John Bernardo is a 1964 graduate of West Babylon High School. He attended the University of Illinois in Urbana, where he earned a degree in Mathematics with honors, in June 1968. He worked briefly at Grumman Aerospace in Bethpage before enrolling at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago in 1969. He was awarded the Doctor of Medicine degree with honors, in 1973 and trained in Internal Medicine at New York Hospital-Memorial Hospital and Boston City Hospital. Dr. Bernardo studied Pulmonary Diseases at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland.

In 1979, he returned to Boston where he joined the faculty of the Pulmonary Section at Boston University School of Medicine. He currently is Professor of Medicine and Research Professor of Biochemistry at Boston University. Dr. Bernardo is Board certified in Medicine and Pulmonary Diseases. He attends on the Pulmonary and Allergy clinical consultation services and in the Medical Intensive Care Unit at Boston Medical Center. He also serves as Tuberculosis Control Officer for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. In these capacities, he is engaged in basic science and clinical research studying cell signaling mechanisms and tuberculosis. He is active in national tuberculosis work and is immediate past Chair of Stop TB USA and past-President (2006-2007) and current President-elect of the National Tuberculosis Controllers’ Association. His research has been supported by NIH and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Bernardo lists numerous scientific publications in his vitae.

Dr. Bernardo resides in Wellesley, Massachusetts. He married the late Nancy Barry of Central Islip in 1971. He and Nancy have 2 children, Michael of Harrison, New York and Elizabeth Szklennik of Framingham, Massachusetts. He also has a granddaughter, Sophie Bernardo of Harrison, New York.