Margee Kerr, PhD

Dr. Margee Kerr is a sociologist with an interest in the behavioral and health sciences. After earning her PhD in 2009 from the University of Pittsburgh, she worked as a Senior Health Research Specialist for the Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion. There, she assisted research programs investigating disparities in treatment of osteoarthritis among US Veterans. Kerr has additionally served as a co-investigator on a research protocol focused on understanding how and why people choose to engage with stressful or fearful experiences, and how it may impact future stress management. She is also dedicated to making current academic research accessible to the general public. To this end she has published two popular science books including SCREAM: Chilling Adventures in the Science of Fear in 2015 and OUCH! Why pain hurts and why it doesn’t have to, written with co-author Linda Rodriguez McRobbie, in 2021. In addition to publishing in academic journals, her work has also been featured in the New York Times, Parade, Atlantic Monthly, NPR’s Science Friday, and the Guardian.