Elisha M. Wachman, MD

Professor, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Biography

Dr. Wachman is a Professor of Pediatrics at the BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and attending neonatologist at Boston Medical Center (BMC). She is currently the Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Pediatrics at BMC and the Co-Director of Workforce Development for the BU CTSI. She is an internationally recognized clinical and translational researcher with expertise in neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS) and substance use disorders in pregnancy. Her specific research interests include the genetics and epigenetics of NOWS, treatments for opioid use disorder (OUD) in pregnancy, and the use of non-pharmacologic care methods to improve NOWS outcomes. She is currently the principal investigator on multiple NIH studies examining opioid use disorder (OUD) in pregnancy, genetic markers, placental biomarkers, and long-term maternal and infant outcomes. She also leads several other NIH and foundation funded studies involving pregnant individuals with OUD / infants with NOWS. Dr. Wachman is one of the Multi-PIs of the BU BIRCWH (Building Interdisciplinary Careers in Women's health) K12 Program, the BU Women's Health Research Affinity Research Collaborative (ARC), and co-leads of the Massachusetts Perinatal Neonatal Quality Improvement Network Perinatal Opioid Project (PNQIN POP).

Publications

  • Published 8/1/2025

    Ouyang L, Gupta M, Cox S, Barfield W, Ko JY, Pollack L, Chen J, Riehle-Colarusso T, Wachman EM, Diop H. Population-Level Changes in Infant Outcomes Associated With State "Eat Sleep Console" Initiative. Hosp Pediatr. 2025 Aug 01; 15(8):e371-e376. PMID: 40721219.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 6/15/2025

    Wingfield KK, Misic T, Miracle SA, McDermott CS, Jain K, Abney NM, Richardson KT, Rubman MB, Beierle JA, Wachman EM, Bryant CD. The acoustic properties, syllable structure, and syllable sequences of ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) during neonatal opioid withdrawal in FVB/N mouse substrains. Addict Neurosci. 2025 Sep; 16. PMID: 40948693.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 5/19/2025

    Iannella N, Momper J, Mirochnick M, Suhandynata RT, Saia K, Werler M, Jones HE, Wachman EM. Pharmacokinetics of Oral and Extended-release Naltrexone in Pregnant and Lactating Individuals and their Infants. J Addict Med. 2025 May 19. PMID: 40388713.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 5/13/2025

    Nelson-Rodriguez A, Saia K, Xie X, Momper J, Schiff DM, Wachman EM. Pharmacokinetics and Breast Milk Transfer to Infants of Subcutaneous Extended-Release Buprenorphine for the Treatment of Individuals with Opioid Use Disorder. Breastfeed Med. 2025 Aug; 20(8):588-592. PMID: 40358655.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 2/17/2025

    Sousa A, Besong OTO, Wachman EM, Taglauer ES, Beane JE, Kefella Y, Koo JS, Saia K, Jones HE, Zhang H. Placental transcriptome analysis in opioid-exposed versus non-opioid exposed pregnancies. Placenta. 2025 Mar 25; 162:27-34. PMID: 39983471.

    Read at: PubMed

View All 102 Publications:   View Full Profile in BUMC

Other Positions

  • Co-Director, Clinical and Translational Science Institute
    Boston University

Websites

Education

  • Boston University School of Medicine, MD
  • Georgetown University, BS

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