Tufts University is recognized as a top research university,
especially in biomedical research. Medical research at Tufts,
including investigations at affiliated hospitals, has grown
steadily for more than 30 years. Areas of exceptional depth
on the Tufts health campus include infectious and emerging
diseases around the world, including HIV/AIDS and water-borne
illness; cutting-edge statistical analysis, including meta-analysis
and outcomes-based clinical research; nutrition policy and
science; and health communication.
Following is a list of current research projects in alphabetical
order by researcher.
Odilia Bermudez
| 1 |
Project
Title |
The Impact of Modified Home Delivered
Meals on Diet Quality and Nutritional Status of
Homebound Massachusetts Elders
|
| Project
Description |
Aims for his study are to:
- Assess food use, preferences and acceptability,
as well as diet quality among homebound elders
receiving traditional home delivered meals;
- Develop alternative approaches to the content
and delivery of the traditional home meals program;
and
- Evaluate the impact of changes in the content
of home delivered meals on food use and acceptability,
diet quality and nutritional status
|
| Investigator |
Odilia Bermudez |
| Project
Type |
Nutrition |
| 2 |
Project
Title |
Strategies to modify allostatic
load in Hispanic elders
(From the Center for Health Disparities in older
Puerto Ricans at the HNRCA)
|
| Project
Description |
The goal of this project is to test the effects
of a nutrient supplementation intervention and two
participatory- community-based approaches, community
nutrition and social participation programs, in
the alleviation of the biological effects from environmental
and social stressors that contribute to the allostatic
load of older Puerto Ricans. Specific aims are:
- Assess the effect of daily multivitamin supplementation
on allostatic load;
- Measure the effect of a community nutrition
program on allostatic load; and
- Evaluate the effects of a social interaction
program
|
| Investigator |
Odilia Bermudez |
| Project
Type |
Nutrition |
Marcia Boumil
| 1 |
Project
Title |
Development of a Boston division
of the national Medical Legal Partnership for Children
(MLPC)
|
| Project
Description |
This grant was funded to establish
and develop a division of the national Medical Legal
Partnership for Children (MLPC) within the Department
of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine at Tufts-New
England Medical Center. MLPC assists low-income patients
and their families in advocating for health-related
services in order to meet their health care needs.
Specific examples include assisting patients in securing
public benefits such as Medicaid and social security
disability; providing domestic violence information
and advocacy; facilitating nutrition counseling and
entitlement to food stamps; and providing advocacy
for diagnostic services pursuant to Special Education
entitlement.
|
| Investigator |
Marcia M. Boumil |
| Project
Type |
The Family Advocacy Center provides
legal and related services to healthcare clients. |
Ylisabyth Bradshaw
| 1 |
Project
Title |
Can Communication Progress Improve
Long-Term Health Outcomes of Persons with HIV? Understanding
Adherence through a Randomized, Crossover, Physician-Intervention
Study
|
| Project
Description |
This three-year project uses a range
of interventions to improve medication adherence while
examining long-term health outcomes through a broad
investigation of biological, psychological and social
markers. My focus is on examining communication between
patients and physicians.
|
Investigator(s)/
Co-Investigator(s) |
Ira Wilson, MD |
| Project
Type |
Communication and Adherence Project
- health services / behavioral health / infectious
disease-HIV |
Doug Brugge
CAFEH
| 1 |
Project
Title |
Language, Literacy, Culture: Communication
of Health Concepts |
| Project
Description |
Spoken communication of key health
concepts for many diseases is critical to prevention,
screening and clinical management. This communication
is made more difficult when words get in the way.
Health literacy is affected by general literacy, language
and cultural interpretation. Very little is known
about maximizing spoken communication of health concepts
across these potential barriers. Because of the lack
of knowledge, there is a need for first stage studies
that lay the basis for future research. Focus groups
will be video recorded and the resulting record transcribed
and translated. We will use data immersion to analyze
the focus groups. This will include a systematic content
analysis, a thematic analysis and a logical analysis.
