Lois McCloskey, DrPH
Clinical Professor, Community Health Sciences - Boston University School of Public Health
Biography
My public health career began 30 years ago as an applied anthropologist and educator of community health workers in Nepal. The work inspired my lifelong concern with the health care of women and their infants, particularly in communities that are under-served. In both international and domestic settings, my work focuses on the disconnects between the lives of women and the health care systems meant to serve their needs across the life course and proven strategies for engaging and activating women to be full partners in their reproductive health care and planning. I am currently supported by the NICHD and NIDDK to study the barriers to follow-up testing and prevention for women with gestational diabetes, a harbinger of risk type 2 diabetes mellitus later in life. At BUSPH I serve as Associate Chair of the Department of Community Health Sciences, Co-Director of the MCH Certificate, and Director of the Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health, a Center dedicated to the education of a diverse MCH workforce, ready to lead. As an educator, I specialize in practice-based courses that engage students in the application of their skills and knowledge in real life organizations, addressing real life challenges. Currently I teach “Implementing Community Health Initiatives: A Field-based Course in Leadership and Consultation” and “Sexual and Reproductive Health Advocacy: From Rights to Justice” I completed an MPH in population, family and international health and a DrPH in perinatal epidemiology and health services research at UCLA School of Public Health. Upon graduation, I co-founded the Institute for Urban Health Policy and Research for the Boston Department of Health and Hospitals and served as its Senior Research Scientist for 7 years before joining the faculty of Boston University. During my tenure at the Institute, I led research and community action initiatives designed to mobilize community residents, health professionals, academics, and policy-makers to eliminate racial disparities in infant death and pre-term birth. Our findings led to fundamental changes in how perinatal health services are delivered to women of African descent in Boston. I directed the launch of a study abroad program, “IHP: Health and Community”, dedicated to comparative study of health, systems and culture in four countries. I co-founded the Women’s Health Committee of the MCH Section of the American Public Health Association, am a member of the Association of Teachers of Maternal and Child Health, and serve on the peer review panels of the Women’s Health Journal, the Maternal and Child Health Journal, the Journal of the Poor and Under-served, and Public Health Reports, BMC Health Services, and BMC Pregnancy and Birth.
Other Positions
- Director, Community Health Sciences - Boston University School of Public Health
- Co-Director, Maternal & Child Health - Boston University School of Public Health
Education
- University of California, Los Angeles, DPH/DrPH Field of Study: Population/Family Health Science
- University of California, Los Angeles, MPH Field of Study: International Health
- Wheaton College, BA Field of Study: Anthropology
Websites
Classes Taught
- SPHMC785
- SPHMC802
- SPHMC840
Publications
- Published on 9/1/2024
Cole MB, Kim J, Gordon SH, Lasser KE, Ncube C, Patton E, Deen N, Carey K, Cabral H, Goldman AL, Ogden S, McCloskey L. Massachusetts Medicaid ACO Program May Have Improved Care Use And Quality For Pregnant And Postpartum Enrollees. Health Aff (Millwood). 2024 Sep; 43(9):1209-1218. PMID: 39226509.
Read At: PubMed
- Published on 6/15/2024
Murray Horwitz ME, Brédy GS, Schemm J, Battaglia TA, Yarrington CD, McCloskey L. Primary Care After Pregnancy Survey: Patient Preferences, Health Concerns, and Anticipated Barriers. Matern Child Health J. 2024 Aug; 28(8):1324-1329. PMID: 38878260.
Read At: PubMed
- Published on 3/4/2024
Safon CB, McCloskey L, Estela MG, Gordon SH, Cole MB, Clark J. Access to perinatal doula services in Medicaid: a case analysis of 2 states. Health Aff Sch. 2024 Mar; 2(3):qxae023. PMID: 38756922.
Read At: PubMed
- Published on 12/20/2023
Safon CB, McCloskey L, Gordon SH, Cole MB, Clark J. Medicaid Reimbursement for Doula Care: Policy Considerations From a Scoping Review. Med Care Res Rev. 2024 Aug; 81(4):311-326. PMID: 38124279.
Read At: PubMed
- Published on 4/5/2023
Horwitz MEM, Edwards CV, Athavale P, McCloskey L, Cabral HJ, Benjamin EJ, Handley MA. The STAR-MAMA RCT: Bilingual Mobile Health Coaching for Postpartum Weight Loss. Am J Prev Med. 2023 Oct; 65(4):596-607. PMID: 37028566.
