Jenna Rudo-Stern, PhD, is a pediatric psychologist who serves a variety of patient populations at Phoenix Children's. Dr. Rudo-Stern helps young people and their families navigate their health journeys and buffer them against minority stress. She gathers information to better understand a patient's needs and then offers direct intervention, as well as information about other resources, to meet those needs.

In the IBD Clinic, Dr. Rudo-Stern meets with patients during their visits in the multidisciplinary clinic. She supports communication between families and the care team. She provides consultation regarding adjusting to and managing chronic illness, keeping up with medications, using cognitive and behavioral strategies to increase comfort, and increasing confidence with pokes and procedures. She also helps patients, and their families plan ahead for the eventual transfer to adult care.

Dr. Rudo-Stern approaches her work with young people and their families with empathy and expertise. She collaborates with her patients to build on their existing strengths. With Dr. Rudo-Stern, young people learn to advocate for themselves, and parents learn skills to support their children.

Dr. Rudo-Stern earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from Arizona State University. Following a pre-doctoral internship in child and adolescent psychology at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio, she returned to Arizona to complete a post-doctoral fellowship in pain psychology at Barrow Neurological Institute at Phoenix Children's. Her research focuses on ways to expand access to high quality mental and physical healthcare.

When she's not working, Dr. Rudo-Stern enjoys cooking, reading and exploring Arizona's natural beauty.