Information

Related Research Units

Emergency Medicine Research

Research Overview

Dr. Niescierenko focuses her research on the provision of healthcare in humanitarian settings through system development, the development of emergency care systems for children as well as the role of children in humanitarian crises. Focusing in implementation and evaluation of health programs. Current and recent works include:

  • Global Health Cluster/World Health Organization Study Strengthening Global Capacity for Emergency Health Action with Avenir Avenir Analytics
  • Implementing a pediatric residency program with the Ministry of Health in Liberia. Supported by the Government of Liberia and the World Bank.
  • Assessing quality of hospital services for Palestinian in Lebanon for the United National Relief and Works Agency with Avenir Analytics
  • Implementing post ebola emergency care and infection control in the government hospital system of Liberia funded by the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention
  • Implementing quality improvement in the government hospital system of Liberia funded by the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention
  • Implementing ebola emergency response in the government of Liberia hospitals providing infection control and WASH support through training, mentorship, supplies and infrastructure funded by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation
  • Assessed cross border health humanitarian aid provision in Northern Syria supported by Harvard Humanitarian Initiative

Research Background

Michelle Niescierenko, MD, MPH is a Pediatric Emergency Medicine physician, director of the Global Health Program at Boston Children’s Hospital and Health Specialist with Avenir Analytics. The Boston Children's Global Health Program works to improve child health globally through partnerships for clinical quality improvement, education, research and advocacy in over 30 countries around the world. Avenir Analytics health focus on high quality humanitarian health systems interventions. She has experience in pediatric care and program development in China, Bolivia, Lesotho, Ghana, Guatemala, Indonesia, Lebanon, Liberia, Nigeria, Uganda, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Syria. In Liberia she provided pediatric humanitarian aid in the immediate post-conflict setting partnering local remaining infrastructure to US academic institutions for the last 8 years. Through these partnerships, sustainable programs for health system rebuilding including physician education and care for vulnerable children were developed in Liberia. During the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak she led the Liberian hospital public health response utilizing a rapid deployment of training done by local healthcare workers. This work continued into Liberia’s recovery phase with implementation of a national program for hospital quality improvement and emergency care training.

 

Education

Undergraduate School

Ithaca College
2002 Ithaca NY

Medical School

University of Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
2006 Buffalo NY

