of adjunctive L-triiodothyronine (T3) used to accelerate and potentiate the antidepressant response. The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, 11, 15-25. [PDF]
Hubbard EJ, Santini, V, Blankevoort CG, Volkers, KM, Barrup, MS, Byerly L, Chaisson C, Jefferson AL, Kaplan, E, Green, RC, Stern RA. (2008). Clock Drawing Performance in Cognitively Normal Elderly. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 23, 295-327. [PDF]
Davis, J.D., Podolanczuk, A., Donahue, J.E., Stopa, E., Hennessey, J.V., Luo, L.G., Lim, Y-P., & Stern, R.A. (2008). Thyroid hormone levels in the prefrontal cortex of post-mortem brains of Alzheimer’s disease patients. Current Aging Science, 1, 175-181.
Ashendorf A. Jefferson AL, O'Connor MK, Chaisson C, Green RC, & Stern, RA. (2008). Trail Making Test errors in normal aging, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 23, 129-137. [PDF]
Ashendorf, L., Jefferson, A.L., Green, R.C., & Stern, R.A. (2008). Test-retest stability on the WRAT-3 Reading subtest in geriatric cognitive evaluations. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology.
Ropacki, S.A.L., Bert, A.A., Ropacki, M.T., Rogers, B.L., & Stern, R.A. (2007). The influence of cognitive reserve on neuropsychological functioning after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 22, 73-85. [PDF]
Jefferson, A.L., Wong, S., Gracer, T.S. Ozonoff, A., Green, R.C., & Stern, R.A. (2007). Geriatric performance on an abbreviated version of the Boston Naming Test. Applied Neuropsychology, 14, 215-223. [PDF]
Dr. Stern’s curriculum vitae
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