Our goal is to develop sufficient understanding of
how persons with different language, culture and general
literacy understand key health concepts so that an
intervention study (R01) aimed at improving spoken
health communication can be developed. The current
project is funded by the National Cancer Institute.
|
Investigator(s)/
Co-Investigator(s) |
Doug Brugge, Tim Edgar, Jim Hyde |
| Project
Type |
Qualitative research |
| 2 |
Project
Title |
Healthy Public Housing
|
| Project
Description |
A series of community-based participatory
research studies of housing conditions and health,
with a focus on childhood asthma and control of pest
infestation. The Healthy Public Housing Initiative
was funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development's Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard
Control (grant # MALHH0077-00), as well as grants
from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Boston Foundation,
and the Jessie B. Cox Charitable Trust. Partners are
the Boston Housing Authority and the Boston Public
Health Commission (BPHC); the Committee for Boston
Public Housing (CBPH), the West Broadway Tenant Task
Force and the Franklin Hill Tenant Task Force; Boston's
three schools of public health at Boston University,
Harvard University, and Tufts University; and Peregrine
Energy and Urban Habitat Initiatives.
|
Investigator(s)/
Co-Investigator(s) |
Doug Brugge (Tufts); H. Patricia Hynes
(BU); Jack Spengler (HSPH) |
| Project
Type |
Community-based participatory research |
| 3 |
Project
Title |
Chinatown Environmental Justice
|
| Project
Description |
This is a series of small studies of
environmental factors in Boston Chinatown. Investigations
have focused on motor vehicle injuries, asthma, crime,
the impact of construction, and even research ethical
considerations. Many of the projects have been student
efforts and involved collaborations with the Chinese
Progressive Association, the Chinatown Resident Association,
the South Cove Community Health Center and the Josiah
Quincy Elementary School.
|
Investigator(s)/
Co-Investigator(s) |
Doug Brugge |
| Project
Type |
Environmental Justice/Community Partnership |
| 4 |
Project
Title |
Navajo Uranium Mining Project
|
| Project
Description |
This is primarily an oral history and
photography project. It has published a self-published
booklet, has an academic volume due out from the University
of New Mexico Press and has a traveling exhibit. It
is a collaboration with individuals and organizations
in the Navajo Nation.
|
Investigator(s)/
Co-Investigator(s) |
Doug Brugge |
| Project
Type |
Community collaborative service, education
and research |
| 5 |
Project
Title |
Community Assessment of Freeway Exposure and Health (CAFEH) |
| Project
Description |
CAFEH is the Community Assessment of Freeway Exposure and Health study. It is funded by a $2.5 millioin grant from the National Institutes of Health to Tufts University. CAFEH will study pollution in Boston communities near major highways. The Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership, Latin American Health Institute, Chinese Progressive Association, Committtee for Boston Public Housing and the Chinatown Resident Association are partners in research. These community organizations will advise the project. The study will last for five years. |
| Investigator |
Doug Brugge |
| Project
Type |
Community collaborative service, education
and research |
| |
|
CAFEH Website |
Nina Fefferman
| 1 |
Project
Title |
The Impact of Social Behavior on
Infectious Disease Dynamics
|
| Project
Description |
This project explores the connections
between individual behavioral choices and the patterns
observed in infectious disease incidence. The research
involves the use of mathematical models and simulations
to examine the affects of social networks and individual
etiological diversity on the transmission and incidence
patterns of infection. I'm specifically interested
in the behavioral interactions that can cause regular
oscillations in endemic diseases and the kinds of
social structures that can provide a greater population-level
defense against the introduction of novel pathogens
and prevent them from generating large-scale epidemics.
Ultimately, these investigations will be expanded
to include estimations of societal-level economic
costs associated with disease burden. |
| Investigator |
E. Naumova, K.L. Ng, E. Lofgren, S.
Beshers, R. Laxminarayan, J. Traniello, P. Starks |
| Project
Type |
Infectious disease epidemiology, Behavioral
ecology, Applied mathematics |
Paul Hattis
| 1 |
Project
Title |
"Using Accreditation Standards
as a Tool For Increasing Racial and Ethnic Diversity
in Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing and Psychology".
