Jennifer Beard, PhD, MPH, MA
Clinical Associate Professor
Boston University School of Public Health
Global Health

PhD, University of New Hampshire
MPH, Boston University
MA, Ohio University
BA, Youngstown State University



Jennifer Beard, PhD, MA, MPH, is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Global Health at Boston University School of Public Health. Dr. Beard started her academic life in the humanities, completing her BA in English literature at Youngstown State University, her MA at Ohio University with a focus on Victorian literature, and her PhD at the University of New Hampshire specializing in twentieth-century British women writers. While she has been working in public health for two decades, she remains a devoted reader of novels and believes that her global health teaching and research interests are rooted in her passion for Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, the Brontë sisters, and Barbara Pym.

Dr. Beard brings her love of language and compelling stories into all of her public health work. She developed and leads the BUSPH Public Health Writing Program and is the author of Teaching Public Health Writing (Oxford University Press, 2022). She co-founded the BU Program for Global Health Storytelling – a collaboration between BUSPH, the BU College of Communication, and the Pulitzer Center. She co-directs the BUMC Narrative Writing Program, which provides faculty researchers and clinicians with the opportunity and support to explore the power of narrative writing.

She is the associate editor of Public Health Post, where she mentors student writing fellows and expert guest authors to translate and broaden the reach of their research. Her approach to editing and mentoring focuses on engaging readers by shortening their sentences, clarifying key points with vivid details, and eliminating (or at least reducing) technical jargon. And she is partnering with colleagues at Mälardalen University in Sweden to cultivate a global public health writing community.

Her scholarship and teaching explore the intersection between population health, the arts and humanities, and journalism. She developed and teaches courses in global mental health and global health journalism and is always looking for ways to incorporate fiction and creative non-fiction into her courses.

Dr. Beard oversaw a 9-study qualitative research project in Kumasi, Ghana focused on key populations at high risk for HIV in collaboration with colleagues at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana and at BUSPH. That work is still bearing fruit, particularly concerning harm reduction policies and programs for people who use drugs. The KNUST-BUSPH team also completed studies on young female sex workers and their intimate partners and men who have sex with men.


BU Draper Fellowship - Aisling McEleney
09/01/2020 - 05/31/2022 (PI)
Draper Laboratory, Inc.


Research Activities Among Most at Risk Population(Ghana MARPS)
10/01/2010 - 07/31/2014 (PI)
U.S. Agency for International Development




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Yr Title Project-Sub Proj Pubs

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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  1. Fortunato EK, Dolan CA, Beard J, et al. .. 2024;0(0). doi:10.1177/23733799241301867. Balancing Faculty Autonomy with Collaboration, Course Updates, and Consistency in Core Courses: Recommendations for Teaching Teams and Administrators of Schools and Programs of Public Health. Pedagogy in Health Promotion. 2024. View Publication
  2. Beard Jennifer. The Idea of a Good Daughter. Health Affairs. 2024; 12(43):1728-1732. View Publication
  3. Beard J. The Idea Of A Good Daughter. Health Aff (Millwood). 2024 Dec; 43(12):1728-1732. PMID: 39626154
     
  4. Das S, Neupane R, Beard J, Solomon H, Das M, Errickson N, Simon JL, Nisar YB, MacLeod WB, Hamer DH. Aetiology of diarrhoea in children aged zero to nine years in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review. J Glob Health. 2024 Nov 1;14:04168. doi: 10.7189/jogh.14.04168. PMID: 39485019; PMCID: PMC11529147. Aetiology of diarrhoea in children aged zero to nine years in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review. J Glob Health. 2024; 04168(14). View Publication
  5. Das S, Neupane R, Beard J, Solomon H, Das M, Errickson N, Simon JL, Nisar YB, MacLeod WB, Hamer DH. Aetiology of diarrhoea in children aged zero to nine years in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review. J Glob Health. 2024 Nov 01; 14:04168.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39485019; PMCID: PMC11529147; DOI: 10.7189/jogh.14.04168;
     
  6. Taborda C, Sofer N, Beard J, Wang M. Identifying and dismantling racist narratives to promote health equity. HPHR. 2023;72. https://www.doi.org/10.54111/0001/TTT3 . Identifying and dismantling racist narratives to promote health equity. 2023. View Publication
  7. Neupane R, Bhathena M, Das G, Long E, Beard J, Solomon H, Simon JL, Nisar YB, MacLeod WB, Hamer DH. Antibiotic resistance trends for common bacterial aetiologies of childhood diarrhoea in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review. J Glob Health. 2023 Jul 21; 13:04060.View Related Profiles. PMID: 37475599; PMCID: PMC10359834; DOI: 10.7189/jogh.13.04060;
     
  8. Beard Jennifer. Families make us who we are. What remains after they’re gone?. Cognoscenti. 2023. View Publication
  9. Wang ML, Britton OJ, Beard J. The call for science communication and public scholarship. Transl Behav Med. 2023 Apr 03; 13(3):156-159.View Related Profiles. PMID: 36525596; PMCID: PMC10068900; DOI: 10.1093/tbm/ibac096;
     
  10. Jennifer Beard. Teaching Public Health. Teaching Public Health Writing. Oxford University Press. New York, New York. 2022; 176. View Publication
Showing 10 of 71 results. Show More

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

Bar chart showing 68 publications over 17 distinct years, with a maximum of 9 publications in 2018 and 2020

YearPublications
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Rebuilding Public Trust in Science

BU Today 10/19/2023

2019-2020 Boston University Medical Campus: Mid-Career Faculty Leadership Program
2018-2019 Boston University Medical Campus: Narrative Writing Program
In addition to these self-described keywords below, a list of MeSH based concepts is available here.

public health writing
global health storytelling
public health humanities
public health journalism
global mental health
key populations
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