Rachel L. Epstein, MD, MScE, is a clinician-scientist working to utilize large data sets and decision modelling to inform policy and program design to improve care for individuals with Hepatitis C, HIV, and substance use, with a particular focus on pregnant women and youth.
Dr. Epstein completed combined residency training in internal medicine-pediatrics at Brown University, and worked in primary care through the Providence Community Health Centers and the Hasbro Adolescent Center before fellowship. She completed a combined adult and pediatric infectious diseases fellowship at Boston Medical Center and a T32 post-doctoral research fellowship through the Boston University Clinical HIV/AIDS Research Training Program (BU-CHART). She is an Assistant Professor in the BUSM Department of Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, and Department of Pediatrics, Section of Infectious Diseases and sees adult and pediatric patients living with or at risk for Hepatitis C virus, HIV, and other infectious diseases. She also serves as the Med-Peds faculty specific advisor lead for BUSM students.
Dr. Epstein's current and recent work includes projects analyzing the effects of Medicaid HCV treatment restrictions on care cascade outcome achievement, HIV prevention and medication adherence, and comparing the cost-effectiveness of HCV and OUD screening, evaluation, and treatment interventions in women of reproductive age, children, and the general population. She currently or previously works/worked with data through OCHIN, TriNetX, the BMC Datawarehouse and COVID-19 Repository, Marketscan, and the Massachusetts Public Health Datawarehouse.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility
Diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) are critical aspects of the practices of medicine and public health. We live in society which has perpetuated structural racism for centuries, and we have a significant amount of work in front of us to begin to address this.
I incorporate DEIA activities into my work by serving as the Boston Medical Center Infectious Diseases Section Racial Equity Champion, serving as an active participant and leader of our Boston Medical Center Infectious Diseases Section Racial Justice group, and in critically evaluating for racial, ethnic, and sociodemographic inequities in the research I conduct. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and substance use disproportionately affect white non-Hispanic individuals, but black non-Hispanic individuals in multiple studies have been shown to be screened more often for HCV. Non-white individuals with HCV and substance use are also treated less frequently than white individuals. I am trying to better investigate why these differences occur and what we can do to improve equity in screening and treatment access.
I choose to work at Boston Medical Center to be able to work with an underserved and diverse population and the incredible group of colleagues here who all care about delivering ‘exceptional care without exception.’ I strive to treat each patient I see and each person I pass in the hallways with the utmost respect that everyone deserves, regardless of their background, job or abilities. I am continuously working to learn more about my own unconscious biases and how to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion within my department, my research and research team interactions, the patient care we provide, my teaching and mentoring activities, and within my everyday life.
I am committed to mentoring trainees and faculty from underrepresented groups and to researching ways to reduce inequities within infectious diseases and addiction medicine care.
Assistant Professor
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Pediatrics
This tab shows grant data from BMC Sponsored Research. It includes:
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- Data is sorted by project end date, and updated monthly.
This tab shows grant data from BU Sponsored Research. It includes:
- Grant title
- Project period and this person’s role on the grant
- PI name, if this person is not the PI (the name will link if PI has a BU Profile)
- Funding source(s). An arrow indicates the flow of funding if multiple sponsors.
- Some grants will show an agency award/project number, and may be a link.
- Data is sorted by project end date, and updated monthly.
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from BU or BMC sources.
- Grant title
- Project period and this person’s role on the grant
- PI name, if this person is not the PI (the name will link if PI has a BU Profile)
- Funding source(s). An arrow indicates the flow of funding if multiple sponsors.
- Some grants will show an agency award/project number, and may be a link.
- Data is sorted by project end date, and updated monthly.
This tab shows grant data from the Boston VA. We are only showing grant title, and only for people in the role of PI.
