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. 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 on the Board of Directors of Physicians for Human Rights and is a member of the Committee for Human Rights at the National Academy of Sciences. He is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Dr. Earl’s principal research activity involves a large-scale epidemiological project examining the causes and consequences of children’s exposure to community and family violence. This project is situated in the city of Chicago, where a team of researchers is studying the physical health, educational and occupational achievement, and social relationships of children from birth to adulthood. Detailed attention is given to the social and physical characteristics of the neighborhoods in which they live and the schools they attend. The project represents one of the largest and most comprehensive studies of child and youth development ever undertaken. Dr. Earls and his colleagues are now also turning their attention to the psychosocial impacts of the HIV/AIDS pandemic on children. New studies are beginning in two locations in Tanzania to assess and monitor the health of orphaned 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. The work is aimed at helping to devise more effective community-based interventions to support the well-being of children in the context of this raging epidemic, and by doing so to prevent institutionalization, homelessness, and traumatic experiences for this group. All of the 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

  • Chicago epidemiological study of causes and consequences of children’s exposure to violence
  • Tanzania studies of impact of HIV/AIDS pandemic on children

Select Publications

  • Duarte C, Rizzini I, Hoven C, Carlson M and Earls F. Evolution of Child Rights Councils in Brazil, International Journal of Children’s Rights, 2007, 15: 269-282.
  • 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.