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 co-directors of the BU Women's Health Pre-Affinity Research Collaborative (Pre-ARC), and co-leads of the Massachusetts Perinatal Neonatal Quality Improvement Network Perinatal Opioid Project (PNQIN POP).

Publications

  • 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

  • Published 12/31/2024

    Parker MG, Rice F, Peguero C, Evans A, Schiff DM, Colvin B, Friedman H, Harer K, Kerr SM, Corwin MJ, Heeren TC, Colson ER, Wachman EM. Use of Practices to Reduce of Sudden Unexpected Infant Death among Caregivers of Opioid Exposed Newborns. J Addict Med. 2024 Dec 31. PMID: 39787446.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 12/12/2024

    Tran EL, Dorsey AN, Miele K, Gilboa SM, Gosdin L, Terplan M, Sanjuan PM, Seligman NS, Wright T, Wachman EM, Smid M, Henninger M, Leeman L, Schneider PD, Rood K, Louis JM, Caveglia S, Davidson A, Shakib J, Shrestha H, Meaney-Delman DM, Kim SY. Patterns of Medication for Opioid Use Disorder During Pregnancy, 7 Clinical Sites, MATernaL and Infant clinical NetworK (MAT-LINK), 2014-2021. J Addict Med. 2025 Mar-Apr 01; 19(2):208-215. PMID: 39665432.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 12/5/2024

    Board A, Vivolo-Kantor A, Kim SY, Tran EL, Thomas SA, Terplan M, Smid MC, Sanjuan PM, Wright T, Davidson A, Wachman EM, Rood KM, Morse D, Chu E, Miele K. Using ICD Codes Alone May Misclassify Overdoses Among Perinatal People. Am J Prev Med. 2025 Mar; 68(3):563-570. PMID: 39645154.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 11/21/2024

    Epstein RL, Kurnellas A, Munroe S, Curtis MR, Biondi B, Wachman EM. Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Testing of Hepatitis C Virus-Exposed Children Across the United States. J Pediatric Infect Dis Soc. 2024 Nov 21; 13(Supplement_5):S159-S165. PMID: 39171788.

    Read at: PubMed

View All 98 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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