Bayla Ostrach | Profiles RNS

Bayla Ostrach, PhD

Assistant Professor

Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Family Medicine

PhD, University of Connecticut
MA, Oregon State University
BA, University of Oregon

Websites

	BUSM Medical Anthropology Master's Program Faculty Page
	ResearchGate
	Academia
	LinkedIn
	Google Scholar

ORCID : 0000-0003-2803-3747

Bayla Ostrach, MA, PhD, Assistant Professor of Family Medicine, is a member of the core faculty and coordinator of the Service Learning Internship for the Master’s of Science program in Medical Anthropology & Cross-Cultural Practice. An Applied Medical Anthropologist by training who conducts research designed to result in changes in policy and practice, Dr. Ostrach is a Fellow of the Society of Family Planning and an invited member of the Scholars Strategy Network. She holds memberships in the American Anthropological Association and North American Catalan Society.

Dr. Ostrach’s research focuses on reproductive justice, publicly funded health systems, the ways that structural violence and marginalization contribute to disease interactions known as syndemics (Singer 2009), and the role of intersectional stigma and other forms of injustice in producing or exacerbating health inequality. She began working directly in the field of reproductive health and abortion care in 1999, and has since worked with and volunteered at multiple clinics in Oregon, Connecticut, and Catalunya.

Dr. Ostrach conducts ongoing fieldwork primarily in Catalunya. Her work focuses on publicly funded reproductive health care and popular engagement with the movement for Catalan independence, as it intersects with commitment to protecting health care for immigrants. She also works with patients and staff of health care facilities in the United States that provide abortion and other reproductive health services.

With Shir Lerman and Merrill Singer, she is the co-editor of a forthcoming volume on stigma-linked syndemics. She has co-authored multiple publications on syndemics, and has single-authored and co-authored publications on reproductive health care access and policy. Her forthcoming book, tentatively titled, Health Policy in (a) Crisis: Access to Publicly Funded Abortion in the Context of Austerity, is under contract with Routledge Press.

Graduate Medical Sciences Educator and Mentor (Primary Mentor of Graduate Students)
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Graduate Medical Sciences

Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.

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Roberts KEA, Okumu EA, McInnes B, Ostrach B, Chu VH, Wu LT, Golin C, Rosen DL, Schranz AJ. "It Eats My Heart": Identifying Knowledge Gaps in Injection Drug-Related Endocarditis Among Hospitalized Patients. Subst Use Addctn J. 2025 Jul 22; 29767342251351759. PMID: 40693407; PMCID: PMC12344739; DOI: 10.1177/29767342251351759;

Cooper DK, Okumu EA, McInnes B, Ansary MM, Esposito M, Merenbloom C, Ostrach B, Chu VH, Wu LT, Golin C, Rosen DL, Schranz AJ. Patients' Perspectives on Alternative Antibiotic Treatment Strategies for Infective Endocarditis Among Persons Who Inject Drugs. J Addict Med. 2025 Jul 17. PMID: 40673603; PMCID: PMC12344736; DOI: 10.1097/ADM.0000000000001545;

McInnes B, Okumu EA, Ansary MM, Ostrach B, Chu VH, Wu LT, Golin C, Rosen DL, Schranz AJ. Perspectives on syringe services programs among patients hospitalized with injection drug use-associated endocarditis: a qualitative study. Ther Adv Infect Dis. 2025; 12:20499361251353322. PMID: 40661880; PMCID: PMC12256734; DOI: 10.1177/20499361251353322;

Marley G, Shubel C, Thorpe CT, Annis IE, Delamater P, Carpenter D, Ostrach B. Examining geographic disparities in access to no-cost naloxone in North Carolina: A cross-sectional survey of naloxone distribution programs. J Rural Health. 2025 Jun; 41(3):e70069. PMID: 40757604; PMCID: PMC12320204; DOI: 10.1111/jrh.70069;

Friedman SR, Hughes PM, Blake E, Tak C, Ostrach B, Ramage M. Stigmatizing Terminology and Patient-Centered Language in Perinatal Substance Use Chart Notes. J Addict Nurs. 2025 Apr-Jun 01; 36(2):86-97. PMID: 40455630