Internship

Boston Children's Hospital/Boston Medical Center
2007 Boston MA

Residency

Boston Combined Residency Program (BCRP)
2009 Boston MA

Fellowship

Boston Children's Hospital
2015 Boston MA

Graduate School

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
2016 Boston MA

Publications

  1. A novel tool for assessing pediatric emergency care in low- and middle-income countries: a pilot study. Int J Emerg Med. 2025 Jan 16; 18(1):15. View Abstract
  2. Designing, implementing and evaluating multidisciplinary healthcare training programmes in the wartime humanitarian context of Ukraine. Emerg Med J. 2025 Jan 02. View Abstract
  3. Expanding trauma education during war: pediatric trauma fundamentals training in Ukraine. Front Public Health. 2024; 12:1448075. View Abstract
  4. Morbidity and unplanned healthcare encounters after hospital discharge among young children in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Monrovia, Liberia. BMJ Paediatr Open. 2024 Jun 21; 8(1). View Abstract
  5. Derivation and Internal Validation of a Novel Risk Assessment Tool to Identify Infants and Young Children at Risk for Post-Discharge Mortality in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Monrovia, Liberia. J Pediatr. 2024 Oct; 273:114147. View Abstract
  6. Identifying neonates at risk for post-discharge mortality in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Monrovia, Liberia: Derivation and internal validation of a novel risk assessment tool. BMJ Open. 2024 02 15; 14(2):e079389. View Abstract
  7. Pediatric procedural sedation in African clinical settings: A mixed methods study of African providers' sedation practices. Afr J Emerg Med. 2023 Sep; 13(3):204-209. View Abstract
  8. Predictive value of clinician impression for readmission and postdischarge mortality among neonates and young children in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Monrovia, Liberia. BMJ Paediatr Open. 2023 06; 7(1). View Abstract
  9. Association of State-Level Tax Policy and Infant Mortality in the United States, 1996-2019. JAMA Netw Open. 2023 04 03; 6(4):e239646. View Abstract
  10. Systematic review and meta-analysis of the diagnostic value of four biomarkers in detecting neonatal sepsis in low- and middle-income countries. BMJ Paediatr Open. 2023 01; 7(1). View Abstract
  11. Cash transfers and nutrition education to improve dietary diversity among children aged 6-23 months in Grand Gedeh County, Liberia: a cluster-randomized trial. J Trop Pediatr. 2022 10 06; 68(6). View Abstract
  12. Surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis among surgical patients: results from a retrospective observational study at a public hospital in Liberia. BMJ Open. 2022 07 13; 12(7):e059018. View Abstract
  13. "I Want to be President of Liberia": Reflections on Pediatric Cancer Management in West Africa. Glob Pediatr Health. 2022; 9:2333794X221107828. View Abstract
  14. A Prospective, observational cohort study to identify neonates and children at risk of postdischarge mortality in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Monrovia, Liberia: the PPDM study protocol. BMJ Paediatr Open. 2022 01; 6(1). View Abstract
  15. Implementation of a pediatric early warning score tool in a pediatric oncology Ward in Palestine. BMC Health Serv Res. 2021 Oct 26; 21(1):1159. View Abstract
  16. Where there is no local author: a network bibliometric analysis of authorship parasitism among research conducted in sub-Saharan Africa. BMJ Glob Health. 2021 10; 6(10). View Abstract
  17. The Impact of Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Improvements on Hand Hygiene at Two Liberian Hospitals during the Recovery Phase of an Ebola Epidemic. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 03 25; 18(7). View Abstract
  18. Pediatric nurses' perceptions of preparedness for global health fieldwork. J Spec Pediatr Nurs. 2020 10; 25(4):e12304. View Abstract
  19. Emergency Medicine Training Programs in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review. Ann Glob Health. 2020 06 16; 86(1):60. View Abstract
  20. Understanding the Predictors that Contribute to Liberian Health Care Workers Feeling Protected From Ebola While at Work. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2021 10; 15(5):589-594. View Abstract
  21. Improving Pediatric Academic Global Health Collaborative Research and Agenda Setting: A Mixed-Methods Study. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2020 03; 102(3):649-657. View Abstract
  22. Importance of authorship and inappropriate authorship assignment in paediatric research in low- and middle-income countries. Trop Med Int Health. 2019 10; 24(10):1229-1242. View Abstract
  23. Strengthening healthcare workforce capacity during and post Ebola outbreaks in Liberia: an innovative and effective approach to epidemic preparedness and response. Pan Afr Med J. 2019; 33(Suppl 2):9. View Abstract
  24. Neglected tropical diseases in children: An assessment of gaps in research prioritization. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2019 01; 13(1):e0007111. View Abstract
  25. Academic Medical Support to the Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak in Liberia. Acad Med. 2017 12; 92(12):1674-1679. View Abstract
  26. Partnerships for Global Child Health. Pediatrics. 2017 10; 140(4). View Abstract
  27. Health-Care Access during the Ebola Virus Epidemic in Liberia. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2017 Sep; 97(3):931-936. View Abstract
  28. Surgical Care in Liberia and Implications for Capacity Building. World J Surg. 2015 Sep; 39(9):2140-6. View Abstract
  29. Academic Institutions' Critical Guidelines for Health Care Workers Who Deploy to West Africa for the Ebola Response and Future Crises. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2015 Oct; 9(5):586-90. View Abstract
  30. A Successful US Academic Collaborative Supporting Medical Education in a Postconflict Setting. Glob Pediatr Health. 2014; 1:2333794X14563383. View Abstract
  31. Sign me up: rules of the road for humanitarian volunteers during the Ebola outbreak. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2015 Feb; 9(1):88-9. View Abstract
  32. Advances in pediatric dehydration therapy. Curr Opin Pediatr. 2013 Jun; 25(3):304-9. View Abstract
  33. Insuring the uninsured: A student-run initiative to improve access to care in an urban community. J Natl Med Assoc. 2006 Jun; 98(6):906-11. View Abstract
  34. Medical Students Providing Access to Health Care in an Urban Free Clinic. American Association of Medical Colleges Annual Meeting. 2005. View Abstract
  35. Bilateral Breast Reconstruction with TRAM Flaps: Do the Ends Justify the Means?. Journal Of Reconstructive Microsurgery/American Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery. 2005; 21. View Abstract
  36. Insuring the Uninsured: a medical student run initiative to improve access to care in an urban community. North American Primary Care Research Group National Meeting. 2004. View Abstract
  37. Evaluation of preventative fungal treatment in fathead minnow (Pimephales Promelas) larval survival and growth. National Collegiate Undergraduate Research Conference. 2002. View Abstract
  38. Effect of habitat degradation on the repruductive success of the fathead minnow (Pimephales Promelas). Tri-Beta Section VII Research Symposium. 2002. View Abstract
  39. Evaluation of preventative fungal treatments in fathead minnow (Pimephales Promelas) larval survival and growth. Bios. 2001; 72(4). View Abstract
  40. The Role of 17 Beta-estradiol in the female fathead minnow (Pimephales Promelas) reproduction in relation to stress. National Collegiate Honors Council. 2001. View Abstract

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