Profiles

Eleanor J. Murray, ScD

Assistant Professor, Epidemiology - Boston University School of Public Health

Biography

I am currently an assistant professor of epidemiology at Boston University School of Public Health. I conduct research on how to make evidence-based decisions for public health and medicine, including statistical and epidemiologic methods for understanding causal effects, as well as qualitative work on how best to communicate the results of rigorous research to decision-makers and the public.

I work on research in infectious disease, including COVID-19, HIV/AIDS, HPV, influenza, and tuberculosis, as well as in reproductive health, pediatric health, mental health, occupational health, and chronic and non-communicable diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal disease. As evidenced by the broad range of disease areas, this work applies to all areas of public health and medicine, but also more broadly to all scientific research. I have presented work to groups at the WHO, UN, NIH, NSF, and World Bank, and published in peer-reviewed journals in biology and economics, in addition to my public health research.

I helped lead a high-profile study of school masking mandates in the Greater Boston area with the Boston Public Health Commission published in the New England Journal of Medicine. I have written over 60 peer-reviewed scientific studies, more than a dozen opinion pieces on COVID-19, and appeared on numerous television and radio programs to provide expertise on epidemiology and COVID-19. I co-developed and led the Boston University COVID19 Epidemiology Response Corps, which rapidly organizing 150 students who volunteered or completed practica contributing to several aspects of COVID-19 response. I also developed early posters communicating how to reduce the spread of COVID-19 transmission and crowdsourced translation of the posters into 47 languages. These posters were incorporated into a number of response efforts, including as part of the outpatient discharge notes at Boston University Medical Center.

I have an ScD in Epidemiology and MSc in Biostatistics from Harvard, an MPH in Epidemiology from Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, and a BSc in Biology from McGill University. I am an Associate Editor for Social Media at the American Journal of Epidemiology, a co-chair of the Communications Committee for the Society for Epidemiologic Research, and cohost of a weekly data science podcast called Casual Inference. I engage in public health outreach via Twitter, Medium, Youtube, and several other outlets.

Education

  • Harvard School of Public Health, ScD Field of Study: Epidemiology
  • Columbia University School of Public Health, MPH Field of Study: Epidemiology
  • McGill University, BSc Field of Study: Biology
  • Harvard School of Public Health, SM/ScM Field of Study: Biostatistics

Classes Taught

  • SPHBS807
  • SPHEP755
  • SPHEP800
  • SPHEP911
  • SPHEP912
  • SPHPH780

Publications

  • Published on 2/21/2023

    Caniglia EC, Zash R, Fennell C, Diseko M, Mayondi G, Heintz J, Mmalane M, Makhema J, Lockman S, Mumford SL, Murray EJ, Hernández-Díaz S, Shapiro R. Emulating target trials to avoid immortal time bias- an application to antibiotic initiation and preterm delivery. Epidemiology. 2023 Feb 21. PMID: 36805380.

    Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 2/10/2023

    Wise LA, Wang TR, Stanford JB, Wesselink AK, Ncube CN, Rothman KJ, Murray EJ. A randomized trial of web-based fertility-tracking software and fecundability. Fertil Steril. 2023 Feb 10. PMID: 36774978.

    Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 1/10/2023

    Etheridge JC, Moyal-Smith R, Lim SR, Yong TT, Tan HK, Lim C, Rothbard S, Murray EJ, Sonnay Y, Brindle ME, Havens JM. Implementation of a Device Briefing Tool reduces interruptions in surgery: A nonrandomized controlled pilot trial. Surgery. 2023 Apr; 173(4):968-972. PMID: 36635193.

    Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 12/8/2022

    Casey SM, Paiva T, Perkins RB, Villa A, Murray EJ. Could oral health care professionals help increase human papillomavirus vaccination rates by engaging patients in discussions? J Am Dent Assoc. 2023 Jan; 154(1):10-23.e17. PMID: 36503668.

    Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 11/19/2022

    Haber NA, Wieten SE, Rohrer JM, Arah OA, Tennant PWG, Stuart EA, Murray EJ, Pilleron S, Lam ST, Riederer E, Howcutt SJ, Simmons AE, Leyrat C, Schoenegger P, Booman A, Dufour MK, O'Donoghue AL, Baglini R, Do S, Takashima MR, Evans TR, Rodriguez-Molina D, Alsalti TM, Dunleavy DJ, Meyerowitz-Katz G, Antonietti A, Calvache JA, Kelson MJ, Salvia MG, Parra CO, Khalatbari-Soltani S, McLinden T, Chatton A, Seiler J, Steriu A, Alshihayb TS, Twardowski SE, Dabravolskaj J, Au E, Hoopsick RA, Suresh S, Judd N, Peña S, Axfors C, Khan P, Rivera Aguirre AE, Odo NU, Schmid I, Fox MP. Causal and Associational Language in Observational Health Research: A Systematic Evaluation. Am J Epidemiol. 2022 Nov 19; 191(12):2084-2097. PMID: 35925053.

    Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 11/9/2022

    Cowger TL, Murray EJ, Clarke J, Bassett MT, Ojikutu BO, Sánchez SM, Linos N, Hall KT. Lifting Universal Masking in Schools - Covid-19 Incidence among Students and Staff. N Engl J Med. 2022 Nov 24; 387(21):1935-1946. PMID: 36351262.

    Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 10/28/2022

    Buchanan AL, Park CJ, Bessey S, Goedel WC, Murray EJ, Friedman SR, Halloran ME, Katenka NV, Marshall BDL. Spillover benefit of pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV prevention: evaluating the importance of effect modification using an agent-based model. Epidemiol Infect. 2022 Oct 28; 150:e192. PMID: 36305040.

    Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 8/22/2022

    Etheridge JC, Moyal-Smith R, Lim SR, Yong TT, Tan HK, Sonnay Y, Brindle ME, Lim C, Rothbard S, Murray EJ, Havens JM. Utility of a Device Briefing Tool to Improve Surgical Safety. J Surg Res. 2022 Dec; 280:218-225. PMID: 36007480.

    Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 7/29/2022

    Sullivan A, Murray EJ, Corlin L. Academic training of authors publishing in high-impact epidemiology and clinical journals. PLoS One. 2022; 17(7):e0271159. PMID: 35905041.

    Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 6/27/2022

    Fox MP, Murray EJ, Lesko CR, Sealy-Jefferson S. On the Need to Revitalize Descriptive Epidemiology. Am J Epidemiol. 2022 Jun 27; 191(7):1174-1179. PMID: 35325036.

    Read At: PubMed

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