Kirsten Austad, MD MPH Hear my name
Assistant Professor
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Family Medicine

MD, Harvard Medical School
MPH, Harvard School of Public Health
BS, University of Wisconsin Madison



Kirsten Austad MD MPH is an implementation scientist and Co-Director of Boston University's Evans Center for Implementation & Improvement Science (CIIS). She possesses expertise in qualitative methods and novel mixed methods approaches. Her research focusing on advancing theory and methods within implementation science and improving delivery of evidence-based interventions to populations in the safety net setting with an emphasis on those with non-English language preference (NELP). As such she has experience conducting research in diverse multilingual settings and intervention adaptation. Her research is inspired by her clinical work as a hospitalist at BMC, by the six years she worked as Director of Women's Health programming for a non-profit in Guatemala that service rural indigenous Maya communities, and by her broad training in Family Medicine.

Currently she is supported by a K23 from NIMHD to adapt a transitional care intervention for patients with NELP. She was also the PI of the TIDE pilot trial funded by BMC's Health Equity Accelerator, which tested a package of language-concordant discharge teaching tools for patients with NELP in a pilot randomized controlled trial. She is an implementation science Co-Investigator on numerous other projects.

As Co-Director of CIIS she provides mentorship to early career faculty completing the implementation science fellowship, provides education on implementation science to the Boston University campus, and provides consults for others on campus looking to integrate implementation science into their research and practice.

Areas of expertise: implementation science including implementation planning tools, application of IS theories/models/frameworks, causal pathway diagrams, core function and form model, hybrid effectiveness-implementation trials
Methods expertise: qualitative methods, rapid qualitative analysis, design and conduct of discrete choice experiments, intervention adaptation, cultural adaptation



Adapting an Evidence-Based Intervention to Improve the Hospital Discharge Process for Patients with Limited English Proficiency
09/23/2023 - 03/31/2028 (PI)
National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities/NIH/DHHS


James C. Puffer, MD American Board of Family Medicine Fellowship
09/01/2025 - 08/31/2027 (PI)
National Academy of Medicine


Title

Leverage telemedicine to improve evidence-based management of acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs) across different healthcare settings and for patients of different racial/ ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, using a mixed methods approach and a multisite implementation strategy to identify patients appropriate for telehealth visits (THVs) for ARTIs, create appropriate materials for the THV in collaboration with providers and patients, and gauge implementation and effectiveness outcomes
06/01/2022 - 05/31/2026 (Co-Investigator)
PI: Mari-Lynn Drainoni, PhD, MEd
AHRQ
AHRQ R01HS1028814

Testing the impact of a packaged educational intervention delivered at the time of hospital discharge for patients with limited English proficiency
02/01/2023 - 02/28/2025 (PI)
Health Equity Accelerator


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. Austad K, Fantasia KL, Mohanty A, Jones KC, Bosch NA, Drainoni ML. Failing to Succeed: Advancing Mechanistic Understanding of Implementation Strategies Through Retrospective and Prospective Use of Causal Pathway Diagrams. Res Sq. 2025 Sep 23.View Related Profiles. PMID: 41041569; PMCID: PMC12486080; DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7482638/v1;
     
  2. Mooney H, Austad K, Campbell EG, Avorn J, Lu Z, Kesselheim AS. Physician Perspectives on Pharmaceutical Promotion. JAMA Health Forum. 2025 Sep 05; 6(9):e253521. PMID: 40911328; PMCID: PMC12413643; DOI: 10.1001/jamahealthforum.2025.3521;
     
  3. Erfle BA, Steel TL, Law AC, Kaufman DA, Hills-Dunlap K, Afshar M, Walkey AJ, Austad KE, Drainoni ML, Bosch NA. Pharmacological Interventions for Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome Among Hospitalized Adults: A Multicenter Cohort Study. J Gen Intern Med. 2025 Aug 28.View Related Profiles. PMID: 40877712; PMCID: PMC12683996; DOI: 10.1007/s11606-025-09817-8;
     
