
Howard J. Cabral, PhD
Professor, Biostatistics - Boston University School of Public Health
Biography
Howard Cabral is Professor of Biostatistics at the Boston University School of Public Health, where he has been on the faculty in the Department of Biostatistics since 1998. He is the founding Director of the Biostatistics and Research Design Program of the Boston University Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute. He has over 30 years of teaching, consulting, collaborating, and statistical research experience in a variety of biomedical fields. These include public health, epidemiology, behavioral sciences, health services, and basic physical sciences research and practice. His students have included undergraduates, Master's and doctoral level students in biostatistics and all other public health disciplines, medical sciences and dentistry, biomedical post-doctoral and clinical fellows including many K grant awardees, and faculty seeking additional training in statistical methods and research design. He is a former director of the Biostatistics Graduate Program in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Cabral received the Norman A. Scotch Award for Excellence in Teaching for 2017 from the School of Public Health.
Dr. Cabral’s research spans both observational studies and randomized clinical trials, including well known studies in cardiovascular health and studies of the effects of substance use on human health across the life span, with currently over 380 peer-reviewed publications. He has extensive experience in the analysis of longitudinal health data, especially those collected in urban areas with ethnic and socioeconomic diversity. His methodological interests are in the analysis of longitudinal data, randomized clinical trials in behavioral and health services research, risk prediction models in acute and chronic disease, the effects of missing data on statistical estimation, and statistical computing.
Dr. Cabral’s collaborative research has examined the effects of prenatal cocaine exposure on development from birth through age 22, randomized trials of problem solving education in treating parental depression, a randomized trial testing a peer-based model in retaining those infected with HIV in primary care, models to enhance the care of homeless patients living with HIV, differences in child and maternal health in those who did and did not received intervention through assisted reproductive technologies (ART) linking vital statistics, administrative public health and clinical databases in Massachusetts, randomized trials of computerized conversational agents in genetic counseling and pre-conception risk factor management, the use of advanced care directives in special populations, the relationship of health literacy to health care utilization, and the efficacy of patient navigation that addresses social determinants of health in women of race and ethnic minorities who are receiving care for breast cancer in all of the major hospitals in Boston. In addition, Dr. Cabral is an investigator on multiple new research projects that focus on the health of Black women: a randomized clinical trial of genetic counseling for cancer in the Black Women's Health study; a randomized trial of intervention modalities for Black immigrant women living with HIV; a national study of bundled interventions to improve the health and well-being of Black women living with HIV; a multi-phase study of severe maternal morbidity (SMM) in Massachusetts, with intervention studies studying safety-related bundles and enhanced care by doulas; and a randomized trial of virtual reality as a modality in the intervention for smoking cessation. Dr. Cabral is a developer of the BODE Index for risk assessment in patients with COPD, a nationally and internationally employed tool for risk prediction that has been cited in the literature over 2,500 times to-date. He is also a statistical consultant to the Institute of Community Health in Malden, MA and is a former statistical consultant to the Boston Public Health Commission.
Dr. Cabral has extensive experience as a peer reviewer for journals, NIH, and foundation-based research committees. Dr. Cabral provided his research and statistical methodologic expertise to a review panel of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science that examined the effects of parental depression on parenting practices and child development and published a widely recognized book on its findings. He has been the statistical editor for the Journal of Cardiac Surgery, and is currently serving on the editorial boards of Birth and the Journal for Health Literacy Research and Practice as the statistical editor. He was a member of the grant review committee for the Hood Foundation and served its chair. He has served on grant review committees for the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute for Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR). Reflecting his breadth of experience as a peer reviewer, he was a recipient of the award for the top 1% of peer reviewers in clinical medicine from Publons for 2017, 2018, and 2019.
In addition to his administrative role in the Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, Dr. Cabral has served Boston University as a member and current chair of the Financial Conflict of Interest Committee and on the Committee for Academic Program Review, the Responsible Conduct of Research Advisory Committee, and the Grievance Committee.
Education
- Boston University School of Public Health, PhD Field of Study: Biostatistics
- Boston University School of Public Health, MPH Field of Study: Epidemiology
- College of the Holy Cross, BA Field of Study: Modern Languages
Websites
Classes Taught
- SPHBS723
- SPHBS805
- SPHBS980
Publications
- Published on 1/25/2023
Peterkin AF, Jawa R, Menezes K, You J, Cabral H, Ruiz-Mercado G, Park TW, Kehoe J, Taylor JL, Weinstein ZM. Pre-Paid Phone Distribution: A Tool for Improving Healthcare Engagement for People with Substance Use Disorder. Subst Use Misuse. 2023; 58(4):585-589. PMID: 36695079.
Read At: PubMed
- Published on 12/27/2022
Yuan M, Hu FB, Li Y, Cabral HJ, Das SK, Deeney JT, Moore LL. Dairy Food Intakes, Postpartum Weight Retention, and Risk of Obesity. Nutrients. 2022 Dec 27; 15(1). PMID: 36615778.
Read At: PubMed
- Published on 12/20/2022
Diop H, Declercq ER, Liu CL, Cabral HJ, Cui X, Amutah-Onukagha N, Meadows A. Trends and inequities in severe maternal morbidity in Massachusetts: A closer look at the last two decades. PLoS One. 2022; 17(12):e0279161. PMID: 36538524.
