Our Team

Astraea Augsberger, PhD, MSW, Director 

Astraea Augsberger is the Director of Community Engagement (CE) for Boston University’s Clinical and Translational Research Institute. She is also an Associate Professor at Boston University School of Social Work and an affiliated faculty member at the BU Center for Innovation in Social Work & Health. Her research program, which has been shaped by over fifteen years of clinical social work practice experience, examines multi-level factors that inhibit or facilitate a person’s ability to participate in decision-making within multiple institutions including health care, child welfare, education, and municipal government. She employs community–engaged research (CEnR) approaches such as youth participatory action research(YPAR) and in-depth qualitative research methods to elevate the voices of youth and communities in identifying research priorities and solutions to community concerns. She is a nationally recognized expert in youth and family engagement strategies, including the development, implementation and evaluation of youth advisory boards. Read more

Catharine Wang, PhD, MSc, Associate Director

Catharine Wang is a Professor in the Community Health Sciences Department, and a Peter T. Paul Career Development Professor, at Boston University. Her expertise is in the areas of mixed-methods research, intervention development, and program evaluation. Dr. Wang’s research focuses on the effective translation of genomic discoveries into clinical and public health practice. Her research has spanned across several areas including health communication, digital health systems, health care delivery, and precision medicine. Her work exemplifies her commitment to engaging with diverse communities to identify best practices for mitigating health disparities via accessible information, interventions, and services. For over a decade, Dr. Wang has served as a member of the National Cancer Institute’s Physician Data Query (PDQ) Cancer Genetics Editorial Board, which synthesizes the latest evidence on cancer prevention, detection, genetics, and treatment, to facilitate knowledge translation for health professionals. As a faculty member in the School of Public Health, Dr. Wang trains graduate students on the design and implementation of interventions to improve health outcomes. Dr. Wang also serves as faculty within the Genetic Counseling Program at the School of Medicine to facilitate training on research methods and supervise capstone research projects.

Rebecca Lobb, ScD, MPH, Director of Integration and Strategic Partnerships

Rebecca leads efforts to ensure integration of knowledge, products, processes, and people across all CTSI core services.  She cultivates and nurtures relationships with a robust network of strategic partners and affiliates within BU and outside of BU, including our local partners the Boston Medical Center, Boston-area government agencies, organizations and community groups, and nationally with other Clinical Translational Science Award Hubs and the National Center for Advancing Translational Science.  She is the strategic lead for the Advancing Equity in Health Research Community Advisory Board which she supports by drawing upon over two decades of community-engagement leadership experience in roles that included Assistant Professor at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and VP of Programs and Research at Family Research Foundation. 

Deborah Chassler, MSW, Curriculum and Training Lead

Deborah Chassler is the Curriculum and Training Lead for the Community Engagement Program of Boston University’s Clinical & Translational Science Institute. Her work with the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) is focused on building capacity on both sides of academic and community partnerships. As the Curriculum and Training Lead, Deborah ensures that the CTSI Community Engagement Core is able to successfully build excellent curriculum and provide training for faculty and institutional partners as well as members of a wide range of communities. Deborah also teaches at Boston University School of Social Work (BUSSW), including an advanced seminar on Behavioral Health focused on the intersections of policy and practice and impacts on those most harmed by existing policies and systems, and has previously taught the Racial Justice and Cultural Oppressions Course for years, as well as research methods courses. Her work centers community engagement and harm reduction, both social justice approaches, often working with communities of people who use drugs. Deborah’s research is focused on building capacity and working with communities to name and mitigate the harms of existing health systems to generate innovative, out-of-the-box, institutional and systemic change.

Jorma McSwiggan, MSc, Research Program Manager

Jorma McSwiggan is a Research Program Manager for the Community Engagement Program ofBoston University’s Clinical and Translational Research Institute. Jorma works with CTSI’s leadership and Community Engagement team to align activities and ensure that the CE Program’s resources and services reach our community members and researchers. Before joining the BU CTSI team, they were part of the Community Operations team with the HEALing Communities Study at Boston Medical Center. In this role, Jorma combined operations and project management skills with community-engaged approaches to support teams across Massachusetts in identifying and establishing strategies to reduce fatal overdose. Jormagraduated from Boston University School of Public Health with a Master’s degree in Health Services and Systems Research, focusing on qualitative methods, community engagement, and organizational theory. Jorma was a 2022 Honorable Mention Research to Practice APHA awardee.