Kirsty Valerie Bernal Torres MD
Kirsty Bernal (she/her) is a bilingual clinical research coordinator at PolicyLab and the Center for Autism Research (CAR) at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Dr. Bernal works with Dr. Kate Wallis to identify and address the substantial and unique barriers to care in the early detection and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that families with limited English proficiency (LEP) face. Before joining PolicyLab and CAR, she worked in the Division of Child Development at SUNY Downstate Medical Center's Department of Pediatrics as a clinical research coordinator on an ASD clinical trial.
Dr. Bernal received her Doctor of Medicine degree and an associate degree in clinical research and basic epidemiology with good clinical practice from Universidad del Rosario in Colombia. While completing her degree, she completed one year of deep training in clinical and inpatient care and six months of specialized training in pediatrics. Additionally, she earned her fellowship in leadership education in neurodevelopmental disabilities (LEND) at SUNY Downstate University.
Prior to pursuing her degree, Dr. Bernal held several community and leadership engagement roles as a training physician at Colombian’s jungle with different indigenous groups bringing primary care and different types of education and resources for them.