Vieira LEB, Ostrach B, Westrick S, Kennelty KA, Look KA, Carpenter DM. Practical naloxone communication tips for pharmacists: Lessons learned from the Linguistic Model of Patient Participation in Care. Res Social Adm Pharm. 2025 May; 21(5):361-370. PMID: 39884916; PMCID: PMC11893233; DOI: 10.1016/j.sapharm.2025.01.014;

Marley G, Viracola C, Bryce A, Hudson A, Locklear E, Ostrach B, Carpenter D. Co-development of a community pharmacy training regarding fentanyl and xylazine test strips. Explor Res Clin Soc Pharm. 2025 Mar; 17:100557. PMID: 39845424; PMCID: PMC11750552; DOI: 10.1016/j.rcsop.2024.100557;

Ostrach B, Carroll JJ. On Race and Place in Substance Use Research. Am J Public Health. 2024 Nov; 114(11):1148-1150. PMID: 39357005; PMCID: PMC11447803; DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2024.307840;

Carroll JJ, Dasgupta N, Ostrach B, El-Sabawi T, Dixon S, Morrissey B, Saucier R. Evidence-based treatment for opioid use disorder is widely unavailable and often discouraged by providers of residential substance use services in North Carolina. J Subst Use Addict Treat. 2024 Dec; 167:209474. PMID: 39179208; PMCID: PMC11527574; DOI: 10.1016/j.josat.2024.209474;

Tak C, Ostrach B, Ramage M. Postpartum Access to Health Care and Opioid Use Treatment: An Evaluation of a Medicaid Population. N C Med J. 2024 Aug; 85(6):462-470. PMID: 39570144

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Ostrach B, Hixon V, Bryce A. Correction: "When people who use drugs can't differentiate between medical care and cops, it's a problem." Compounding risks of law enforcement harassment & punitive healthcare policies. Health Justice. 2024 Apr 20; 12(1):19. PMID: 38642216; PMCID: PMC11031967; DOI: 10.1186/s40352-024-00270-z;

Ostrach B, Hixon V, Bryce A. "When people who use drugs can't differentiate between medical care and cops, it's a problem." Compounding risks of law Enforcement Harassment & Punitive Healthcare Policies. Health Justice. 2024 Feb 06; 12(1):3. PMID: 38319474; PMCID: PMC10848405; DOI: 10.1186/s40352-023-00256-3;

Marley G, Annis IE, Ostrach B, Egan K, Delamater PL, Bell R, Dasgupta N, Carpenter DM. Naloxone Accessibility by Standing Order in North Carolina Community Pharmacies. J Am Pharm Assoc (2003). 2024; 64(3):102021. PMID: 38307248; PMCID: PMC11081860; DOI: 10.1016/j.japh.2024.01.017;

Carroll JJ, Ostrach B, El-Sabawi T. Health Inequities Among People Who Use Drugs in a Post-Dobbs America: The Case for a Syndemic Analysis. J Law Med Ethics. 2023; 51(3):549-553. PMID: 38088631; PMCID: PMC11262022; DOI: 10.1017/jme.2023.96;

Carpenter D, Mashburn P, Viracola C, Marley G, Ostrach B. A Brief Online Training to Address Pharmacists' Willingness to Dispense Buprenorphine. J Addict Med. 2024 Jan-Feb 01; 18(1):68-70. PMID: 37948129

Latessa RA, Galvin SL, Swendiman RA, Onyango J, Ostrach B, Edmondson AC, Davis SA, Hirsh DA. Psychological safety and accountability in longitudinal integrated clerkships: a dual institution qualitative study. BMC Med Educ. 2023 Oct 12; 23(1):760. PMID: 37828469; PMCID: PMC10571297; DOI: 10.1186/s12909-023-04622-5;

Hughes PM, Ostrach B, Tak CR. Examining differences in opioid deaths by race in North Carolina following the STOP Act, 2010-2019. J Subst Use Addict Treat. 2023 Dec; 155:209171. PMID: 37739125

Ostrach B, Hill L, Carpenter D, Pollini R. Addressing buprenorphine bottlenecks in the context of MAT Act implementation: A shared responsibility. J Am Pharm Assoc (2003). 2023; 63(4):1044-1048. PMID: 37149144

Hughes PM, Harless C, Ramage M, Fusco C, Ostrach B. Opioid Use Disorder Practice by Licensure Category in North Carolina. N C Med J. 2023 May; 84(3):188-193. PMID: 39302287

