Paula M Gardiner, MD, MPH

Paula M. Gardiner, MD, MPH, is a board-certified family medicine physician at Boston Medical Center (BMC) and an adjunct associate professor of family medicine at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. Dr. Gardiner completed a three-year clinical research fellowship in Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Research and Faculty Development at Harvard Medical School and received her MPH from Harvard School of Public Health. She conducts patient-oriented research regarding chronic pain and evidenced based integrative medicine access in low-income patients. Her current research focuses on the adaptive role of an Integrative Medicine Group Visit (IMGV) which combines mindfulness-based stress reduction and a medical group visit to support health behavior change and pain and stress reduction. She was recently awarded a NIH K grant focusing on CAM use, stress, and dietary supplements in inner city, underserved patients. Her research focuses on innovative technologies such as embodied conversational agents and Our Whole Lives, a holistic online toolkit that teaches mind-body techniques. Dr. Gardiner lectures nationally and internationally and has published over 90 review and original papers on technology (embodied conversational agents, virtual worlds, apps), chronic pain, dietary supplements, stress, and integrative medicine in underserved patients. She is also a certified meditation and mindful self-compassion teacher.