Mara Horwitz MD, MPH
Assistant Professor, General Internal Medicine
801 Massachusetts Ave | (617) 414-5951Mara.MurrayHorwitz@bmc.org
horwitz@bu.edu
Sections
General Internal Medicine
Biography
I am an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine and a primary care physician in the Women's Health Unit at Boston Medical Center (BMC).
My research focuses on the integration of sexual and reproductive health care into primary care. I am particularly interested in improving primary care after pregnancy complications associated with future chronic diseases (e.g. preeclampsia associated with chronic hypertension and cardiovascular disease, CVD). Previously I have used administrative data to characterize postpartum health risks and acute care use after hypertensive pregnancies. My current work focuses on: (1) defining the role of the primary care clinicians in postpartum care, (2) understanding patterns of pregnancy-related CVD risk and follow-up at BMC, and (3) identifying multilevel barriers to postpartum follow-up at BMC. In the future, I hope to develop interventions that improve postpartum care coordination and primary care follow-up for BMC patients with elevated chronic disease risks.
Areas of Interest:
Primary care; Chronic disease prevention and management; Pregnancy-related CVD risk; Family planning; Care coordination; Health services research
Websites
Education
Medicine, MD, University of California, San Francisco
MPH, Harvard School of Public Health
Biology, BA, University of California, San Francisco
Publications
Murray Horwitz ME, Dugas JN, McCloskey L, So-Armah K, Yarrington CD, Buitron de la Vega P, Benjamin EJ, Battaglia TA. Associations between Health-Related Social Needs and Postpartum Linkage to Care. Am J Prev Med. 2024 Dec 22. PMID: 39716509.
Published on 6/15/2024Murray Horwitz ME, Brédy GS, Schemm J, Battaglia TA, Yarrington CD, McCloskey L. Primary Care After Pregnancy Survey: Patient Preferences, Health Concerns, and Anticipated Barriers. Matern Child Health J. 2024 Aug; 28(8):1324-1329. PMID: 38878260.
Published on 6/8/2024Howard EC, Murray Horwitz ME, Gunn CM, Bak S, Nelson KP, Morton S, Flacks-Dunning JG, Battaglia TA. Burden and trajectory of social needs after breast cancer diagnosis at a safety-net hospital. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2024 Oct; 207(3):579-585. PMID: 38851661.
Published on 12/12/2023Murray Horwitz ME, Saradjha Brédy G, Schemm JA, Battaglia TA. Strategies for Recruiting a Diverse Postpartum Survey Sample. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2025 Feb; 12(1):465-472. PMID: 38085464.
Published on 6/2/2023Murray Horwitz ME, Tabani A, Brédy GS, Flynn DB, Edwards CV, Curran NJ, Parikh NI. The effect of postpartum lifestyle interventions on blood pressure: a systematic literature review. J Hypertens. 2023 Aug 01; 41(8):1231-1238. PMID: 37404053.
Published on 4/5/2023Horwitz MEM, Edwards CV, Athavale P, McCloskey L, Cabral HJ, Benjamin EJ, Handley MA. The STAR-MAMA RCT: Bilingual Mobile Health Coaching for Postpartum Weight Loss. Am J Prev Med. 2023 Oct; 65(4):596-607. PMID: 37028566.
Published on 2/28/2023Edwards CV, Hassan H, Yildirim C, Ferri G, Verma KP, Murray Horwitz ME, Fillmore NR, Munshi NC. Peripheral blood monocyte count is a dynamic prognostic biomarker in multiple myeloma. Blood Adv. 2023 Feb 28; 7(4):482-490. PMID: 36409606.
Published on 2/23/2023Murray Horwitz ME, Prifti CA, Battaglia TA, Ajayi AT, Edwards CV, Benjamin EJ, Yarrington CD, Parker SE. Prepregnancy Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes in a Safety-Net Hospital. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2023 Apr; 32(4):401-408. PMID: 36827080.
Published on 1/6/2022Murray Horwitz ME, Fisher MA, Prifti CA, Rich-Edwards JW, Yarrington CD, White KO, Battaglia TA. Primary Care-Based Cardiovascular Disease Risk Management After Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes: a Narrative Review. J Gen Intern Med. 2022 03; 37(4):912-921. PMID: 34993867.
Published on 9/13/2021Murray Horwitz ME, Prifti CA, Fisher MA, Battaglia TA. Pregnancy-Related Weight Gain and the Obesity Epidemic-a Missed Opportunity: Systematic Review of Clinical Practice Recommendations. J Gen Intern Med. 2022 May; 37(6):1572-1574. PMID: 34518979.
Media Mentions
Published on 7/10/2023
Few studies highlight the effects of lifestyle interventions on postpartum blood pressure
Published on 4/26/2023
Telephone-based health coaching did not affect postpartum weight gain, finds study
Published on 2/27/2023
Published on 9/28/2022
DEIA Statements Added to BU Profiles
Published on 2/17/2022
New Guidance Helps Manage Heart Disease Risk After Pregnancy Complications
Published on 1/28/2022
Q&A: Guide recommends CVD risk management strategies after complicated pregnancies
Published on 9/17/2021
Trying to lose pregnancy weight? Six tips for effectively shedding baby fat
Published on 5/24/2021
I Gave Birth. The Most Dangerous Part Came After.
Published on 4/20/2021
Contraception before and after diabetes diagnosis
Published on 4/2/2021
Researchers Observe Disparities in Contraception Use Between Women With, Without Diabetes
View full list of 10 media mentions.