Kirsten E. Austad, MD MPH

Assistant Professor, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Biography

Kirsten Austad MD MPH is an 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 (NELP). 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 a non-profit 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. She is an implementation science Co-Investigator on numerous other projects.

As Co-Director of CIIS she provides mentorship to early career faculty completing the implementation science fellowship, provides education on implementation science to the Boston University campus, and provides consults for others on campus looking to integrate implementation science into their research and practice.

Areas of expertise: implementation science including implementation planning tools, application of IS theories/models/frameworks, causal pathway diagrams, core function and form model, hybrid effectiveness-implementation trials
Methods expertise: qualitative methods, rapid qualitative analysis, design and conduct of discrete choice experiments, intervention adaptation, cultural adaptation

Publications

  • Published 6/5/2026

    Austad K, Nguyen N, Jadovich E, Poznanski B, Laguerre M, Fernandez A, Drainoni ML, Jack B, Mitchell S, Salloum RG, Moore G. Adapting a Complex Health Intervention Guided by the Core Functions and Form Model: A Methodology and Case Example of Participatory Adaptation. Res Sq. 2026 Jun 05. PMID: 42282020.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 3/30/2026

    Cordova-Ramos EG, Colvin BN, Witt RE, Estevez M, Peña MM, Austad K, Colson ER, Drainoni ML, Parker MG. Factors Influencing Mothers' Own Milk Provision Among Spanish-Speaking Latina Mothers of Preterm Infants. J Hum Lact. 2026 May; 42(2):396-405. PMID: 41906929.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 2/26/2026

    Jansen E, Shankar DA, Cherilus T, Foster E, Ben-Horin L, Cordella N, Bosch NA, Austad K. Protocol for a pragmatic trial comparing navigator and automated virtual interventions for guaranteeing adherence to fecal immunochemical testing (NAVIGATE-FIT). Contemp Clin Trials Commun. 2026 Apr; 50:101546. PMID: 41800147.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 2/18/2026

    Montoya Rubiano MA, Zahakos SS, Mejia J, Martinez D, Alatorre A, Jones AN, Ramirez-Martinez M, Santiago M, Murphy RE, Lynch OF, Reich AJ, Dacier BM, Austad KE, Bergmark RW, Fernandez A, Johnson KB, Bates DW, Ortega G. Artificial Intelligence for Language Access in Surgical Care: Patient Preferences and an Implementation Framework. NEJM Catal Innov Care Deliv. 2026 Mar; 7(3):CAT250445. PMID: 42418606.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 12/29/2025

    Austad K, Fantasia KL, Mohanty A, Jones KC, Bosch NA, Drainoni ML. Failing to succeed: advancing mechanistic understanding of implementation strategies through retrospective and prospective use of causal pathway diagrams. Implement Sci Commun. 2025 Dec 29; 7(1):35. PMID: 41462368.

    Read at: PubMed

View All 57 Publications:   View Full Profile in BUMC

Websites

Education

  • Harvard Medical School, MD
  • Harvard School of Public Health, MPH
  • University of Wisconsin Madison, BS

View all profiles