Kate Flewelling (she/her) is the Director of Library Services, Alumni Medical Library, Boston University Medical Campus. In this position, she provides leadership and strategic planning to support the educational, clinical, research and administrative needs of the Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, Graduate Medical Sciences, Goldman School of Dental Medicine, and School of Public Health. Kate holds a BA from Mount Holyoke College and an MLIS from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Prior to joining BU in 2021, she held positions of increasing responsibility at the National Library of Medicine, Inova Fairfax Hospital, Upstate Medical University, and the Network of the National Library of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh. Honors include National Library of Medicine Associate Fellowship, NLM Biomedical Informatics Fellowship, Academy of Health Information Professionals– Distinguished Level and Distinguished Alumni Award, School of Information Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Her work has centered on the access of reliable and relevant information for and about underserved populations. She has presented extensively on the intersection of information and environmental health, social determinants of health, disability and health disparities.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility
I have a strong commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. As a post-graduate fellow at the National Library of Medicine, I conducted the first information needs assessment for the Refugee Health Information Network, a national partnership. My work since then has centered on the access of reliable and relevant information for and about underserved populations. I have presented extensively on the intersection of information and environmental health, social determinants of health, and health disparities. As the chair-elect of the Relevant Issues Section (now, Social Justice and Health Disparities Section) of the Medical Library Association, I spearheaded the effort to implement a conference Code of Conduct.
Examples of other activities include:
Professional service
• Terrier F1RSTS, First-Gen Staff Ally, Boston University 2021-present
• First Gen Mentor, School of Public Health, Boston University 2021-present
• Relevant Issues Section (now Social Justice and Health Disparities Caucus), Chair Elect, Chair, Past Chair, Medical Library Association 2014-2017
• Community Health Worker section, Communications Committee, member, American Public Health Association 2016-2017
• Women in Medicine and Science, book club facilitator, SUNY Upstate Medical University 2011
Presentations
• Schanock, C. and Flewelling, K. Supporting First-Generation Graduate Students in an Academic Health Sciences Library Setting. Contributed Paper. Medical Library Association, New Orleans, LA, May 2022.
• Flewelling, K et al., Partnering with Community Based Organizations to provide Health Information Outreach in Public Libraries. Contributed Paper. Medical Library Association, virtual, August 2020.
• Flewelling, K. Distracted in the Library: Supporting Staff and Patrons with ADHD. Contributed Paper. Medical Library Association, Chicago, IL, 2 May 2019.
• Flewelling, K., et al. Environmental Health: Addressing Health Disparities at the Source. Planner, moderator and presenter of Special Session at Medical Library Association, Seattle, WA, 30 May 2017.
• Flewelling, K. Health Inequities: We know they exist, let’s prove it. Workshop at 19th Summit Against Racism, Pittsburgh, PA, 21 Jan 2017.
• Flewelling, K. LGBT-Friendly Patient Education. Presentation at LGBT Health Workforce Conference: New Frontiers and Interprofessional Collaboration in LGBT Health, New York, NY, 30 April 2016.
• Flewelling, K. Information Resources to Support Farmworker Health. Presentation for PA Office of Rural Health/PA Public Health Association Conference, Lancaster, PA, 7 April 2016.
• Collins, L. and Flewelling, K. Combatting Information Fatigue: Health Information Resources for Veterans. Presentation at the Veterans of Foreign Wars National Convention, Pittsburgh, PA, 18-21 July 2015.
• Flewelling, K. W. New Populations: An information needs assessment of refugee health professionals. Poster presented at 2009 Medical Library Association Annual Meeting, Honolulu, HI, 17 May 2009.
• Flewelling, K. W. Invited panelist. “Materials for new populations,” Refugee Health Information Network Symposium, National Library of Medicine, November 17, 2008.
Medical Library Association Continuing Education Courses
• Health on the Range: Rural Health Issues and Resources, 2 CE
• From Beyond Our Borders: Providing Multilingual and Multicultural Health Information, 3 CE
• Building Collections and Connections for LGBT Health Awareness 2 CE
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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to make corrections and additions.
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Flewelling K, Seger E, Wilson T. Partnerships for Health:: NNLM MAR and Delaware Partners Make a Lasting Impact. Dela J Public Health. 2020 Sep; 6(4):54-55. PMID: 34467153; PMCID: PMC8396693; DOI: 10.32481/djph.2020.09.015;
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Flewelling KW. Refugee Health: Information Needs of Health Professionals. Journal of Consumer Health on the Internet. 2010; 14(1):69-74.
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This graph shows the total number of publications by year, by first, middle/unknown,
or last author.
| Year | Publications |
|---|
| 2009 | 1 |
| 2010 | 1 |
| 2020 | 1 |
2023 National Programming Committee, Medical Library Association:
Co-Chair
2021-2026 Academy of Health Information Professionals:
Distinguished Level
2019-2020 Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Medical Library Association:
Chair
2017 School of Information Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee:
“50 Distinguished Alumni” Award
2016 National Library of Medicine Georgia Biomedical Informatics Course:
Fellow
2016 Public Health/Health Administration Section, Medical Library Association:
Sewell Stipend to attend American Public Health Association conference
2015-2016 Relevant Issues Section (Social Justice and Health Disparities Caucus), Medical Library Association:
Chair
2012 Public Health/Health Administration Section, Medical Library Association:
Sewell Stipend to attend American Public Health Association conference