Joshua A. Barocas, MD

Adjunct Assistant Professor, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Biography

I lead an interdisciplinary research program that is specifically aimed at the goal of improving health outcomes for patients with infectious diseases including HIV and HCV, substance use disorders, and other vulnerable populations. My research, which uses clinical epidemiology, health economics, simulation modeling, and cost-effectiveness, informs clinical-decision making and health policy to answer clinically- and policy-relevant questions. I am engaged in research using these innovative methods to help understand the impact of and improve upon policies that affect people who use drugs infected with or at high risk for infections. My research is currently been funded by NIDA in the form of both a K01 and a DP2 award as well as multiple grants for which I am a Co-Investigator. I have also received NIAID, the Providence/Boston Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), the BU-CTSI, and the MGH Executive Committee on Research Fund for Medical Discovery. I currently serve as Director of the Health Economics and Modeling Core for the Massachusetts HEALing Communities Study, an NIH-funded grant to significantly reduce overdose. I am the previous recipient of the Charles A. King Trust Research Award, and the prestigious AAMC Herbert W. Nickens Faculty Fellowship Award, which recognizes a junior faculty member who demonstrates leadership potential in addressing inequity in health care. I have published my work and editorials in leading journals such as NEJM, Lancet Public Health, JAMA Internal Medicine, AJPH, Addiction, Clinical Infectious Diseases, and Annals of Internal Medicine. My work has been widely cited in the media, including the Boston Globe, U.S. News and World Report, and NPR.

Publications

  • Published 4/22/2025

    LeMasters K, Nall S, Jurecka C, Craft B, Christine P, Binswanger I, Barocas J. "You can't incarcerate yourself out of the drug problem in America:" A qualitative examination of Colorado's 2022 Fentanyl? criminalization law. Health Justice. 2025 Apr 22; 13(1):26. PMID: 40263216.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 4/17/2025

    Barocas JA, Aldridge A, Adkins KF, Barbosa C, Battaglia TA, Bush J, Castry M, Corry G, Clarke T, El-Bassel N, Figueroa W, Freedman DA, Freisthler B, Gibbons B, Gibson EB, Glasgow L, Harlow K, Huerta TR, Hunt T, Johnson R, Larimore E, Linas BP, Luckey JM, Montoya I, Murphy SM, Oga E, Onuoha E, Orme S, Ryan D, Schackman BR, Seiber EE, Singer M, Speer D, Starbird L, Tin Y, Villani J, Walsh SL, Watson C, Zarkin GA, McCollister K. An economic analysis of community costs incurred to implement the communities that HEAL intervention to reduce opioid overdose deaths in four states. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2025 Jul 01; 272:112671. PMID: 40311556.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 4/9/2025

    Mehta AB, Day GL, Barocas JA, Hasnain-Wynia R, Douglas IS. Access to hospitals with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation capabilities as a potential of driver of disparities. J Crit Care. 2025 Aug; 88:155075. PMID: 40209619.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 4/1/2025

    Jurecka C, Cavana E, Zhang Y, Erdman EA, Aytha Swathi P, Barocas JA, White LF. Rethinking Vulnerability: Using Factor Analysis to Assess Census Tract-Level Vulnerability. Public Health Rep. 2025 Apr 01; 333549251313986. PMID: 40166917.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 3/7/2025

    Barocas J, Choo E. Cuts to scientific funding will be detrimental to the US, achieving the opposite to Trump's stated aims. BMJ. 2025 Mar 07; 388:r476. PMID: 40054877.

    Read at: PubMed

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Websites

Education

  • George Washington University School of Medicine, MD
  • Washington University in St. Louis, BA

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