Marley GT, Ostrach B, Carpenter D. North Carolina pharmacists' willingness to sell fentanyl test strips: a survey study. Harm Reduct J. 2023 Jan 24; 20(1):10. PMID: 36694186; PMCID: PMC9875410; DOI: 10.1186/s12954-023-00739-4;

Major EG, Wilson CG, Carpenter DM, Harless JC, Marley GT, Ostrach B. Factors in rural community buprenorphine dispensing. Explor Res Clin Soc Pharm. 2023 Mar; 9:100204. PMID: 36703716; PMCID: PMC9871294; DOI: 10.1016/j.rcsop.2022.100204;

Morrissey B, Hughes T, Ostrach B, Wilson L, Getty R, Combs TL, Bennett J, Carroll JJ. "They don't go by the law around here": law enforcement interactions after the legalization of syringe services programs in North Carolina. Harm Reduct J. 2022 Sep 27; 19(1):106. PMID: 36163255; PMCID: PMC9513969; DOI: 10.1186/s12954-022-00690-w;

Harless JC, Hughes PM, Wilson C, Carpenter D, Ostrach B. Eligible Prescriber Experiences with Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Perceptions of Pharmacy Barriers to Buprenorphine. South Med J. 2022 Aug; 115(8):584-592. PMID: 35922043

Carpenter DM, Zule WA, Hennessy CM, Evon DM, Hurt CB, Ostrach B. Factors associated with perceived ease of access to syringes in Appalachian North Carolina. J Rural Health. 2023 Jan; 39(1):212-222. PMID: 35819251; PMCID: PMC9772148; DOI: 10.1111/jrh.12698;

Cabello-De la Garza A, Harless C, Ostrach B, Fagan B. Increasing North Carolina's Workforce Capacity for Prescribing Buprenorphine Products. N C Med J. 2022 Jul-Aug; 83(4):288-293. PMID: 35817448

Harless C, Lugo B, Ostrach B. Hepatitis C and HIV Screening, Testing, and Risk Perceptions among South-Central Appalachian County Health Department Staff. South Med J. 2022 Jul; 115(7):422-428. PMID: 35777748

Davis SA, Dryer R, Zule W, Ostrach B, Carpenter DM. A content review of buprenorphine training programs for pharmacists. Explor Res Clin Soc Pharm. 2022 Jun; 6:100154. PMID: 35813287; PMCID: PMC9256820; DOI: 10.1016/j.rcsop.2022.100154;

Carpenter D, Lambert KV, Harless JC, Wilson CG, Davis SA, Zule WA, Ostrach B. North Carolina community pharmacists' buprenorphine dispensing practices and attitudes. J Am Pharm Assoc (2003). 2022 Sep-Oct; 62(5):1606-1614. PMID: 35643625

Leiner C, Antono B, Ostrach B. Perinatal OUD Treatment Provider Understandings of Rural Patients' Experiences. J Addict Med. 2022 Mar-Apr 01; 16(2):177-182. PMID: 35289773

Bulled N, Singer M, Ostrach B. Syndemics and intersectionality: A response commentary. Soc Sci Med. 2022 02; 295:114743. PMID: 35120756

Trull G, Major E, Harless C, Zule W, Ostrach B, Carpenter D. Rural community pharmacist willingness to dispense Suboxone® - A secret shopper investigation in South-Central Appalachia. Explor Res Clin Soc Pharm. 2021 Dec; 4:100082. PMID: 35479845; PMCID: PMC9031434; DOI: 10.1016/j.rcsop.2021.100082;

Ostrach B, Potter R, Wilson CG, Carpenter D. Ensuring buprenorphine access in rural community pharmacies to prevent overdoses. J Am Pharm Assoc (2003). 2022 Mar-Apr; 62(2):588-597.e2. PMID: 34674965

Carroll JJ, El-Sabawi T, Ostrach B. The harms of punishing substance use during pregnancy. Int J Drug Policy. 2021 12; 98:103433. PMID: 34487953

Carroll JJ, Ostrach B, Wilson L, Dunlap JL, Getty R, Bennett J. Drug induced homicide laws may worsen opioid related harms: An example from rural North Carolina. Int J Drug Policy. 2021 11; 97:103406. PMID: 34392113

