Kerry Doyle joined the Virtual Academic Center (VAC) in 2011 as a practicum faculty member. In this role, she serves as a seminar instructor for applied learning seminars and virtual practicum education, and is a field liaison for students in the community-based field practicum courses. Dr. Doyle is currently the lead instructor for the community-based practicum courses (SOWK 589b, 699a & 699b) and SOWK 588.
In 2020, Dr. Doyle co-developed and facilitated the school's practicum training (SSWFT) program which trains school social work students on trauma responsive school-based interventions. She facilitates the SSWFT program with USC colleague, Professor Lisa Wobbe-Veit each summer semester. From 2015 to 2019, Doyle assisted with coordination of the National Center for School Crisis & Bereavement (NCSCB) Summer Training Program and assisted with development of the NCSCB Fellowship Program. She also mentors and guides school social work students residing outside of California. Her doctoral research, A Qualitative Study of School Social Workers’ Experiences Providing Crisis Intervention and Support After Targeted Gun Violence, examined how MSW education can better prepare school social workers to provide crisis response and trauma interventions after mass gun violence. 
A licensed independent clinical social worker, Dr. Doyle has had experience in assessment, treatment and quality assurance monitoring in the mental health, judicial and school settings. For seven years, she worked as a diagnostic assessment clinician for the Rhode Island Juvenile courts, where she evaluated referred youth and created treatment recommendations for the courts. She also maintained a private practice that focused on the treatment of adolescents with mood disorders, anxiety disorders and family relational difficulties. Through her practice, she had the opportunity to partner with many of the local secondary schools, which eventually led to her position as a school social worker in the Rhode Island school system. 
Dr. Doyle’s professional interests include trauma sensitive mindfulness interventions in the school setting, compassion fatigue among educators, and trauma responsive interventions.  She is trained in EMDR, hypnotherapy, and is a registered yoga instructor. She is extremely passionate about trauma treatment which was part of her doctoral work at the University of Pennsylvania where she received a Doctorate in Clinical Social Work.  Dr. Doyle received her Masters of Science degree in Social Work with a concentration in health and mental health from Columbia University.  Her undergraduate degree is from Brown University where she majored in political science.