  4. Rudel RK, Powers E, Austad K, Burrowes SAB, Couloute Z, Smith AEC, Prifti C, Freiman JM, Wigmore R, Walkey A, Hicks JM, Barlam TF, Drainoni ML. Using learner verification and transcreation to develop multicultural patient education materials for acute respiratory tract infections to decrease inappropriate antibiotic prescribing. PEC Innov. 2025 Dec; 7:100415.View Related Profiles. PMID: 40686553; PMCID: PMC12271076; DOI: 10.1016/j.pecinn.2025.100415;
     
  5. Austad K, Cordova-Ramos EG, Fernandez A, Drainoni ML. Lost in translation: advancing intervention adaptation for populations with non-dominant language preference in high diversity settings. Implement Sci Commun. 2025 May 28; 6(1):66.View Related Profiles. PMID: 40437645; PMCID: PMC12117692; DOI: 10.1186/s43058-025-00753-6;
     
  6. Mohanty A, Austad K, Bosch NA, Long MT, Nolen-Doerr E, Walkey AJ, Drainoni ML, Rizo I, Fantasia KL. Assessing Clinician Engagement With a Passive Clinical Decision Support System for Liver Fibrosis Risk Stratification in a Weight Management Clinic. Endocr Pract. 2025 Jul; 31(7):899-905.View Related Profiles. PMID: 40288606
     
  7. Austad K, Lee JH, Lanney H, Rapoport VO, Wornhoff R, McDaniel K, Li-Garrison L, Jack BW. Evaluating the quality and equity of patient hospital discharge instructions. BMC Health Serv Res. 2025 Feb 21; 25(1):291.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39980004; PMCID: PMC11844009; DOI: 10.1186/s12913-025-12410-8;
     
  8. Roseen EJ, Bussières A, Reichman R, Bora C, Trieu J, Austad K, Williams C, Fischer RA, Parrilla D, Laird LD, LaValley M, Evans RL, Saper RB, Morone NE. A multi-level implementation strategy to increase adoption of chiropractic care for low back pain in primary care clinics: a randomized stepped-wedge pilot study protocol. Chiropr Man Therap. 2025 Feb 20; 33(1):9.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39979943; PMCID: PMC11844171; DOI: 10.1186/s12998-024-00565-w;
     
  9. Austad K, Thai C, Zavatti A, Nguyen N, Bautista-Hurtado D, Kenney P, Lugo N, Lee JH, Lanney H, Xuan Z, Cordova-Ramos EG, Drainoni ML, Jack B. Tools to improve discharge equity: Protocol for the pilot TIDE trial. Contemp Clin Trials Commun. 2025 Feb; 43:101419.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39810841; PMCID: PMC11731754; DOI: 10.1016/j.conctc.2024.101419;
     
  10. Silver SR, Jones KC, Hook K, Crable EL, George ER, Serwint JR, Austad K, Walkey A, Drainoni ML. Defining the transition from new to normal: a qualitative investigation of the clinical change process. BMC Health Serv Res. 2024 Dec 18; 24(1):1592.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39695655; PMCID: PMC11653967; DOI: 10.1186/s12913-024-12034-4;
     
Showing 10 of 52 results. Show More

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

Bar chart showing 52 publications over 17 distinct years, with a maximum of 8 publications in 2025

YearPublications
20091
20101
20113
20121
20132
20142
20151
20163
20174
20184
20197
20201
20214
20221
20233
20246
20258


2025-2027 National Academy of Medicine: NAM Fellowship for Health Science Scholars/Puffer ABFM award
2013 Massachusetts Medical Society Annual Scholar Program award winner
2013 Harvard Medical School: Presidential Scholars Public Service Award
2007 University of Wisconsin-Madison: Highest Honors Award, Dept of English
2007 College of Letters & Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison: F. Chandler Young Distinguished Senior Honors Award
2005 Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education
In addition to these self-described keywords below, a list of MeSH based concepts is available here.

implementation science
hospital discharge
implementation strategies
intervention adaptation
transitions of care
discrete choice experiment
causal pathway diagrams
Contact for Mentoring:

Dowling 5
Boston MA 02118
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