Education

• MD – University of Heidelberg, Germany (1994)
• PhD in Neurophysiology – University of Heidelberg, Germany (1995)

Memberships / Professional Affiliations

Other Languages Spoken

Kerstin Bettermann, MD, PhD, is a board-certified neurologist with subspecialty training in vascular neurology. She has extensive experience in caring for patients with neurological and cerebrovascular conditions, including diseases that affect the brain and its blood vessels, particularly stroke, cerebral small and large vessel disease, and the prevention of recurrent stroke. Her broader neurological experience also includes the evaluation of concerns such as memory difficulties, headaches and other neurological conditions. She is passionate about holistic patient care and believes strongly that multidisciplinary collaboration with other specialists and caregivers in our community is key for best patient care.

Dr. Bettermann is chief of neurology for University of Pittsburgh (UPMC) Central and North Central Pennsylvania. In this leadership role, she oversees neurological and stroke care across large regional health systems and works to ensure that all her patients receive the best coordinated, evidence-based care.

She completed her medical degree and PhD at the University of Heidelberg in Germany and received neurology and psychiatry training in Germany before completing additional neurology residency training and a fellowship in vascular neurology at Wake Forest University. She is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in both neurology and vascular neurology, and has additional training in interpreting neurological imaging and neurovascular ultrasound.

Residencies

• Neurology – Technical University of Munich, Germany (1994-1996)
• Psychiatry – Heinrich-Heine University of Düsseldorf, Germany (1996-1998)
• Neurology – Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina (1998-2002)

Fellowships

• Vascular Neurology – Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina (2002-2003)

Kerstin Bettermann, MD, PhD is a clinical professor in the Department of Neurology at Drexel University College of Medicine and adjunct clinical professor at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where her teaching responsibilities span medical student education, graduate medical education, fellowship training, research mentorship, faculty development and graduate medical program development.

Throughout her academic career, Dr. Bettermann has taught learners at multiple levels through classroom instruction, small-group teaching, bedside and ambulatory clinical teaching, simulation, research supervision, and individual mentorship. She is passionate about teaching and mentorship, and continues to be actively involved in bedside teaching of medical students, residents, fellows and multiple other learners from allied health professions.

On a national level, she serves as mentor to junior faculty for the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Diversity leadership program and for the AAN’s Women in Neurology leadership program. She serves as an adviser and committee member for the American Neurological Association (ANA) Futures program and has served as program lead and currently as committee member to the AAN's/NIH Futures in Neurology Research bootcamp for medical students, neurology residents and fellows.

Dr. Bettermann has previously served as professor and division chief of stroke and neurological critical care at Virginia Commonwealth University. Prior to that, she was program director of the Vascular Neurology Fellowship program, director of neurology grand rounds, co-lead for the MD/PhD Advanced Translational Medicine course, and an advisor in the Translational Research in Medicine and MD/PhD program at Penn State College of Medicine. These roles involved not only direct teaching but also evaluation of trainees, oversight of educational programs, and development of the broader academic learning environment.

Her consistent goal throughout these activities is to help her learners develop strong clinical reasoning and neurological examination skills, understand the evidence underlying stroke and neurological care, engage meaningfully in clinical research, and to develop progressively greater independence as clinicians, investigators, educators, and future academic leaders.

Research Overview

Research

Publications

Presentations