Ostrach B, Carpenter D, Cote LP. DEA Disconnect Leads to Buprenorphine Bottlenecks. J Addict Med. 2021 Jul-Aug 01; 15(4):272-275. PMID: 33181577

Houston AR, Lynch K, Ostrach B, Isaacs YS, Nvé Díaz San Francisco C, Lee JM, Emard N, Proctor DA. United States immigration detention amplifies disease interaction risk: A model for a transnational ICE-TB-DM2 syndemic. Glob Public Health. 2022 Jul; 17(7):1152-1171. PMID: 33945403

Hughes PM, Verrastro G, Fusco CW, Wilson CG, Ostrach B. An examination of telehealth policy impacts on initial rural opioid use disorder treatment patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic. J Rural Health. 2021 06; 37(3):467-472. PMID: 33720447; PMCID: PMC8250742; DOI: 10.1111/jrh.12570;

Ostrach BMM. "I'll tell you what's important to me…": lessons for women's health screening. BMC Womens Health. 2021 02 18; 21(1):73. PMID: 33602189; PMCID: PMC7891163; DOI: 10.1186/s12905-021-01220-9;

Leiner C, Cody T, Mullins N, Ramage M, Ostrach BMM. "The elephant in the room;" a qualitative study of perinatal fears in opioid use disorder treatment in Southern Appalachia. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2021 Feb 17; 21(1):143. PMID: 33596843; PMCID: PMC7890815; DOI: 10.1186/s12884-021-03596-w;

Ostrach B. Human-Centered Design for a Women's Health Screening Tool: Participant Experiences. South Med J. 2020 Oct; 113(10):469-474. PMID: 33005959

Ostrach B, Lynch K, Houston A, Carney MA. Conditions of Immigration Detention Increase Risks for COVID-19 Disease Interactions. Medical Anthropology Quarterly. 2020. View Publication

Hughes P, Denslow S, Ostrach B, Fusco C, Tak C. Exploration of the STOP Act and Opioid Deaths in North Carolina, 2010-2018. Am J Public Health. 2020 10; 110(10):1573-1577. PMID: 32816537; PMCID: PMC7483107; DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2020.305748;

Ostrach B, Buer LM, Armbruster S, Brown H, Yochym G, Zaller N. COVID-19 and Rural Harm Reduction Challenges in the US Southern Mountains. J Rural Health. 2021 01; 37(1):252-255. PMID: 32652621; PMCID: PMC7405265; DOI: 10.1111/jrh.12499;

Hughes P, Ostrach B. Trends in exposure to over-reach: a comment on the methodology of Reynolds et al. 2019. Clin Toxicol (Phila). 2021 01; 59(1):85-86. PMID: 32368941

Carney M, Ostrach B. Austerity, Not COVID-19, Strains National Healthcare Systems. somatosphere.net. 2020. View Publication

Singer M, Bulled N, Ostrach B. Whither syndemics?: Trends in syndemics research, a review 2015-2019. Glob Public Health. 2020 07; 15(7):943-955. PMID: 32037962

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.View Related Profiles.

Ostrach, Bayla
Fix, Gemmae
Laird, Lance
Barnes, Linda

PMID: 35177878; PMCID: PMC8849477; DOI: 10.17730/0888-4552.42.1.43;

Koenders SL, Barnes LL, Laird LD, Ostrach B, Fix GM. Applied Training in a Medical Anthropology Master's Program. Practicing Anthropology. 2020; 42(1):43-47.
Barnes LL, Laird LD, Ostrach B. From Medical Anthropology at a Medical School to Careers in Community-Based Applied Anthropology. Practicing Anthropology. 2020; 42(1):36-42.
Ostrach B. Publicly Funded Abortion and Marginalised People's Experiences in Catalunya: A Longitudinal, Comparative Study. Anthropology in Action. 2020; 27(1):24-34. View Publication
Ostrach B, Hayes V. Overdose Deaths: Not an Epidemic or a Crisis, and Not by Accident. The Fix. 2019. View Publication

Zaller N, Ostrach B. HCV, injection drug use, and the importance of harm reduction in Kenya. Lancet Infect Dis. 2019 11; 19(11):1158-1159. PMID: 31540842