|
| Project
Description |
Exploring the role of accreditation
organizations and their standards in advancing racial
and ethnic diversity in the health care professions
|
| Co-Investigators
with |
Tom Perez, JD; and Kevin, Barnett,
PhD |
| Project
Type |
Health care Policy and Management |
| 2 |
Project
Title |
Increasing Health Care Workforce
Diversity in California: A Coordinated Strategy
to Implement the IOM/Sullivan Commission Recommendations
and Teaching Hospital Guidelines
|
| Project
Description |
The goal of this project is to develop
and implement a strategy and action plan, with input
and buy-in from key stakeholders, for increasing diversity
in the health professions in California.
|
| Working
with |
Kevin, Barnett, PhD; and Jeffrey Oxendine,
MPH |
| Project
Type |
Health care Policy and Management |
Amy Lischko
| 1 |
Project
Title |
Using Geographic Variation to Identify and Reduce Over-treatment in Massachusetts |
| Project
Description |
The specific aims of this project are: 1) to identify overtreatment through variation in inpatient and outpatient care provided by Massachusetts hospitals and physician groups; 2) to enumerate and map the various structural elements of primary, specialty and diagnostic care capacity across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; and, 3) to develop strategies which policymakers and regulators can use to constrain health care costs through the reduction of over-treatment. |
| |
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| |
|
| 1 |
Project
Title |
Evaluation of Risk Selection in Market-Based State Programs
|
| Project
Description |
This project will evaluate the extent to which three states’ health reform approaches experienced risk selection. The evaluation will address three major research questions: (1) To what extent did the state-sponsored programs initially experience risk selection? (2) Did risk selection change over time? and (3) What programmatic and environmental features could account for differences in risk selection within and across states?
|
| |
|
| |
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Paula Minihan
| 1 |
Project
Title |
Family Matters: Using Bright Futures
to Promote Health and Wellness for Children with
Special Health Care Needs or Disabilities
|
| Project
Description |
Family Voices, a nationwide parent-run
organization representing the interests of children
with special health care needs and Tufts University
- using a participatory action research strategy -
are conducting a controlled non-clinical intervention
study to determine if mentor peer support helps families
meet their health goals for their children. The study
is being implemented in five states - Louisiana, Massachusetts,
New Jersey, Vermont and Washington - and involves
families who are economically, ethnically, and linguistically
diverse.
|
Investigator(s)/
Co-Investigator(s) |
Paula M. Minihan, Principal Investigator,
and Aviva Must, Co-Investigator, Tufts sub-contract |
| Project
Type |
Participatory action research |
Elena Naumova
| 1 |
Project
Title |
Gastroenteritis and Extreme Weather
Events in the Elderly (GEWEL) funded by NIEHS.
|
| Project
Description |
This project aims to improve measure
and methodology for estimating the burden of acute
gastro-intestinal infections among the elderly on
a national scale. Gastroenteric infections (GI) of
waterborne or food borne etiology are shown to be
associated with contaminated water sources and warmer
temperatures. Several studies have noted increased
rates of GI during warm and rainy seasons. Climate
characteristics and drinking water source can affect
the rates of GI in an area. We conducted a nationwide
analysis of hospitalization rates for five GI among
the elderly on the county level to examine associations
with climate characteristics and watersheds. We hypothesize
that gasteroenteric infections can be climate-sensitive.
|
| Primary
Investigator |
Elena Naumova (Ph.D. Tufts University
School of Medicine) |
| Co-Investigators |
Andrey Egorov (ScD; Environmental Protection
Agency)
Jeffrey Griffiths (Ph.D. Tufts University School of
Medicine)
Paul Kirshen (Ph.D. Department of Civil & Environmental
Engineering, Tufts University)
Richard Vogel (Ph.D. Department of Civil & Environmental
Engineering, Tufts University)
|
| Project
Type |
Infectious disease, environmental health,
epidemiology, and biostatistics. |
| 2 |
Project
Title |
Generation and Decay of Memory T
Cells in Young, Old and Immunocompromised Populations
funded by NIAID.
|
| Project
Description |
This study aims to provide insights
into what constitutes a robust memory repertoire that
protects an individual from influenza, and how such
memory differ in the young, old and the immunocompromised.
