Professor Kenneth R. Kaufman, MD, FRCPsych, DLFAPA, FAES

Kenneth R. Kaufman, AM, MD, FRCPsych, DLFAPA, FAES is Professor of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Anaesthesiology at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (New Brunswick, New Jersey) where he has been in residence for the past 28+ years as well as Visiting Professor of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychiatry and Neuroscience, King’s College London with prior academic appointments at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, USC School of Medicine, and UCLA School of Medicine.  Professor Kaufman received his AB in chemistry from Columbia University, AM in theoretical organic chemistry from Harvard University, and MD from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis with psychiatric training at Barnes and Renard Hospitals (Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis), Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience / The Maudsley Hospital, and Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic (University of Pittsburgh).

Professor Kaufman specializes in mood disorders, psychopharmacology, psychosomatic medicine, antiepileptic drugs in the treatment of psychiatric disorders, psychiatric aspects of epilepsy, sports psychiatry, stigma, and ethics with over 250 publications and 150 national/international presentations during a nearly 50-year career as a clinical academician.  Professor Kaufman has an international voice as an advocate for persons with epilepsy and served on the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) Task Force on Sports and Epilepsy and the American Epilepsy Society Psychosocial Comorbidities Committee.

Professor Kaufman is a member of multiple professional societies including the Royal College of Psychiatrists, American Psychiatric Association, American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists, American Epilepsy Society, and American Chemical Society and has served in numerous committee, board, and executive positions. Professor Kaufman is presently Chair, Pan American International Division of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Professor Kaufman is Editor-in-Chief of BJPsych Open and serves on the Editorial Boards of the British Journal of Psychiatry, Epilepsy & Behavior, and Annals of Clinical Psychiatry. 

His advocacy in addressing the psychiatric aspects of epilepsy and epilepsy stigma led to his creating and co-funding the now endowed American Epilepsy Society lectureship entitled “The Rebecca Goldberg Kaufman AES Lecture in Ethical Neuropsychiatry.”  Two awardees, Professor Martha Sajatovic (Case Western Medical School) and Professor Jay Salpekar (Johns Hopkins Medical School) are BJPsych Open Board members.  Further, to ensure an increased membership of psychiatrists in the American Epilepsy Society, he created a fund to decrease membership fees for psychiatric trainees.

Yet for all Professor Kaufman has accomplished in an honored career, he had been in hiding and did not share his inner concerns and forebodings regarding his epilepsy until his 40s at which point, he became a vocal advocate. 

In summary, Professor Kaufman can be viewed as the complete clinical academic – clinician, researcher, educator, person with lived experience who is an advocate for patients individually and in national/intentional forums.