Patricia L. Kavanagh, MD
Associate Professor, Pediatrics
Biography
Dr. Kavanagh has a national reputation in using systems approaches to improve the care of children and adults with sickle cell disease in the emergency department setting. As an attending physician in the pediatric ED, she and colleagues defined and refined treatment standards for children with sickle cell disease. She has similarly worked to improve care for adults with sickle cell disease in the ED through guideline-based care pathways and the use of individualized pain protocols. She gives lectures at regional and national meetings throughout the United States to teach providers about interventions that improve ED care for sickle cell-related pain and outcomes for individuals living with sickle cell disease, and will serve as faculty for the 2023 Sickle Cell Disease Centers Workshop, sponsored by the American Society of Hematology. Her current grant activities include studying the impact of screening and referring families with unmet basic needs on health on outcomes for children with sickle cell disease, and serving as a subject matter expert in a multisite randomized trial comparing individualized pain plans with weight-based protocols. Nationally she co-founded and serves as Chair of the Emergency Department Sickle Cell Care Coalition. She completed her pediatrics residency at Boston Children’s Hospital and Boston Medical Center, and a fellowship in General Academic Pediatrics at Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine/Boston Medical Center.
Other Positions
- Member, Center of Excellence in Sickle Cell Disease, Boston University
Education
- Boston University, MD
- Boston University, BS
- Boston University, BA
Publications
- Published on 11/12/2023
Tanabe P, Ibemere S, Pierce AE, Freiermuth CE, Bosworth HB, Yang H, Osunkwo I, Paxton JH, Strouse JJ, Miller J, Paice JA, Veeramreddy P, Kavanagh PL, Wilkerson RG, Hughes R, Barnhart HX. A comparison of the effect of patient-specific versus weight-based protocols to treat vaso-occlusive episodes in the emergency department. Acad Emerg Med. 2023 Dec; 30(12):1210-1222. PMID: 37731093.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 7/20/2023
Long KA, Blakey AO, Amaro CM, Eilenberg JS, Brochier A, Garg A, Drainoni ML, Pashankar F, Esrick EB, Kavanagh PL. Bidirectional processes linking social determinants of health and pediatric sickle cell anemia management: A qualitative study. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2023 Oct; 70(10):e30539. PMID: 37470711.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 12/19/2022
Blakey AO, Lavarin C, Brochier A, Amaro CM, Eilenberg JS, Kavanagh PL, Garg A, Drainoni ML, Long KA. Effects of Experienced Discrimination in Pediatric Sickle Cell Disease: Caregiver and Provider Perspectives. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2023 Dec; 10(6):3095-3106. PMID: 36536165.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 11/15/2022
Kavanagh PL, Fasipe T, Wun T. A Review of Sickle Cell Disease-Reply. JAMA. 2022 Nov 15; 328(19):1979-1980. PMID: 36378210.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 7/5/2022
Kavanagh PL, Fasipe TA, Wun T. Sickle Cell Disease: A Review. JAMA. 2022 07 05; 328(1):57-68. PMID: 35788790.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 3/18/2021
Kavanagh PL, Frater F, Navarro T, LaVita P, Parrish R, Iorio A. Optimizing a literature surveillance strategy to retrieve sound overall prognosis and risk assessment model papers. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2021 03 18; 28(4):766-771. PMID: 33484123.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 1/12/2021
Loo S, Brochier A, Wexler MG, Long K, Kavanagh PL, Garg A, Drainoni ML. Addressing unmet basic needs for children with sickle cell disease in the United States: clinic and staff perspectives. BMC Health Serv Res. 2021 Jan 12; 21(1):55. PMID: 33435984.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 12/28/2020
Ibemere SO, Dubbs SB, Barnhart HX, Brown JL, Freiermuth CE, Kavanagh P, Paice JA, Strouse JJ, Wilkerson RG, Tanabe P. Trial design of comparing patient-specific versus weight-based protocols to treat vaso-occlusive episodes in sickle cell disease (COMPARE-VOE). Contemp Clin Trials. 2021 02; 101:106252. PMID: 33348066.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 9/1/2020
Kavanagh PL, Hirshon JM. EDSC3: Working to Improve Emergency Department Care of Individuals With Sickle Cell Disease. Ann Emerg Med. 2020 09; 76(3S):S80-S82. PMID: 32928468.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 8/1/2020
Brousseau DC, Muslu CS, Visotcky A, Fraser R, Kavanagh PL, Chelius TH, Schuh AM. Teaching Versus Nonteaching Hospitals: Where Children With Sickle Cell Disease Receive Their Emergency Department Care. J Pediatr Hematol Oncol. 2020 08; 42(6):412-413. PMID: 32404689.
Read at: PubMed
View 22 more publications: View full profile at BUMC