Lance D. Laird, ThD
Assistant Professor, Family Medicine

Biography
Dr. Laird’s research at Boston University has focused on multiple intersections of Muslim identity with healing professions and public health in the US. His early research on shared symbols of Muslims and Christians in Bethlehem set forth a research agenda on the “dialogue of life.” Dr. Laird employs a “lived religion” and ethnographic approach, and draws on theories of racialization, social suffering, and identity formation. While continuing to write on Christian-Muslim relations in theological circles, he has published articles on how Muslims are represented in medical literature, the emergence of Muslim free clinics, Muslim healthcare chaplaincy, American Muslim physician identities, the religious health assets of predominantly Black Christian and Muslim congregations, im/migrant women’s experience of intimate partner violence. With colleagues in medicine, Dr. Laird has led qualitative studies on chronic pain, diabetes, HPV vaccination, chiropractic care, and telehealth disparities. He was a leader in the Greater Boston Muslim Health Initiative and is currently working on projects with the American Muslim Health Professionals; and with local im/migrant communities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Laird teaches courses on theory in medical anthropology, refugee and im/migrant health, religion and public health, and the formation of health professionals.
Other Positions
- Graduate Faculty (Primary Mentor of Grad Students), Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Graduate Medical Sciences
Education
- Harvard Divinity School, ThD
- Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, MDiv
- University of Virginia, BA
Classes Taught
- GMSMA605
- GMSMA624
- GMSMA630
- GMSMA640
- GMSMA650
- GMSMA677
- GMSMA680
- GMSMA691
- GMSMA692
- GMSMA700
- GMSMA701
- GMSMA709
- GMSMA711
- GMSMA712
- GMSMA734
- GMSMA735
- GMSMA770
- GMSMA786
Publications
- Published on 8/31/2022
Laird LD, Abdul-Majid S. Muslim Chaplains in the Clinical Borderlands: Authority, Function, and Identity. J Relig Health. 2023 Feb; 62(1):147-171. PMID: 36044104.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 1/13/2022
Levey EJ, Harris BL, Laird LD, Kekulah I, Borba CPC, Henderson DC, Becker AE. Orphans in post-conflict Liberia: Seeking care in fractured communities. Transcult Psychiatry. 2022 Jun; 59(3):235-248. PMID: 35021921.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 6/29/2021
Mitchell S, Bragg A, Gardiner P, De La Cruz B, Laird L. Patient engagement and presence in a virtual world world diabetes self-management education intervention for minority women. Patient Educ Couns. 2022 Apr; 105(4):797-804. PMID: 34226067.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 1/25/2021
Roseen EJ, Kasali BA, Corcoran K, Masselli K, Laird L, Saper RB, Alford DP, Cohen E, Lisi A, Atlas SJ, Bean JF, Evans R, Bussières A. Doctors of chiropractic working with or within integrated healthcare delivery systems: a scoping review protocol. BMJ Open. 2021 01 25; 11(1):e043754. PMID: 33495261.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 1/1/2020
Koenders SL, Barnes LL, Laird LD, Ostrach B, Fix GM. APPLIED TRAINING IN A MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY MASTER'S PROGRAM. Pract Anthropol. 2020 Jan 01; 42(1):43-47. PMID: 35177878.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 12/1/2018
Levey EJ, Laird LD, Becker AE, Harris BL, Lekpeh GG, Oppenheim CE, Henderson DC, Borba CPC. Narratives of Agency and Capability from Two Adolescent Girls in Post-conflict Liberia. Cult Med Psychiatry. 2018 Dec; 42(4):947-979. PMID: 30076558.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 9/20/2018
Cheng T, D'Amico S, Luo M, Lestoquoy AS, Yinusa-Nyahkoon L, Laird LD, Gardiner PM. Health Disparities in Access to Nonpharmacologic Therapies in an Urban Community. J Altern Complement Med. 2019 Jan; 25(1):48-60. PMID: 30234363.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 5/1/2018
Mitchell SE, Laurens V, Weigel GM, Hirschman KB, Scott AM, Nguyen HQ, Howard JM, Laird L, Levine C, Davis TC, Gass B, Shaid E, Li J, Williams MV, Jack BW. Care Transitions From Patient and Caregiver Perspectives. Ann Fam Med. 2018 05; 16(3):225-231. PMID: 29760026.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 4/1/2018
Hunter-Adams J, Cochran J, Laird LD, Paasche-Orlow MK, Geltman PL. Acculturation and a Potential Relationship with Oral Health Outcomes Among Somali Refugees in Massachusetts. J Immigr Minor Health. 2018 Apr; 20(2):351-359. PMID: 28861739.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 9/12/2017
Lestoquoy AS, Laird LD, Mitchell S, Gergen-Barnett K, Negash NL, McCue K, Enad R, Gardiner P. Living with chronic pain: Evaluating patient experiences with a medical group visit focused on mindfulness and non-pharmacological strategies. Complement Ther Med. 2017 Dec; 35:33-38. PMID: 29154064.
Read at: PubMed
View 18 more publications: View full profile at BUMC