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Grant will support BUSM literacy program

The BU School of Medicine recently received a $300,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for the continued support of Reach Out and Read (ROR), the nation’s leading literacy program. The funds will be used to help expand ROR and to train pediatricians and other ROR providers in early childhood literacy development.

"We are grateful to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for its generous support of Reach Out and Read," says Barry Zuckerman, chairman of pediatrics at BUSM, and founding director of Reach Out and Read. "Through the continued support of the foundation, we are able to ensure that low income children will continue to benefit from quality literacy programs."

ROR’s mission is to make literacy a standard part of pediatric primary care. Founded in 1989 as a single program at Boston City Hospital (now Boston Medical Center), it has expanded to clinics in more than 700 hospitals and health centers in 48 states. ROR provides new books for children ages six months to five years, along with education and training to parents, medical personnel, and literacy volunteers.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, based in Princeton, N.J., is the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care.

BU faculty elected to National Academy of Social Insurance

The National Academy of Social Insurance recently elected two Boston University faculty as members. SMG Professor Alan Cohen and SPH Professor Leslie Boden were cited for their contributions to the nation’s understanding of social insurance programs.

Academy members are nationally recognized experts in public health issues, issues such as Social Security, Medicare, workers’ compensation, and unemployment insurance, and have distinguished themselves by their research or policy making in these areas. As members of the academy, they work on study panels, committees, conferences, and other projects related to public health issues.

Cohen is a professor of health policy and management and director of SMG’s Health Care Management Program. He also directs the national program office of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Scholars in Health Policy Research Program. His research interests include cost containment and health policy, comparative health-care systems, and evaluation of health-care programs.

Boden, a professor of environmental health, researches the economic and human consequences of workplace injuries and illnesses. He also cochairs a group that advises the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health on its research agenda regarding the social and economic consequences of workplace illness and injury.

The National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization comprising the nation’s leading experts on social insurance.

Its mission is to conduct research and enhance public understanding of social insurance, develop new leaders, and provide a nonpartisan forum for the exchange of ideas in the field.

23 February 2001
Boston University
Office of University Relations