Perinatal care as a venue to reduce opioid overdoses and hepatitis C virus incidence (PreVenT OD HCV)07/01/2022 - 06/30/2027 (PI)
National Institute on Drug Abuse/NIH/DHHS5K01DA052821-02
Cost-effectiveness and Clinical Outcomes of Liver Disease Staging Evaluations in Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection: Strategies to Increase Hepatitis C Treatment Access and Achieve HCV Elimination01/01/2022 - 12/31/2023 (PI)
The Patrick and Catherine Weldon Donaghue Medical Research Foundation
Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program12/01/2020 - 11/30/2022 (PI)
Charles A. King Trust
Medicaid State Hepatitis C Treatment Restrictions: Spillover Effects on the Care Cascade05/01/2019 - 04/30/2021 (PI)
Weill Cornell Medical College National Institute o2P30DA040500-06A1
Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other
sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can
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Epstein RL, Buzzee B, White LF, Feld JJ, Castera L, Sterling RK, Linas BP, Taylor LE. Test characteristics for combining non-invasive liver fibrosis staging modalities in individuals with Hepatitis C virus. J Viral Hepat. 2024 Feb 07.View Related Profiles. PMID: 38326950
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Epstein RL, Pramanick T, Baptiste D, Buzzee B, Reese PP, Linas BP, Sawinski D. A Microsimulation Study of the Cost-Effectiveness of Hepatitis C Virus Screening Frequencies in Hemodialysis Centers. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2023 Feb 01; 34(2):205-219.View Related Profiles. PMID: 36735375; PMCID: PMC10103100; DOI: 10.1681/ASN.2022030245;
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Lodi S, Klein M, Rauch A, Epstein R, Wittkop L, Logan R, Rentsch CT, Justice AC, Touloumi G, Berenguer J, Jarrin I, Egger M, Puoti M, D'Arminio Monforte A, Gill J, Salmon Ceron D, van Sighem A, Linas B, van der Valk M, Hernán MA. Sustained virological response after treatment with direct antiviral agents in individuals with HIV and hepatitis C co-infection. J Int AIDS Soc. 2022 Dec; 25(12):e26048.View Related Profiles. PMID: 36562643; PMCID: PMC9784654; DOI: 10.1002/jia2.26048;
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Barocas JA, Savinkina A, Lodi S, Epstein RL, Bouton TC, Sperring H, Hsu HE, Jacobson KR, Schechter-Perkins EM, Linas BP, White LF. Projected Long-Term Impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic on Hepatitis C Outcomes in the United States: A Modeling Study. Clin Infect Dis. 2022 Aug 24; 75(1):e1112-e1119.View Related Profiles. PMID: 34499124; PMCID: PMC8522427; DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciab779;
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Sperring H, Hofman M, Hsu HE, Xiao Y, Keohane EA, Lodi S, Marathe J, Epstein RL. Risk Factors for Admission Within a Hospital-Based COVID-19 Home Monitoring Program. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2022 Jul; 9(7):ofac320.View Related Profiles. PMID: 35899280; PMCID: PMC9278211; DOI: 10.1093/ofid/ofac320;
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Nguemeni Tiako MJ, Meinhofer A, Friedman A, South EC, Epstein RL, Meisel ZF, Morgan JR. Buprenorphine uptake during pregnancy following the 2017 guidelines update on prenatal opioid use disorder. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2022 Sep; 227(3):544-546.e1.View Related Profiles. PMID: 35613648; PMCID: PMC9420821; DOI: 10.1016/j.ajog.2022.05.041;
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O'Donnell A, Pham N, Battisti L, Epstein R, Nunes D, Sawinski D, Lodi S. Estimating the causal effect of treatment with direct-acting antivirals on kidney function among individuals with hepatitis C virus infection. PLoS One. 2022; 17(5):e0268478.View Related Profiles. PMID: 35560032; PMCID: PMC9106151; DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0268478;
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Epstein RL, Moloney C, Garfinkel J, Saia K, Wachman EM, Lodi S, Pelton SI. Enhancing Linkage to Hepatitis C Virus Treatment Following Pregnancy in Women Identified During Perinatal Care. Hepatol Commun. 2021 Sep; 5(9):1543-1554.View Related Profiles. PMID: 34510828; PMCID: PMC8435278; DOI: 10.1002/hep4.1748;
Showing 10 of 20 results.
