Howard Vernon

Biography

Dr. Vernon is currently a Professor at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is a 1977 graduate of this College and has been on faculty there since graduation. He received his Fellowship in Chiropractic Clinical Sciences in 1981. He was the Director of Research at the CMCC on two occasions in the 1980’s and 1990’s. He was the 1993 recipient of the Researcher of the Year from the Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research, the 1995 recipient of the Researcher of the Year from the Canadian Chiropractic Association and the 2012 recipient of the Researcher of the Year from the Ontario Chiropractic Association. Dr. Vernon has been involved in the development of Patient-Related Outcomes (PRO) since the mid-1980’s. In 1989, he developed the world’s first PRO for self-rating of disability due to neck pain – the Neck Disability Index (NDI). The NDI has been translated into 30 languages and is currently regarded as the gold standard PRO for self-rated disability due to neck pain or whiplash. Dr. Vernon’s research interests include: manual therapies for musculoskeletal pain (including basic and clinical studies), neck pain, whiplash, neck-related headaches, concussion injuries and clinical trial methodology. He has published over 100 journal articles in peer-reviewed journals as well as numerous chapters in texts. He has edited two text books on the Cranio-Cervical Syndrome. Dr. Vernon is currently the PI of an NIH R01 study to validate a sham-control procedure for use in clinical trials of spinal manipulation in neck pain patients. He is a reviewer for the NIH. He is on the editorial board of the journal Spine, as well as a reviewer for numerous chiropractic and medical journals. He is currently a clinical consultant to the NIH-funded Center of Excellence in Chiropractic Appropriateness at the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, California. He is a member of the Canadian Pain Society.

Research Interest

manual therapies for musculoskeletal pain