Kenneth Kendler

{{Short description|American psychiatrist (born 1950)}}

{{Infobox scientist

| image = Kenneth S Kendler head shot.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Psychiatric Geneticist Kenneth Kendler

| birth_name = Kenneth S Kendler

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1950|07|12}}

| birth_place = New York City, New York

| death_date =

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| citizenship = US

| nationality = American

| alma_mater = University of California, Santa Cruz, Stanford University School of Medicine, University of Birmingham, England

| doctoral_advisor = Lindon Eaves

| doctoral_students =

| known_for = Psychiatry, Schizophrenia,
Behavior genetics, Major depressive disorder

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| field = Psychiatry

| work_institutions = Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics

| prizes = Joseph Zubin Award {{small|(2018)}}

| religion =

}}

Kenneth S. Kendler (born July 12, 1950){{Cite news |url=https://www.richmond.com/discover-richmond/kenneth-kendler-digging-into-the-roots-of-depression/article_8f7ef4fd-0f60-5563-be18-53807231517e.html |title=Kenneth Kendler: Digging into the roots of depression |last=Smith |first=Tammie |date=2015-12-13 |work=Richmond Times-Dispatch |access-date=2018-07-10 |language=en}} is an American psychiatrist best known for his pioneering research in psychiatric genetics, particularly the genetic causes of schizophrenia.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zpfhGZLP4ugC&pg=PA28|title=Science and the Spiritual Quest: New Essays by Leading Scientists|last=Richardson|first=W. Mark|date=2002-01-01|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=9780415257671|language=en}} Kendler is one of the highest cited psychiatry researchers. Between 1990 and 1998 he was the 2nd highest cited psychiatrist, and for the 1997–2007 decade he was ranked 4th by Thomson Reuters' Science Watch.[http://sciencewatch.com/dr/sci/08/may18-08_4/ Scientist Rankings in Psychiatry/Psychology] He has authored over 1,200 papers and in 2016 his h-index was 126.{{Cite web|url=http://apps.webofknowledge.com/CitationReport.do?product=WOS&search_mode=CitationReport&SID=U1LJgfGnHTnIx6Qqspf&page=1&cr_pqid=7&viewType=summary&colName=WOS|title=Web of Science Citation Report|website=apps.webofknowledge.com|access-date=2016-09-19}} Kendler's group was also noted for the replication of a study of Avshalom Caspi on the interaction of stressful life events and a serotonin transporter polymorphism in the prediction of episodes of major depression.{{Cite web|url=http://www.esi-topics.com/nhp/2006/september-06-KennethSKendler.html|title=New Hot Paper Comment by Kenneth S. Kendler|website=www.esi-topics.com|access-date=2016-09-19}}

Kendler is a Banks Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry, Professor of Human Genetics, and Director of the Virginia Institute of Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics at the Virginia Commonwealth University.{{Cite web|url=http://www.vipbg.vcu.edu/~vipbg/dr/KKENDLER.shtml|title=People at Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics|website=www.vipbg.vcu.edu|access-date=2016-09-19}} Kendler is also one of the two Editors of Psychological Medicine. He served on the Work Group that revised the DSM-III, on the Task Force for DSM-IV, and on the DSM-5 Work Group for Mood Disorders.{{Cite web|url=http://vipbg.vcu.edu/people/kenneth-kendler|title=Kendler, Kenneth. Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics|website=vipbg.vcu.edu|access-date=2016-09-19}}

Kendler is also interested in philosophical issues in psychiatry.{{Cite journal|last=Fannon|first=Dominic|date=2006|title=E-Interview: Kenneth S. Kendler|url=http://pb.rcpsych.org/content/30/12/480.3|journal=BJPsych Bulletin|language=en|volume=30|issue=12|pages=480|doi=10.1192/pb.30.12.480-b|issn=1758-3209|doi-access=free}} Kendler co-wrote with Edith Zerbin-Rüdin, daughter of Nazi German psychiatrist Ernst Rüdin, a history of Ernst Rüdin's work during World War II.Zerbin-Rüdin, Edith & Kendler, Kenneth. (1996). Ernst Rüdin (1874–1952) and his Genealogic-Demographic Department in Munich (1917–1986): An introduction to their family studies of schizophrenia. American journal of medical genetics. 67. 332-7. 10.1002/(SICI)1096-8628(19960726)67:4<332::AID-AJMG3>3.0.CO;2-O. During World War II, Rüdin was a member of the Nazi Germany Expert Committee on Questions of Population and Racial Policy who vociferously advocated the extermination of individuals with schizophrenia.See William E. Seidelman, Science and Inhumanity: The Kaiser-Wilhelm/Max Planck Society, first published in If Not Now Vol. 2 (Winter 2000), found at [https://www.doew.at/cms/download/b1c46/en_seidelman_max_planck_society.pdf Doew.at] (Revised ed., published 2001). However, Kendler's articles on Rüdin have faced criticism for whitewashing his racist and later Nazi ideologies and activities.{{cite journal | url=https://zenodo.org/record/1235464 | doi=10.1002/(sici)1096-8628(19970725)74:4<457::aid-ajmg23>3.0.co;2-g | title=Ernst Rüdin, a Nazi psychiatrist and geneticist | year=1997 | last1=Gershon | first1=Elliot S. | journal=American Journal of Medical Genetics | volume=74 | issue=4 | pages=457–458 | pmid=9259388 }}

Kendler is the second son of Howard H. Kendler and Tracy Kendler, both of whom were influential academic psychologists.{{Cite web |url=http://texts.cdlib.org/view?docId=hb987008v1;NAAN=13030&doc.view=frames&chunk.id=div00036&toc.depth=1&toc.id=&brand=calisphere |title=University of California: In Memoriam, 2001 |website=California Digital Library |access-date=2019-01-10}} They named their son Kenneth after Kenneth W. Spence, the doctoral advisor they both shared when studying at the University of Iowa.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zDuJsGzqk5MC&pg=PR5 |title=Genes, Environment, and Psychopathology: Understanding the Causes of Psychiatric and Substance Use Disorders |last1=Kendler |first1=Kenneth S. |last2=Prescott |first2=Carol A. |date=2007-11-01 |publisher=Guilford Press |isbn=9781593856458 |pages=v |language=en}} Kendler is married to Susan Miller, with whom he has three children.