Read At: PubMed
- Published on 10/31/2022
Farland LV, Stern JE, Liu CL, Cabral HJ, Coddington CC, Diop H, Dukhovny D, Hwang S, Missmer SA. Polycystic ovary syndrome and risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes: a registry linkage study from Massachusetts. Hum Reprod. 2022 Oct 31; 37(11):2690-2699. PMID: 36149255.
Read At: PubMed
- Published on 10/25/2022
Jindachomthong KK, Cabral H, Subramanian ML, Ness S, Siegel NH, Chhablani J, Hsu SX, Chen X. Incidence and Risk Factors for Delayed Retinal Tears after an Acute, Symptomatic Posterior Vitreous Detachment. Ophthalmol Retina. 2022 Oct 25. PMID: 36307014.
Read At: PubMed
- Published on 10/1/2022
Edwards CV, Sheikh AR, Dennis MJ, Hunter A, Mackay ZP, Catudal EC, Elias R, Cabral HJ, Sarosiek SR, Tapan U. The impact of substance use on health care utilization, treatment, and outcomes in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. J Thorac Dis. 2022 Oct; 14(10):3865-3875. PMID: 36389291.
Read At: PubMed
- Published on 9/27/2022
Carusi DA, Gopal D, Cabral HJ, Bormann CL, Racowsky C, Stern JE. A unique placenta previa risk factor profile for pregnancies conceived with assisted reproductive technology. Fertil Steril. 2022 Nov; 118(5):894-903. PMID: 36175207.
Read At: PubMed
- Published on 8/29/2022
Ahmed HS, Connolly JJ, Chung EC, Cabral HJ, Schroy PC, Mohanty A. Adaptive Strategies for Outpatient Colonoscopies in Response to COVID-19. Am J Prev Med. 2023 Jan; 64(1):122-124. PMID: 36116997.
Read At: PubMed
- Published on 8/10/2022
Evans L, Fabian MP, Charns MP, Gurewich D, Stopka TJ, Cabral HJ. Medicaid Expansion and Change in Federally Qualified Health Center Accessibility From 2008 to 2016. Med Care. 2022 10 01; 60(10):743-749. PMID: 35948346.
Read At: PubMed
- Published on 7/25/2022
Lakin JR, Zupanc SN, Lindvall C, Moseley ET, Das S, Sciacca K, Cabral HJ, Burns EA, Carney MT, Itty J, Lopez S, Emmert K, Martin NJ, Lambert S, Polo J, Sanghani S, Dugas JN, Gomez M, Winter MR, Wang N, Gabry-Kalikow S, Dobie A, Amshoff M, Cucinotta T, Joel M, Caruso LB, Ramirez AM, Salerno K, Ogunneye Q, Henault L, Davis AD, Volandes A, Paasche-Orlow MK. Study protocol for Video Images about Decisions to Improve Ethical Outcomes with Palliative Care Educators (VIDEO-PCE): a pragmatic stepped wedge cluster randomised trial of older patients admitted to the hospital. BMJ Open. 2022 Jul 25; 12(7):e065236. PMID: 35879001.
Read At: PubMed
View 374 more publications:View Full Profile at BUMC
News & In the Media
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Published on March 17, 2023
Professor Receives $3.8M NIH Grant to Study Impact of Medicaid ACOs on Maternal Health Outcomes
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Published on January 28, 2022
Severe Maternal Morbidity Is Substantially Underestimated in US
- Published on April 23, 2020
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Published on January 2, 2020
More Chiropractic Insurance Coverage, Non-Drug Pain Care Coming in 2020
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Published on November 27, 2019
Opioid Monthly: Why — and How — the American Society of Addiction Medicine Is Redefining ‘Addiction’
- Published on November 14, 2019
- Published on September 26, 2019
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Published on December 20, 2018
Best Practices for Improving HIV Care for Homeless Populations
- Published on December 14, 2017
- Published on May 22, 2017
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Published on March 27, 2017
Genetic Assessment Developed to Gauge Risk for Age-Associated Alzheimer’s Disease
- Published on January 18, 2017
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Published on December 2, 2016
Substance Use Treatment During Pregnancy Improves Birth Outcomes
- Published on November 9, 2016
- Published on August 10, 2016
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Published on April 15, 2016
Antibiotic Overprescribing More Likely among Some Groups Than Others
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Published on March 16, 2016
Delivery Service Increases ‘Meds in Hand’ for Asthma Patients
- Published on January 19, 2016
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Published on January 19, 2016
Children with Disabilities Face Higher Risk of Repeat Caregiver Harm
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Published on January 12, 2016
Geography Influences Government Grading of Medicare Advantage Plans
- Published on December 9, 2015
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Published on September 14, 2015
Assisted Reproductive Technology: No Greater Risk of Maternal Hospitalization Postpartum
- Published on July 23, 2015
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Published on July 8, 2015
Strong Link Between Routine Physical Ability and Hospital Readmission Rates
- Published on April 7, 2015
- Published on March 23, 2015
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Published on March 12, 2015
Nonprofit Medicare Advantage Plans Rated Higher in Quality Than For-Profit Plans
- Published on March 9, 2015
- Published on January 23, 2015
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Published on December 18, 2014
ER Visits Offer Opportunities to Treat Substance Use, SPH Study Says