BUMC Faculty Appointments and Promotions – August 2023

Congratulations to the following Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine faculty on their recent appointment or promotion.

Professor

Alison Galbraith, MD, MPH, Pediatrics, is chief of the division of health services research (HSR) for the department. She joins BU from Harvard Medical School where she was an associate professor of population health, site director of its HSR fellowship and a staff pediatrician at Boston Children’s Hospital. Dr. Galbraith’s research focuses on the impact of health insurance policy on health care access and affordability for children and families. Dr. Galbraith will lead a division of academic research faculty while advancing the science of child and family health. She will oversee faculty and staff development, foster collaboration and growth in grant submissions and scholarly output, and grow the presence of HSR research within the department. Dr. Galbraith will build a research program that promotes and drives initiatives for diversity, equity and inclusion; build and support opportunities for sharing research; and partner with clinical leadership to establish research projects and protocols that are aligned with clinic operations and resources. Dr. Galbraith serves as an associate editor for JAMA Pediatrics, co-hosts the JAMA Pediatrics’ podcast and regularly speaks at institutions across the country.

Associate Professor

Jennifer Davids, MD, Surgery, studies colon and rectal surgery outcomes, as well as issues impacting gender equity in surgery. Dr. Davids’ work in implicit gender bias has led to policy changes at national meetings to improve equity for women surgeons. She comes to BU from University of Massachusetts TH Chan Medical School and UMass Memorial Healthcare, where she served as program director of the colorectal surgery fellowship and associate program director of the surgery residency program. Dr. Davids has clinical expertise in all aspects of colon and rectal surgery, ranging from benign anorectal conditions to diverticular disease, inflammatory bowel disease, colorectal cancer and pelvic organ prolapse. She is facile with endoscopic, laparoscopic, robotic and open surgical approaches.

Johanna Thompson-Hollands, PhD, Psychiatry, focuses on the role of social/family support in enhancing PTSD treatment retention and outcomes. She has been awarded several federal grants to develop and test family inclusive approaches to treatment, and to explore questions related to the implementation of family inclusive PTSD treatment within the VA. Dr. Thompson-Hollands has investigated the impact of family involvement on PTSD symptom change and treatment dropout. She has also examined veteran and family member goals for family inclusive treatment, and the specific needs and desires of women veterans regarding family involvement in care, among other topics.

Clinical Associate Professor

Karin S. Leschly, MD, Family Medicine, a clinician and academic leader, is the chief quality officer/VP of quality and population health at East Boston Neighborhood Health Center (EBNHC). Recipient of the department of family medicine’s Medical Students Education Teacher of the Year Award, Dr. Leschly serves as faculty for family medicine (FM) clerkship didactics and regularly precepts BU FM clerkship students and Boston Medical Center (BMC) FM residents in her primary care practice at EBNHC, as well as oversees many BU students’ and BMC residents’ Qi Projects. She studies clinical quality improvement and has active grants investigating team-based diabetes care, colorectal cancer screening, mental health discharge follow-up, decreasing albuterol overuse in asthmatics, hypertension control, increasing statin use in CAD, and antiplatelet use in IVD.