Deborah A. Frank, MD

DAF

 

Founder and Principal Investigator

Email: dafrank(at)bu.edu
Tel:     (617) 414-5251 

 

 


Deborah A. Frank is the Founder and Principal Investigator of Children’s HealthWatch.  Her research interests include examining cumulative risk factors in children’s household, such as food, energy, and housing insecurity and their impact on children’s health and development.

Prior to starting Children's HealthWatch, Dr. Frank was a staff physician in the Growth and Development Clinic, Failure to Thrive Team at Children's Hospital Medical Center in Boston, MA.  She is currently the Director of the Grow Clinic for Children at the Boston Medical Center and is Professor of Child Health and Well-Being at Boston University School of Medicine. 

Dr. Frank received her BA summa cum laude from Radcliffe College in Social Relations and her MD from Harvard Medical School.  She completed her pediatric residency at Children's Orthopedia Hospital in Seattle, WA and her fellowship in Child Development with Dr. T. Berry Brazelton at Children's Hospital Medical Center in Boston, MA.

Areas of Expertise:

Awards:

Dr. Frank received the Children's Champion Award from the U.S. Committee of UNICEF in 1986, the U.S. Mayor's End Hunger Award in 1991, the Woman Leader Award in 2002, and the Exceptional Women Award in 2002.

Selected peer-reviewed publications

  • Cook JT, Frank DA .Food Security, Poverty, and Human Development in the United States. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (Online Early Articles).  doi:10.1196/annals.1425.001
  • Rose-Jacobs, R, Black MM, Casey, PH, Cook JT, Cutts, DB, Chilton M, Heeren, T.  Levenson, SM, Meyers AF, Frank DA.  Household Food Insecurity: Associations with At-Risk Infant and Toddler Development. Pediatrics.121:65-72, January 2008.
  • Frank DA, Neault NB, Skalicky A, Cook JT. Wilson JD, Levenson S, Meyers AF, Heeren T, Cutts DB, Casey PH, Black MM. Berkowitz C. Heat or eat: the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program and Nutritional and Health Risks among Children less than 3 Years of Age. Pediatrics. 118:e1293-302, November 2006.
  • Cook JT, Frank DA, Levenson SM, Neault NB, Heeren TC, Black MM, Berkowitz C, Casey PH, Meyers AF, Cutts DB, Chilton M: Child Food Insecurity Increases Risks Posed by Household Food Insecurity to Young Children’s Health. Journal of Nutrition. 136: 298-304, April 2006.
  • Skalicky A, Meyers A, Adams W, Yang Z, Cook JT, Frank DA: Child Food Insecurity and Iron Deficiency Anemia in Low-Income Infants and Toddlers in the United States. Maternal and Child Health Journal. 10:177-184, March 2006.
  • Meyers A, Cutts D, Frank DA, Levenson S, Skalicky A, Heeren T, Cook J, Berkowitz C, Black M, Casey P, Zaldivar N.  Subsidized Housing and Children’s Nutritional Status.  Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine. 159: 551-6, June 2005.
  • Casey P, Goolsby S, Berkowitz C, Frank DA, Cook J, Cutts D, Black MM, Zaldivar N, Skalicky A, Levenson S, Heeren T, Meyers A, and the C-SNAP Study Group: Maternal Depression, Changing Public Assistance, Food Security, and Child Health Status. Pediatrics. 113: 298-304, 2004. 
  • Black MM, Cutts DB, Frank DA, Geppert J, Skalicky A, Levenson S, Casey PH, Berkowitz C, Zaldivar N, Cook JT, Meyers AF, Herren T, Children’s Sentinel Nutritional Assessment Program Study Group: Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children Participation and Infants’ Growth and Health.  Journal of Pediatrics. 114: 169-76, July 2004.
  • Cook JT, Frank DA, Berkowitz C, Black MM, Casey PH, Cutts DB, Meyers AF, Zaldivar N, Skalicky A, Levenson S, Heeren T, Nord M  Food Insecurity is Associated with Adverse Health Outcomes Among Human Infants and Toddlers.  Journal of Nutrition. 134: 1432-8, June 2004.
  • Cook JT, Frank DA, Berkowitz C, Black MM, Casey, PH, Cutts DB, Meyers AF, Zaldivar N, Skalicky A, Levenson, S, Heeren T. Welfare Reform an the Health of Young Children. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 156:678-684, 2002.