Image of MaryCatherine Elizabeth Arbour, MD

Mary Catherine Arbour, MD

Assistant Professor of Medicine
617-732-5540

MaryCatherine Arbour, MD, MPH is an Associate Physician at the Division of Global Health Equity, a Senior Research Associate at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, and an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She performs global health research aimed at designing and evaluating interdisciplinary, community-based interventions in resource-poor settings with the goal of reducing inequities around the world. She directs the health component of Un Buen Comienzo, a cluster-randomized controlled trial of a preschool health and education intervention in Santiago, Chile. Dr. Arbour also performs interventions and research in post-disaster settings, including post-tsunami Indonesia (2005), post-earthquake Haiti (2010), and post-earthquake Chile (2010). Dr. Arbour earned a BA in Biological Anthropology at Swarthmore College, an MD from Harvard Medical School and an MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health. 

Address

Brigham and Women' Hospital
Global Health Equity
75 Francis Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02115

Dr. Arbour’s research projects include:

  • The first national quality improvement collaborative for home visiting services (HV CoIIN, Home Visiting Collaboration for Improvement and Innovation Network, US Department of Maternal and Child Health), which improved services for low-income families with young children and outcomes in child developmental surveillance and screening, maternal depression, and breastfeeding. HV CoIIN 2.0 was funded to spread these improvements to 25 states and 250 home visiting programs.
  • Expansion of a universal, pediatric primary care approach that addresses social determinants of health by embedding a community health worker in a team that integrates representatives from and leverages the strengths of three sectors—early childhood, legal, and health (DULCE, Developmental Understanding and Legal Collaboration for Everyone),
  • Cluster-randomized trial of a school-based intervention to improve children’s health and learning in public preschools in Chile, subsequently scaled up through learning collaboratives and evaluated using quasi-experimental designs in latter expansion.
  • Post-disaster interventions and assessments, including after the 2005 tsunami in Indonesia, the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, and the 2010 earthquake in Chile.
Experimental impacts of a teacher professional development program in Chile on preschool classroom quality and child outcomes.
Authors: Authors: Yoshikawa H, Leyva D, Snow CE, Treviño E, Barata MC, Weiland C, Gomez CJ, Moreno L, Rolla A, D'Sa N, Arbour MC.
Dev Psychol
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A simplified echocardiographic strategy for heart failure diagnosis and management within an integrated noncommunicable disease clinic at district hospital level for sub-Saharan Africa.
Authors: Authors: Kwan GF, Bukhman AK, Miller AC, Ngoga G, Mucumbitsi J, Bavuma C, Dusabeyezu S, Rich ML, Mutabazi F, Mutumbira C, Ngiruwera JP, Amoroso C, Ball E, Fraser HS, Hirschhorn LR, Farmer P, Rusingiza E, Bukhman G.
JACC Heart Fail
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Addressing gender inequity in HIV care in rural Lesotho: the 'Male Initiative'.
Authors: Authors: Lesia N, Miller AC, Rigodon J, Joseph JK, Furin J.
Int Health
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Choosing the best child assessment instrument for a specific context: a methodology for engaging local experts applied in Chile.
Authors: Authors: Arbour M, Murray KA, Atwood SS, Murray M, Angel Cordero Vega M.
J Dev Behav Pediatr
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Gender differences in enrolment in an HIV-treatment programme in rural Lesotho, 2006-2008: a brief report.
Authors: Authors: Furin J, Miller AC, Lesia N, Cancedda C, Haidar M, Joseph K, Ramanagoaela L, Rigodon J.
Int J STD AIDS
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Alcohol use and the management of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in Tomsk, Russian Federation.
Authors: Authors: Miller AC, Gelmanova IY, Keshavjee S, Atwood S, Yanova G, Mishustin S, Furin JJ, Shin SS.
Int J Tuberc Lung Dis
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Hepatotoxicity during treatment for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis: occurrence, management and outcome.
Authors: Authors: Keshavjee S, Gelmanova IY, Shin SS, Mishustin SP, Andreev YG, Atwood S, Furin JJ, Miller A.
Int J Tuberc Lung Dis
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Excellent clinical outcomes and high retention in care among adults in a community-based HIV treatment program in rural Rwanda.
Authors: Authors: Rich ML, Miller AC, Niyigena P, Franke MF, Niyonzima JB, Socci A, Drobac PC, Hakizamungu M, Mayfield A, Ruhayisha R, Epino H, Stulac S, Cancedda C, Karamaga A, Niyonzima S, Yarbrough C, Fleming J, Amoroso C, Mukherjee J, Murray M, Farmer P, Binagwaho A.
J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr
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Lessons from the Chilean earthquake: how a human rights framework facilitates disaster response.
Authors: Authors: Arbour M, Murray K, Arriet F, Moraga C, Vega MC.
Health Hum Rights
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Aftershocks of Chile's earthquake for an ongoing, large-scale experimental evaluation.
Authors: Authors: Moreno L, Treviño E, Yoshikawa H, Mendive S, Reyes J, Godoy F, Del Río F, Snow C, Leyva D, Barata C, Arbour M, Rolla A.
Eval Rev
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