Kirsten E Austad, MD MPH
Assistant Professor, Family Medicine
Biography
Kirsten Austad MD MPH is a health equity focused implementation scientist and Co-Director of Boston University’s Evans Center for Implementation & Improvement Science (CIIS). She possesses expertise in qualitative methods and novel mixed methods approaches. Her research focusing on advancing theory and methods within implementation science and improving delivery of evidence-based interventions to populations in the safety net setting with an emphasis on those with non-English language preference. As such she has experience conducting research in diverse multilingual settings and intervention adaptation. Her research is inspired by her clinical work as a hospitalist at BMC, by the six years she worked as Director of Women’s Health programming for an NGO in Guatemala that service rural indigenous Maya communities, and by her broad training in Family Medicine.
Currently she is supported by a K23 from NIMHD to adapt a transitional care intervention for patients with NELP. She was also the PI of the TIDE pilot trial funded by BMC’s Health Equity Accelerator, which tested a package of language-concordant discharge teaching tools for patients with NELP in a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT). As Co-Director of CIIS she provides mentorship to early career faculty completing the implementation science fellowship, participates in campus education on implementation science, and provides consults for others on campus looking to integrate implementation science into their research and practice.
Areas of expertise: implementation science, populations with limited English proficiency
Methods expertise: qualitative methods, rapid qual analysis, discrete choice experiments, intervention adaptation, cultural adaptation, clinical trials
Education
- Harvard Medical School, MD
- Harvard School of Public Health, MPH
- University of Wisconsin Madison, BS
Publications
- Published on 2/21/2025
Austad K, Lee JH, Lanney H, Rapoport VO, Wornhoff R, McDaniel K, Li-Garrison L, Jack BW. Evaluating the quality and equity of patient hospital discharge instructions. BMC Health Serv Res. 2025 Feb 21; 25(1):291. PMID: 39980004.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 2/20/2025
Roseen EJ, Bussières A, Reichman R, Bora C, Trieu J, Austad K, Williams C, Fischer RA, Parrilla D, Laird LD, LaValley M, Evans RL, Saper RB, Morone NE. A multi-level implementation strategy to increase adoption of chiropractic care for low back pain in primary care clinics: a randomized stepped-wedge pilot study protocol. Chiropr Man Therap. 2025 Feb 20; 33(1):9. PMID: 39979943.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 12/21/2024
Austad K, Thai C, Zavatti A, Nguyen N, Bautista-Hurtado D, Kenney P, Lugo N, Lee JH, Lanney H, Xuan Z, Cordova-Ramos EG, Drainoni ML, Jack B. Tools to improve discharge equity: Protocol for the pilot TIDE trial. Contemp Clin Trials Commun. 2025 Feb; 43:101419. PMID: 39810841.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 12/18/2024
Silver SR, Jones KC, Hook K, Crable EL, George ER, Serwint JR, Austad K, Walkey A, Drainoni ML. Defining the transition from new to normal: a qualitative investigation of the clinical change process. BMC Health Serv Res. 2024 Dec 18; 24(1):1592. PMID: 39695655.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 9/12/2024
Austad KE, Rao SR, Hibberd PL, Patel AB. Trends and determinants of the use of episiotomy in a prospective population-based registry from central India. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2024 Sep 12; 24(1):598. PMID: 39267006.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 9/1/2024
Cordova-Ramos EG, Kerr S, Kalluri NS, Ho T, Austad K, Drainoni ML, Parker MG. Communication Practices for Families With Languages Other Than English in US Neonatal Care Units. Hosp Pediatr. 2024 Sep 01; 14(9):e385-e390. PMID: 39143920.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 5/21/2024
Silver SR, Jones KC, Hook K, Crable EL, George ER, Serwint JR, Austad K, Walkey A, Drainoni ML. Defining the transition from new to normal: a qualitative investigation of the clinical change process. Res Sq. 2024 May 21. PMID: 38826210.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 1/5/2024
Fantasia KL, Austad K, Mohanty A, Long MT, Walkey A, Drainoni ML. Safety-Net Primary Care and Endocrinology Clinicians' Knowledge and Perspectives on Screening for Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A Mixed-Methods Evaluation. Endocr Pract. 2024 Mar; 30(3):270-277. PMID: 38184239.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 10/3/2023
Jack, B. W., Austad, K., Renfro, D. R., & Mitchell, S. Re-Engineering the Hospital Discharge to Improve the Transition From Hospital to Home: Overview and a Look to the Future. Journal of Healthcare Management Standards (JHMS). 2023; 1(3):1-17.
Read at: Custom - Published on 10/3/2023
Austad, K. & Jack, B. W. . Linguistic and Cultural Competence at Hospital Discharge . Journal of Healthcare Management Standards (JHMS). 2023; 1(3):1-6.
Read at: Custom
View 36 more publications: View full profile at BUMC