The Division of Health Services Research (HSR), formerly known as the Division of General Academic Pediatrics (GAP), is a research division in the Department of Pediatrics at Boston Medical Center (BMC) and the Boston University (BU) Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. The Division consists of researchers across the spectrum of pediatric health care, from general pediatrics to specialty care. Faculty, fellows, students, staff, and affiliated clinicians in the Division strive to use collaborative research to have impact on issues facing the health, development, and general wellbeing of children and families, especially those from historically marginalized populations.
The Division’s research portfolio includes pressing issues in pediatric health care including: social determinants of health (notably, economic mobility, food insecurity, and housing), health insurance policy, innovative care delivery and payment models, obesity and food insecurity, substance use disorder, health information technology, health effects of the criminal legal system, quality of care for asthma and sickle cell disease, maternal depression and dyadic car, behavioral health, breastfeeding, and community and interpersonal violence. Underlying this range of topics is a focus on equity, patient-centeredness, and community involvement. Division researchers collaborate within the Division and with colleagues in other BMC/BU Departments, the BU School of Public Health (BUSPH), and beyond, with funding from NIMH, PCORI, AHRQ, NIMHD, NHLBI, NIDA, MCHB, and foundations such as Noonan, Doris Duke, and Robert Wood Johnson. Additional information about specific research teams within the Division can be found below.
Research Groups
BOS Collaborative/PLUS Pediatric Housing Assistance
A $5 million philanthropic investment to establish neighborhood-based training strategies for 1,100 residents of color, and fund 250 new and preserved affordable housing units in historically underinvested Boston neighborhoods, including Black and Latinx communities.
Boston Birth Cohort
Initiated in 1998 is a large-scale molecular epidemiological study funded by the National Institute of Health, with a particular focus on environment factors, genetic variants, epigenomic alterations, and their interactions in adverse reproductive outcomes, food allergy and related conditions, and obesity and metabolic syndrome in children.
CATALYST
A program helps teens and young adults who use alcohol or drugs.
CHEER
A world class center for maternal child health advocacy, training, and research.
Children's Health Watch
Formerly known as the Children’s Sentinel Nutrition Assessment Program, monitors the impact of economic conditions and public policies on the health and well-being of very young children.
Project SOLVE
Aims to mitigate the impact of mental illness on vulnerable families by developing, testing, and disseminating strategies through novel care delivery systems.
R1/RDHRS Telehealth Team
Develop and implement a model for disaster telehealth services that provide rapid, temporary, on-demand access to clinical specialists across jurisdictions to support regional disaster health response in the United States.
StreetCred
An innovation hub that envisions nurturing healthy, thriving children and families by leveraging trust in and access to health care to increase economic inclusion and rectify structural racism.
Vital Village
A network of residents and organizations committed to maximizing child, family and community well-being.