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 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 May 13. 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

  • 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

View All 100 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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