### Asthma Research - [ Investigators](#investigators) - [ Research projects](#research-projects) - [ Abstracts](#abstracts) - [ Publications](#publications) The Pediatric asthma program aims to deliver systematic, evidence-based high quality asthma care to children in the BMC Pediatric Primary Care practice through a lens of health equity. The research arm of the Pediatric asthma program includes retrospective and prospective evaluations of service delivery and implementation as well as asthma health outcomes for patients in the practice. ### Contact ### [Robyn T. Cohen, MD, MPH](https://www.bmc.org/about-us/directory/doctor/robyn-t-cohen-md) Pediatric Pulmonologist ![](https://assets.bmc.org/transform/358e2287-3f0e-4f94-89b5-0a86235f25ed/Robyn-Cohen_web?io=transform:fill,width:333,height:500&format=jpg) ### [Rachel S. Sagor, MD](https://www.bmc.org/about-us/directory/doctor/rachel-s-sagor-md) Pediatric Primary Care Physician ![](https://assets.bmc.org/transform/1f918cef-78ff-4c22-a3a3-87b4b37eba43/Sagor-Rachel_2x3?io=transform:fill,width:333,height:500&format=jpg) ## Investigators [Robyn Cohen, MD, MPH](https://profiles.bu.edu/robyn.cohen) [Rachel Sagor, MD](https://profiles.bu.edu/rachel.sagor) [Michelle Stransky, PhD]() [Elizabeth Oginni, MPH, Program Coordinator](mailto:Elizabeth.Oginni@bmc.org) ## Research projects 1. Studying the impact of a comprehensive primary care asthma QI initiative on health care outcomes for children with asthma 2. The Acute Asthma Pathway: studying the implementation and outcomes of an acute asthma exacerbation clinical pathway designed for the primary care setting 3. SMART Therapy: A Path To Health Equity for Children with Asthma: studying the implementation of guideline-preferred SMART therapy for pediatric patients with persistent asthma in pediatric primary care 4. Inner-City Asthma Consortium, N01AI90052 ## Abstracts **Health Equity-Driven, High Quality Asthma Care Can Decrease Acute Asthma-related Health Care Use among Children in an Urban Safety Net Hospital:** **Robyn T. Cohen**, Boston Medical Center/Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States; **Michelle Stransky**, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States; **Miriam Bremer-Kamens**, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States; **Radley C. Sheldrick**, Boston University, Boston, MA, United States; **Caroline J. Kistin**, Hassenfeld Child Health Innovation Institute, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI, United States; **Giovannie C. Bejin**, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States; **Margaret Laws**, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Cambridge, MA, United States; **Tami Chase**, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States PAS conference oral abstract , Washington D.C., 2023 ## Publications 1: Gregory JC, Jones KC, Sagor R, Stransky ML, Drainoni ML, Cohen RT. Provider perspectives on the implementation of an evidence-based acute asthma pathway in the pediatric primary care setting. J Asthma. 2025 Dec 11:1-9. doi: 10.1080/02770903.2025.2598794. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41342455. 2: Patchen BK, Best CM, Boiteau J, Solvik BS, Vonderschmidt A, Xu J, Cohen RT, Cassano PA. Vitamin D supplementation in pregnant or breastfeeding women or young children for preventing asthma. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2025 Aug 12;8(8):CD013396. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD013396.pub2. PMID: 40792481; PMCID: PMC12341026. 3: Bozigar M, Connolly CL, Vermeer K, Carvalho L, Cohen RT, Dugas JN, Levy JI, Fabian MP. Associations between in-home environmental exposures and lung function in a safety net population of children with asthma using electronic health records and geospatial data. Ann Epidemiol. 2025 May;105:47-52. doi: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2025.04.001. Epub 2025 Apr 4. PMID: 40189077; PMCID: PMC12225638. 4: Stransky ML, Bremer-Kamens M, Kistin CJ, Sheldrick RC, Cohen RT. Using Electronic Health Records to Identify Asthma-Related Acute Care Encounters. Acad Pediatr. 2024 Nov-Dec;24(8):1229-1235. doi: 10.1016/j.acap.2024.05.003. Epub 2024 May 16. PMID: 38761891. 5: Bickel S, Cohen RT, Needleman JP, Volerman A. Appropriate inhaler use in children with asthma: barriers and opportunities through the lens of the socio- ecological model. J Asthma. 2023 Jul;60(7):1269-1279. doi: 10.1080/02770903.2022.2152352. Epub 2022 Dec 13. PMID: 36420559; PMCID: PMC10192155. 6: Januska MN, Goldman DL, Webley W, Teague WG, Cohen RT, Bunyavanich S, Vicencio AG. Bronchoscopy in severe childhood asthma: Irresponsible or irreplaceable? Pediatr Pulmonol. 2020 Mar;55(3):795-802. doi: 10.1002/ppul.24569. Epub 2019 Nov 15. PMID: 31730298; PMCID: PMC7385726. 7: Menzies-Gow A, McBrien CN, Baker JR, Donnelly LE, Cohen RT. Update in Asthma and Airway Inflammation 2018. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2019 Jul 1;200(1):14-19. doi: 10.1164/rccm.201902-0321UP. PMID: 31026407. 8: Childs E, Laws MA, Drainoni ML, Nath A, Reid MJ, Sandel M, Cohen RT. Caring for Young Children with Asthma: Perspectives from Urban Community Health Centers. J Urban Health. 2017 Dec;94(6):824-834. doi: 10.1007/s11524-017-0186-6. PMID: 28741283; PMCID: PMC5722725. 9: Cohen RT, Celedón JC. Community Violence and Health Disparities in Asthma. J Pediatr. 2016 Jun;173:13-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2016.03.043. Epub 2016 Apr 7. PMID: 27063806. 10: Rice JL, Matlack KM, Simmons MD, Steinfeld J, Laws MA, Dovey ME, Cohen RT. LEAP: A randomized-controlled trial of a lay-educator inpatient asthma education program. Patient Educ Couns. 2015 Jun 29:S0738-3991(15)30006-9. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2015.06.020. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 26210342. 11: Cohen RT, Celedón JC. Breastfeeding and asthma: where are we? Allergol Immunopathol (Madr). 2011 Nov-Dec;39(6):315-7. doi: 10.1016/j.aller.2011.09.001. Epub 2011 Oct 26. PMID: 22029964.