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Epstein RL, Espinosa C. Hepatitis C Virus in Neonates and Infants. Clin Perinatol. 2021 06; 48(2):343-357. PMID: 34030818
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Epstein RL, Sperring H, Hofman M, Lodi S, White LF, Barocas JA, Bouton TC, Xiao Y, Hsu HE, Miller NS, Linas BP, Marathe JG. Time to SARS-CoV-2 PCR Clearance in Immunocompromising Conditions: Is Test-Based Removal From Isolation Necessary in Severely Immunocompromised Individuals? Open Forum Infect Dis. 2021 Jun; 8(6):ofab164.View Related Profiles. PMID: 34189164; PMCID: PMC8231388; DOI: 10.1093/ofid/ofab164;
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Epstein RL, Penwill N, Clarke DF, Hamilton S, Horbowicz K, Dorfman D, Moses JM, Cooper ER. "Meds-in-Hand" Intervention to Reduce Critical Process Delays in Pediatric Human Immunodeficiency Virus Post-Exposure Prophylaxis. J Pediatric Infect Dis Soc. 2021 Mar 26; 10(2):196-200.View Related Profiles. PMID: 32347312; PMCID: PMC7996639; DOI: 10.1093/jpids/piaa033;
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Linas BP, Savinkina A, Madushani RWMA, Wang J, Eftekhari Yazdi G, Chatterjee A, Walley AY, Morgan JR, Epstein RL, Assoumou SA, Murphy SM, Schackman BR, Chrysanthopoulou SA, White LF, Barocas JA. Projected Estimates of Opioid Mortality After Community-Level Interventions. JAMA Netw Open. 2021 02 01; 4(2):e2037259.View Related Profiles. PMID: 33587136; PMCID: PMC7885041; DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.37259;
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Morgan JR, Barocas JA, Murphy SM, Epstein RL, Stein MD, Schackman BR, Walley AY, Linas BP. Comparison of Rates of Overdose and Hospitalization After Initiation of Medication for Opioid Use Disorder in the Inpatient vs Outpatient Setting. JAMA Netw Open. 2020 12 01; 3(12):e2029676.View Related Profiles. PMID: 33320266; PMCID: PMC7739119; DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.29676;
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Epstein RL, Wang J, Hagan L, Mayer KH, Puro J, Linas BP, Assoumou SA. Hepatitis C Virus Antibody Testing Among 13- to 21-Year-Olds in a Large Sample of US Federally Qualified Health Centers. JAMA. 2019 12 10; 322(22):2245-2248.View Related Profiles. PMID: 31821424; PMCID: PMC7081751; DOI: 10.1001/jama.2019.16196;
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Epstein RL, Bhagavathula M, Saag LA, Verma S, Kan CK, Mesick J, Kamineni P, White LF, Barnett ED, Salgame P, Hochberg NS. QuantiFERON®-TB Gold In-Tube reliability for immigrants with parasitic infections in Boston, USA. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 2019 04 01; 23(4):482-490.View Related Profiles. PMID: 31064628; PMCID: PMC6690781; DOI: 10.5588/ijtld.18.0540;
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Tasillo A, Eftekhari Yazdi G, Nolen S, Schillie S, Vellozzi C, Epstein R, Randall L, Salomon JA, Linas BP. Short-Term Effects and Long-Term Cost-Effectiveness of Universal Hepatitis C Testing in Prenatal Care. Obstet Gynecol. 2019 02; 133(2):289-300.View Related Profiles. PMID: 30633134; PMCID: PMC6501827; DOI: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000003062;
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Epstein R, Ristau J, Ellner JJ. An Unsuspected Zoonotic Infection Presenting as Sepsis. Am J Med. 2018 Jan; 131(1):e17-e18.View Related Profiles. PMID: 28860034
This graph shows the total number of publications by year, by first, middle/unknown,
or last author.
| Year | Publications |
|---|
| 2017 | 1 |
| 2018 | 1 |
| 2019 | 3 |
| 2020 | 1 |
| 2021 | 5 |
| 2022 | 6 |
| 2023 | 1 |
| 2024 | 2 |