Dr. Berner earned his DDS degree from The Ohio State Univ. College of Dentistry. He was inducted as a Master in the Academy of General Dentistry, has earned the Lifelong Learning and Service Recognition award and reviews manuscripts submitted for publication in the AGD’s publication.
Dr. Berner became a Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Odontology in 2011 and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. Completing his Forensic Fellowship at the Univ. of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Dr. Berner received recognition as a founding member of the Department of Homeland Security by his membership in Reg. V of the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team under the National Disaster Medical System and serves as a Victim Identification Center Team augmentee. Dr. Berner was deployed for Hurricane Katrina, the Joplin tornado, the Pulse nightclub shooting, the Akron Hawker jet crash, the Maui wildfires, the Hurricane Helene flooding in North Caroline and was honored to have received the DMORT Commanders Award for Meritorious Service. Dr. Berner is proud to participate on the National Dental Image Repository review panel and was awarded the Assistant Director's Award for Excellence for his consultation to the Criminal Justice Information Services Division of the FBI. Dr. Berner is affiliated to the Summit Co. Medical Examiners’ Office and is also a team member of the Florida Emergency Mortuary Operations Response System and the Michigan and Indiana response teams. He is a member of the International Association for Identification, the Ohio Identification Officers Association and volunteers with the Ohio Medical Reserve Corps, Tri-City CERT and his local Mass Inoculation Point of Dispensing (MIPOD) team. Dr. Berner enjoys teaching the 386 Mass Fatalities Response course for the Ohio Emergency Management Agency and speaking to local law enforcement, EMS crews and Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners.
Dr. Berner speaks to high school classes, training students in his office over decades, contributing to scholarships and school activities and was inducted into his high school Alumni Hall of Fame.