Kimberly Kumer M.D.

Education

Northeast Ohio Medical University- graduated 1997
Northeast Ohio Medical University Psychiatry Residency Program- graduated 2001
Harvard/Massachusetts General Hospital Psychiatry Forensic Fellowship graduated- 2015
Air War College, by correspondence, Maxwell AFB, Montgomery, AL 2017

Biography

BIOGRAPHY
UNITED STATES AIR FORCE


COLONEL KIMBERLY D. KUMER

Col Kimberly D. Kumer is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) School of Medicine (SOM) located in Bethesda, MD. As the Vice Chair of the Operational Psychiatry Track, she leads mental health Global Health Engagement missions, most recently providing mental health training and tabletop exchanges of best practices, to support medical and leadership personnel of AFRICOM partner nation militaries. She is also the Medical Ethics Course Director and is in the process of revising the curriculum to increase student preparation for clerkships and board exams. She is a member of the Educational Committee for Psychiatry; Physicians in Society Task Force, Interprofessional Education Task Force, Molecules to Military Medicine Curriculum Review Committee, and the Student Promotions Committee. She is also a scientist for the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress and an instructor for the Defense Institute for Medical Operations (DIMO). During her time at USU, she was hand-selected for critical Psychiatry manning-assist assignments to advise Commanders of both the Headquarters Pacific Air Forces and Air Force Global Strike on how to best address mental health concerns and needs in their specific regions, ensuring their critical no-fail missions. Her exemplary leadership and dedication to medical education is captured in her 2025 Visiting Scholar Invitation to Georgetown University’s Pellegrino Center for Bioethics, her selection by the National Board of Medical Examiners to advise on effective and appropriate board examination testing content, and her 2022 SOM Dean’s Impact Award, received during her inaugural faculty year.

After a decade of civilian medical practice, Colonel Kumer entered the Air Force as a direct accession in 2011. She completed undergraduate and medical studies through a combined accelerated academic program at the Northeast Ohio Medical University in 1997. She then completed her Psychiatry Residency at Akron General Medical Center in Akron, Ohio, in 2001. Upon commissioning, she served as the Chief of Psychiatry and Medical Director of the Mental Health Flight at the 99th Medical Group, Nellis Air Force Base. Dr. Kumer then went on to complete a highly selective Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship at Harvard University in 2015. Her follow-on assignment was as the regional forensic psychiatrist for U.S. Air Forces in Europe. Prior to her current assignment, she completed a short tour as Chief of Medical Staff at Incirlik AB, Turkey, supporting warfighters operating in the U.S. European Command and U.S. Central Command.


EDUCATION AND TRAINING
1993 Bachelor of Science in Life Sciences/Pre-Med, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio
1997 Doctor of Medicine, Northeast Ohio University of Medicine, Rootstown, Ohio
2000 Chief Resident, Psychiatry Residency Program, Akron General Medical Center, Akron, Ohio
2001 Psychiatry Residency Program, Akron General Medical Center, Akron, Ohio
2011 Commissioned Officers' Training, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
2015 Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship, Harvard/Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Mass.
2017 Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Ala., by correspondence


ASSIGNMENTS
1. April 2011– January 2012 Chief of Psychiatry, 99th Medical Group, Nellis Air Force Base, NV. (Deployment: January 2012-
August 2012, Staff Psychiatrist, Camp Arifjan, Kuwait)
2. August 2012–June 2014, Mental Health Flight Commander, 99th Medical Group, Nellis AFB, NV.
3. July 2014– June 2015, GME Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship, Harvard University, Massachusetts General Hospital,
Boston, MA.
4. July 2015- August 2018, Mental Health Flight Medical Director and Regional Forensic Psychiatrist for USAFE,
86th Medical Operations Squadron, Ramstein Air Base, Germany (Deployment: April 2016- November 2016, Mental Health
Officer in Charge, Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Guantanamo, Cuba)
5. August 2018- May 2020, Mental Health Flight Medical Director, 9th Medical Operations Squadron, Beale AFB, CA.
6. May 2020- June 2021, Chief of Medical Staff and Deputy Medical Group Commander, 39th Medical Group, Incirlik AB, Turkey


MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Meritorious Service Medal with 3 oak leaf clusters
Army Commendation Medal
Navy Commendation Medal
Meritorious Unit Award
Air and Space Outstanding Unit Award with 2 oak leaf clusters
National Defense Service Medal
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
Humanitarian Service Medal
Nuclear Deterrence Operations Service Medal with 1 oak leaf cluster
Air and Space Expeditionary Service Ribbon with Gold Border
Air and Space Longevity Service Award with 2 oak leaf clusters
Air and Space Training Ribbon


INTERNATIONAL EDUCATIONAL MISSIONS:
Team Lead, Defense Institute of Medical Operations:
1. Mental Health Mobile Training Team Mission to Mexico City, Mexico 27 August – 2 September 2023
Team Lead, Global Health Engagement, AFRICOM:
1. MIL Operational Mental Health Mobile Training Team (MTT), Maputo, Mozambique, 25-31 August 2024
2. MIL Operational Mental Health Mobile Training Team (MTT), Dakar, Senegal, 9-13 Dec 2024


ABTRACT ACCEPTANCE AND ORAL/POSTER PRESENTATIONS AT NATIONAL CONFERENCES:
1. Kumer KD, Cleaves ES. “Teaching Psychological First Aid and Disaster Preparedness with Simulated Live-Action Medical Training in Medical School: Lessons From the Front” Pecha-Kucha, ADMSEP Annual National Meeting, Austin, TX, 2022
2. Kumer KD, Cleaves ES, Hamaoka D, West J, and Capaldi VF. "Mass Casualty Response Teaching for Medical Students Using Large-scale Simulation" Workshop, ADMSEP Annual National Meeting, San Diego, CA, 2023
3. Nicholson, R., Best, N., Williams, J., Greene, E., Kumer, KD, Benedek, D. ”High Anxiety: Intense Emotion Simulation and Safety for Participants” Poster, ASPE Annual Meeting, Portland, OR, 2023.
4. Tyagi R, Cozza KL, Mullenix P, Greene EA, Hamaoka DA, Cleaves E, West JC, Kumer KD, Serpico E, Morganstein J, Lachman L, Ottolini M: "Obtaining and Documenting Informed Consent: An Advanced UME Cross-specialty, Role-playing Skill Builder" Poster, ADMSEP Annual Meeting, Pittsburg PA, 2024
5. Kumer KD, Wald, HS. “The Role of Medicine in the Holocaust and its Contemporary Relevance: Sustaining Our Moral Compass” Abstract Selected, ADMSEP Annual National Meeting, Boston, MA, 2025.


PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS AND ASSOCIATIONS:
American Psychiatric Association, fellow, lifetime member
Ohio Psychiatric Association, member
American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, member
Association of Directors of Medical Student Education in Psychiatry, member
American Society of Bioethics and the Humanities, member


EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Major January 27, 2011
Lieutenant Colonel July 1, 2012
Colonel June 1, 2019


(CURRENT AS OF AUGUST 2025)

Career Highlights: Positions, Projects, Deployements, Awards and Additional Publications

Deployment: January 2012- August 2012, Staff Psychiatrist, Camp Arifjan, Kuwait

Deployment: April 2016- November 2016, Mental Health Officer in Charge, Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Guantanamo, Cuba

Representative Bibliography

1. Schouten R, Kumer K: Informed Consent, in Schouten, R: Mental Health Practice and the Law. Oxford University Press, 2017

2. Kumer, K: The Lost Art of Listening, 3rd edition, How Learning to Listen Can Improve Relationships, Psychiatry, 86:4, 374-377, 2023 DOI: 10.1080/00332747.2023.2289819 https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/C9XCKU8HQFQ6Z5BBYXKP/full?target=10.1080/00332747.2023.2289819