The generation of T cell memory is the basis for immunity
to repeated pathogen exposure. One of the main objectives
of this study is to correlate changes in T-Cell Receptors
(TCR) repertoires with putative influenza exposure
in the community and develop predictive models for
seasonal fluctuations in memory repertoires.
|
| Primary
Investigator |
Jack Gorski (Ph.D. The Blood Research
Institute, The Blood Center of Southeastern Wisconsin)
|
| Co-Investigators |
Elena Naumova (Ph.D. Tufts University
School of Medicine)
Dittel Bonnie (Ph.D. The Blood Center of Southeastern
Wisconsin)
Yuri Naumov (M.D., Ph.D. University of Massachusetts
Medical School)
David Eckels (Ph.D. Medical College of Wisconsin)
|
| Project
Type |
Infectious disease, environmental health,
epidemiology, and biostatistics. |
Anthony Robbins
| 1 |
Project
Title |
AuthorAID
|
| Project
Description |
A program of developmental editing
help for authors from developing countries who want
to publish in competitive science and policy journals.
|
| Investigator/Co-Investigator |
Anthony Robbins & Phyllis Freeman |
| Project
Type |
Writing, editing, development, health,
and poverty. |
| 2 |
Project
Title |
|
| Project
Description |
The Public Health Advocacy Institute is an interdisciplinary
project created with three goals:
- To promote the law in common cause with public
health;
- To provide research and education pertaining
to public health, public health law, and the public
health implications of legal decisions; and
- To advocate for public awareness and understanding
of the impact of legal decisions upon public health
and the importance of public health to law.
|
| Investigator(s)/Co-Investigator(s) |
Anthony Robbins, founding member, and
others at Tufts and Northeastern Universities. |
| Project
Type |
Public health, law, and public policy |
| 3 |
Project
Title |
|
| Project
Description |
SKAPP is an initiative of scholars to examine the
application of scientific evidence in the legal
and regulatory arenas. We are committed to a future
of transparent decision-making that draws on the
best science to protect public health.
Our objectives are:
- to enhance understanding of how science is used
and misused in government decision-making and
in legal proceedings; and
- to inform decision-makers about the nature of
scientific inquiry and opinion.
|
Investigator(s)/
Co-Investigator(s) |
David Michaels, David Ozonoff, et al. |
| Project
Type |
Science, Law, Public Policy |
Anthony Schlaff
| 1 |
Project
Title |
Developing a Plan for Replicating
the Sophie Davis School for Biomedical Education
in Boston
|
| Project
Description |
With funding from the Boston Public
Health Commission, the Center for Community Health
Education, Research and Service (CCHERS) is leading
a series of city and state-wide discussions potentially
leading to the replication of the Sophie Davis Medical
School model in Massachusetts. Sophie Davis is a medical
school based at City College of New York that has
for 30 years successfully recruited and trained inner
city, low-income minority students into the medical
profession. The activities for the next year include
visiting Sophie Davis and convening a working group
from the University of Massachusetts, the community,
the state's four medical schools, and the Boston Public
Schools to develop a blue-print and action plan for
creating a school.
|
Investigator(s)/
Co-Investigator(s) |
Anthony L. Schlaff, MD, MPH, Project Director
Elmer R. Freeman, MSW, Co-investigator
Beverly Russell , PhD, MPH, BSN, Co-investigator
|
| Project
Type |
Medical Education Reform: Addressing
Disparities in Health Professions |
| 2 |
Project
Title |
Primary Care Master Educator Fellowship
|
| Project
Description |
This grant application addresses the
goal of the Bureau of Health Professions to improve
access to quality health care by enhancing the preparation,
composition, and distribution of health professions
workforce. The Project seeks to create and implement
a self-sustaining Type II - Primary Care Master Educator
Fellowship that will serve to increase the academic
workforce. Matriculating fellows will be highly qualified
to lead the development of a competency-based approach
to medical training and will also be imbued with the
attitude and experience to teach and practice in a
medically underserved community. The Project will
accomplish this goal by designing both a one-year
and a two-year fellowship curriculum that includes
a Masters of Public Health degree at the end of the
second year, uses a robust recruiting plan that gives
priority to applicants interested in providing care
to the medically underserved, and will be developed
into a self-sustaining program.
|
Investigator(s)/
Co-Investigator(s) |
Allen Shaughnessy, PharmD, Project
Director
Anthony Schlaff, MD, MPH
Robert Dickman, MD
Andrea Gordon, MD
|
| Project
Type |
Training in Primary Care Medicine |
|
