Felton Earls, MD

Educational History

  • 1967: MD Howard University College of Medicine
  • 1963: BS Howard University

Felton Earls is professor of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Human Behavior and Development at Harvard School of Public Health. He joined the Harvard Medical School faculty in 1974, became the Blanche F. Ittleson Professor of Child Psychiatry and director of the Division of Child Psychiatry at Washington University in St. Louis in 1981, and returned to Harvard in 1989. Dr. Earls is a member of the Committee for Human Rights at the National Academy of Sciences and a member of the Institute of Medicine. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Academy of Political and Social Science and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

From 1990 to 2005, Dr. Earls was Principal Investigator of a large-scale epidemiological project examining the causes and consequences of children’s exposure to community and family violence. This project was situated in the city of Chicago, where a team of researchers studied the physical health, educational and occupational achievement, and social relationships of children from birth to adulthood. Detailed attention was given to the social and physical characteristics of the neighborhoods in which they lived. The project represents one of the largest and most comprehensive studies of child and youth development ever undertaken. Dr. Earls and his colleagues have now turned their attention to the psychosocial impacts of the HIV/AIDS pandemic on children. Using methods developed for the Chicago study, an analysis of the role of community attitudes and perceptions about the disease and its impact on children is underway in Tanzania. The work is aimed at helping to devise more effective community-based interventions to support the well-being of children. All of his research is conceived from the perspectives of child rights and health promotion.

Research Interests

  • Child and youth development and health
  • Causes and consequences of children's exposure to violence
  • Psychosocial impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic on children

Current Projects

  • Tanzania studies of impact of HIV/AIDS pandemic on children
  • From child rights to child citizenship

Select Publications

  • Brennan RB, Molnar B and Earls F. Refining the measurement of exposure to violence. Journal. of Community Psychology, 2007, 35:603-618.
  • Kamo N, Carlson M, Brennan R and Earls F. Young citizens as health agents: Use of drama in promoting community efficacy for HIV/AIDS. American Journal of Public Health, 2008, 98:201-204.
  • Msisha WM, Kapiga SH, Earls F and Subramanian SV. Place matters: multilevel investigation of HIV distribution in Tanzania, AIDS, 2008, 22:741-748.
  • Earls F, Raviola G J and Carlson M. Promoting child mental health in the context of the HIV/AIDS pandemic with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2008, 49:295-312.
  • Earls F. Darwin and Lincoln: their legacy of human dignity. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 2010, 53, 3-15.
  • Earls F. The Child as Citizen, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Volume 633, January 2011, Los Angeles: Sage Publishers.