Ostrach B, Leiner C. "I didn't want to be on Suboxone at first…" - Ambivalence in Perinatal Substance Use Treatment. J Addict Med. 2019 Jul/Aug; 13(4):264-271. PMID: 30585875

Maju M, Sharma A, Beeram A, Ostrach B. A colonial legacy of HIV/AIDS, NTD, and STI super-syndemics: Eugenicist foreign aid and intertwined health burdens in Nigeria. Glob Public Health. 2019 09; 14(9):1221-1240. PMID: 30829113

Ramage M, Ostrach B, Fagan B, Coulson CC. Stabilizing the Mother-Infant Dyad for Better Outcomes from OB to FM: Caring for Patients with Perinatal Opioid Use Disorder through the 4th Trimester. N C Med J. 2018 May-Jun; 79(3):164-165. PMID: 29735619

Ostrach B. Social Movements, Policy Change, and Abortion Access in Catalunya. Anthropology Now. 2018; 10(2):1-11. View Publication

Singer M, Bulled N, Ostrach B, Mendenhall E. Syndemics and the biosocial conception of health. Lancet. 2017 03 04; 389(10072):941-950. PMID: 28271845; DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30003-X;

Ostrach, Bayla. This Tangled Web of Reproductive Morbidity Risk: Abortion Stigma, Safety and Legality. Frontiers in Women's Health. 2016; 1(2):online. View Publication
Ostrach B., Houston A., Singer M. . Insularity & Impenetrability – What Happens to Health Funding and Policy When Voters Can’t Reach Lawmakers. Society of Medical Anthropology Newsletter, Second Opinions. 2016; 4(1):online.
Ostrach B, Houston A, Singer M. Syndemics & Legislative Outreach: An Experiment in Educating Congress about the Health Effects of War. Anthropology News. 2015; 56(6):e1-e12..
Ostrach B, Matthews J. From Research to Policy Change: Addressing Disparities among Low-Income Women Seeking Abortion in Oregon. Practicing Anthropology. 2015; 37(1):30-34.
Ostrach B . Critical medical anthropology as a roadmap: Understanding access to abortion in the Catalan health system. Medicine Anthropology Theory. 2014; 1(1).

Cheney AM, Ostrach B, Marcus R, Frank C, Ball C, Erickson PI. A culture of future planning: perceptions of sexual risk among educated young adults. Qual Health Res. 2014 Oct; 24(10):1451-62. PMID: 25156216; DOI: 10.1177/1049732314548595;

Ostrach B, Cheyney M. Navigating Social and Institutional Obstacles: Low-Income Women Seeking Abortion. Qual Health Res. 2014 Jul; 24(7):1006-1017. PMID: 24970251

Ostrach B. Did Policy Change Work? Oregon Women Continue to Encounter Delays in Medicaid Coverage for Abortion. Anthropology in Action - Journal of Applied Anthropology in Policy and Practice. 2014; 21(3).

Ostrach B. "Yo no sabía..."-immigrant women's use of national health systems for reproductive and abortion care. J Immigr Minor Health. 2013 Apr; 15(2):262-72. PMID: 22825462; DOI: 10.1007/s10903-012-9680-9;

Singer M, Ostrach B, Evans J. "Pharmapatienthood”: The Patient Constructed in Direct-to-Consumer Drug Advertising. Anthropology. 2013; 1(101):2332-0915.
Singer M, Bulled N, Ostrach B. Syndemics and Human Health: Implications for Prevention and Intervention. Annals of Anthropological Practice. 2012; 36(2):205-211.
Annals of Anthropological Practice. Singer M, Bulled N, Ostrach B (Editors). Special Issue on Syndemics. Wiley-Blackwell. New Jersey. 2012.
Ostrach B, Singer M. Syndemics of War: Malnutrition-Infectious Disease Interactions and the Unintended Health Consequences of Intentional War Policies. Annals of Anthropological Practice. 2012; 36(2):257-273.
Ostrach B, Singer M. At Special Risk: Biopolitical Vulnerability and HIV Syndemics Among Women. Health Sociology Review. 2012; 21(3):258-271.
Ostrach, Bayla. Health Policy in (a) Crisis: Access to Publicly Funded Abortion in the Context of Austerity.

This graph shows the total number of publications by year, by first, middle/unknown, or last author.

Bar chart showing 71 publications over 14 distinct years, with a maximum of 11 publications in 2020