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Frank M. Perna, EdD, PhD
Program Director
Health Promotion Research Branch
Behavioral Research Program
Dr. Perna is a licensed psychologist and Program Director at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, Behavioral Research Program, Health Promotion Research Branch. He received his bachelor's degree from the East Stroudsburg University, obtained doctorates in Counseling Psychology and Health Psychology from Boston University and the University of Pittsburgh, respectively, and completed post-doctoral fellowships at the U.S. Olympic Training Center and at the University of Miami, respectively.
Prior to coming to NCI, Dr. Perna was a tenured associate professor at West Virginia University and eventually served as an associate professor and director of health psychology at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM). In addition to his teaching role and clinical responsibilities in the weight loss surgery program at BUSM, he maintained an active program of NIH funded research examining cognitive behavioral counseling to promote exercise adherence, and he examined its associated effects on mental and physical health for cancer patients and women smokers at risk for cancer. Throughout his career, he has worked in the area of exercise intervention for persons with chronic disease and obesity. His other research and practice area concerned performance enhancement work with professional and recreational athletes and facilitating adjustment to athletic injury.
Dr. Perna has been listed on the Sport Psychology Registry of the United States Olympic Committee, was invited as a research psychologist at the 1996 Olympic Games, was elected to the executive boards of the AASP and the American Psychological Association’s Division of Exercise & Sport Psychology, and served on the editorial board for the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology and on two Commonwealth of Massachusetts Expert Panels on the Safety of Bariatric Surgery. He was also the recipient of the Dorothy Harris Early Career Contribution award the Walter Peach Health Psychology career award from the Association of Applied Sport Psychology.
Select Publications and Presentations
Perna, F.M.,Craft, L., Freund, K., Skrinar, G., Stone, M., Kavanah, M., Kachnic, L., & Battaglia, T. A. (2007). Exercise effects on depression in a multi-ethnic sample of women with breast cancer. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 33 Supplement, S099.
Craft, L., Freund, K.M., Perna, F.M., & Culpepper, L. (2007). Intervention study of exercise for depressive symptoms in women. Journal of Women’s Health, 16(10), 1499-509.
Craft L.L., Freund, K., Culpepper, L., & Perna, F. (2007). Exercise and sleep quality in minority women. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 39 (5 Suppl): S450.
Craft L.L., Freund, K., Culpepper, L., & Perna, F. (2007). Exercise effects on depressive symptoms, body composition, and fitness in women with depression. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 33 Supplement, S124.
Johnson, L.C., Perna, F.M., Terwal, D.M., Beaton, C., Hehman, E., Kinnunen, T. (2007). Effects of exercise on smoking cessation attempt in sedentary women. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 39 (5 Suppl): S337-8.
Kinunnen, T., Hehman, E., Hoskinson, R. A., Miesmaa, P., Terwal, D., Perna, F.M. (2007, February). Tobacco dependence in menthol and non-menthol female smokers. Poster presentation at the annual meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, Austin, TX.
Newcomer Appaneal, R. R., Perna, F.M. Larkin, K. (2007). Psychophysiological response to severe sport injury among competitive male athletes. Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology, 1(1), 68-87.
Craft L.L., Culpepper, L., Freund, K., & Perna, F. (2006). Exercise effects on depression in ethnically diverse women. Journal of Women’s Health, 15, 675.
Perna, F.M.,Craft, L., Skrinar, G., Freund, K., Stone, M., Kachnic, L., Kaelin, C., Yeater, R., Battaglia, T, Dupuis, E., & Youren, C. (2006). Counseling effects on 6-month physical activity of breast cancer patients. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, Rapid Communication Supplement, D190.
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