Kerns, Thomas A. 1942-

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KERNS, Thomas A. 1942-

PERSONAL:

Born December 11, 1942; children: three. Education: University of Notre Dame, B.A., 1965; Marquette University, M.A. 1967, Ph.D. 1973; University of Washington School of Public Health, graduate work, 1995—. Hobbies and other interests: Semiprofessional stone sculptor (marble, alabaster, soapstone), trout fishing, fly-tying, riverboating, reading, ham radio, jogging, hiking.

ADDRESSES:

Office—P.O. Box 927 Yachats, OR 92498. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Educator and author. St. Ambrose College, Davenport, IA, instructor in philosophy, 1967-69; University of Portland, Portland OR, assistant professor of philosophy, 1970-71; St. Martin's College, Olympia, WA, assistant professor of philosophy and social science, 1973-76; North Seattle Community College, Seattle, WA, professor of philosophy, 1976—; Seattle University, adjunct professor of philosophy, 1991—. Member, ethics council of Group Health Cooperative (HMO), 1987-89; Chemical Injury Council, Seattle, WA, secretary, 1996-97.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Award of Recognition, Oregon and Washington Community College Councils, 1988; various research grants, 1992.

WRITINGS:

Ethical Issues in HIV Vaccine Trials, St Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1997.

Jenner on Trial: The Ethics of Vaccine Research in the Age of Smallpox and the Age of AIDS, University Press of America (Lanham, MD), 1997.

Environmentally Induced Illnesses: Ethics, Risk Assessment, and Human Rights, McFarland (Jefferson, NC), 2001.

Contributor to journals, including Gamut, Faith Development Journal, Yoga Journal, Plexus, Nous-Letter, and Kinesis.

SIDELIGHTS:

Thomas A. Kerns writes with first-hand knowledge about his subjects in Environmentally Induced Illnesses: Ethics, Risk Assessment, and Human Rights and Ethical Issues in HIV Vaccine Trials. He has thoroughly studied public health and environmentally induced illnesses, taking years to complete his research prior to the publication of his works.

In Environmentally Induced Illnesses Kerns aims at heightening readers' awareness of multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), which Kerns himself was diagnosed with. He discusses the potentially hazardous results of long-term exposure to low doses of ambient chemical toxins and the lack of government regulation regarding this issue. In addition to both an ethical overview of the issue and a list of public-policy recommendations that would help in managing toxins in the work place and other public environments, Kerns also includes human-rights documents, such as the 1996 Charter on Industrial Hazards and Human Rights, for further reference. "Readers who stick with the book or use it as a reference will learn much about a frequently hidden or casually dismissed malady that affects millions," stated William Beatty in a Booklist review of Environmentally Induced Illnesses, while in the Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, a contributor praised the book as the first to "directly address the ethical dimension of managing environmental health and toxins."

Another of Kerns's works, Ethical Issues in HIV Vaccine Trials, informs readers of the tragedies that have resulted from the spread of the HIV disease and also discusses the vaccines that have been developed to treat this outbreak. Treating the issue as an ethicist, Kerns balances the horrors of the disease with the risks involved in exposing many without HIV to the disease in clinical trials of potentially effective vaccines. Kelly Morris, reviewing Ethical Issues in HIV Vaccine Trials for the British medical journal Lancet, noted that "Kerns gives us an excellent historical perspective, with references to unusually diverse sources"; in addition, his "elegantly simple language makes reading a joy rather than a chore."