Read At: PubMed
- Published on 11/1/2022
Amutah-Onukagha N, Abrams JA, Stewart CK, Black A, Rhone TJ, Kheyfets A, Nicholson V, Jeanty J, McCloskey L. Black maternal health scholars on fire: Building a network for collaboration and activism. Health Serv Res. 2023 Feb; 58(1):202-206. PMID: 36278805.
Read At: PubMed
- Published on 6/9/2022
Eilisha Manandhar, Sophie Brown, and Lois McCloskey. University of Minnesota, June 9, 2022. https://genderpolicyreport.umn.edu/reproductive-health/. Covid-19 Exposed Racial Inequities in Reproductive Health. Gender Policy Report, Center on Women, Gender and Public Policy. University of Minnisota. St. Paul. 2022; (June 2022).
Read At: Custom
- Published on 5/26/2021
Safon C, McCloskey L, Ezekwisili C, Feyman, Gordon S. Doula Care Saves lives, Improves Equity, and Empowers Mothers: State Medicaid Programs Should Pay for It DOI: 10.1377/hblog20210525.295915. Health Affairs Blog. 2021.
Read At: Custom
- Published on 5/9/2021
Lois McCloskey, Ann Celi, Chloe Bird, Linda Goler-Blount, Judith Bernstein. Mothers Need a Continuous System of Care even after Babies are Born. Newsweek. 2021.
Read At: Custom
- Published on 3/8/2021
McCloskey L, Bernstein J, The Bridging The Chasm Collaborative, Amutah-Onukagha N, Anthony J, Barger M, Belanoff C, Bennett T, Bird CE, Bolds D, Brenna BW, Carter R, Celi A, Chachere B, Crear-Perry J, Crossno C, Cruz-Davis A, Damus K, Dangel A, Depina Z, Deroze P, Dieujuste C, Dude A, Edmonds J, Enquobahrie D, Eromosele E, Ferranti E, Fitzmaurice M, Gebel C, Blount LG, Greiner A, Gullo S, Haddad A, Hall N, Handler A, Headen I, Heelan-Fancher L, Hernandez T, Johnson K, Jones E, Jones N, Klaman S, Lund B, Mallampalli M, Marcelin L, Marshall C, Maynard B, McCage S, Mitchell S, Molina R, Montasir S, Nicklas J, Northrup A, Norton A, Oparaeke E, Ramos A, Rericha S, Rios E, Bloch JR, Ryan C, Sarfaty S, Seely E, Souter V, Spain M, Spires R, Theberge S, Thompson T, Wachman M, Yarrington T, Yee LM, Zera C, Clayton J, Lachance C. Bridging the Chasm between Pregnancy and Health over the Life Course: A National Agenda for Research and Action. Womens Health Issues. 2021 May-Jun; 31(3):204-218. PMID: 33707142.
Read At: PubMed
View 83 more publications:View Full Profile at BUMC
News & In the Media
- Published on September 4, 2024
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Published on May 22, 2024
Mass General Brigham Pilot Program Delivers Care to New Mothers Right at Home
- Published on April 19, 2024
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Published on May 5, 2023
SPH Hosts Briefing for Massachusetts Joint Committee on Public Health
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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 July 7, 2022
Redesigned SPH Course Examines Disability Across the Lifecourse
- Published on June 25, 2022
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Published on May 10, 2021
Mothers Need a Continuous System of Care Even after Babies Are Born
- Published on March 8, 2021
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Published on February 4, 2021
Expanding Postpartum Medicaid Benefits to Combat Maternal Mortality and Morbidity
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Published on June 26, 2020
MCH Center of Excellence Offers New Training, Research, and Practice Opportunities
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Published on December 5, 2018
Wheelock Committee Holds Forum on Effects of Family Separation
- Published on November 21, 2018
- Published on September 14, 2018
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Published on July 18, 2018
A First of Its Kind Boston Conference Tackles Pregnancy and Women’s Health
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Published on July 17, 2018
A First of Its Kind Boston Conference Tackles Pregnancy and Women’s Health
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Published on July 11, 2018
Evaluating Maternal and Child Health in Post-Earthquake Nepal
- Published on February 23, 2017
- Published on December 16, 2016
- Published on December 14, 2016
- Published on October 25, 2016
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Published on July 5, 2016
Better Follow-Up Needed for Women after Gestational Diabetes
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Published on June 7, 2016
Clinicians’ Role in Contraception Guidance Seen as ‘Limited’
- Published on March 28, 2016
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Published on February 10, 2016
For Student Consultants on Food Security, a Place at the Table
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Published on June 11, 2015
Maternal and Child Health Program Named ‘Center of Excellence’