On Thursday, February 27, seven Master of Public Affairs (MPA) Director's Fellows presented the results of a semester of research working with Watson faculty and other international and public affairs professionals.
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Adam C. Levine, MD, MPH, FACEP
Director, Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies, Professor of Emergency Medicine and International and Public Affairs
Stephen Robert Hall, Room 214
Areas of Expertise
Ethnic Conflict & Civil War, Global Health, Human Rights
Areas of Interest
Disasters, emerging infectious diseases, humanitarian emergencies, human rights
Biography
Dr. Adam C. Levine is a Professor of Emergency Medicine and International and Public Affairs at Brown University. Dr. Levine currently serves as the Associate Dean of Global Health Equity within the Brown University Division of Biology and Medicine. Dr. Levine received his Medical Doctorate from the University of California, San Francisco and his Masters of Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley before completing specialty training in Emergency Medicine and Humanitarian Studies at Harvard University. He has previously led research and training initiatives in East and West Africa and South and South-East Asia. His federal and foundation-funded research focuses on improving emergency care in low resource settings and during public health emergencies, while his clinical work focuses on the care of unsheltered populations in Rhode Island.
Research
1. Civilian-Military Humanitarian Coordination: I have served as PI for a series of United Nations, federal, and foundation funded research exploring issues related to civilian-military coordination in humanitarian emergencies, particularly related to public health emergencies in conflict.
2. Ebola Virus Disease (EVD): I previously served as Principal Investigator for International Medical Corps’ Ebola Research Team in West Africa as well as on the Global Trial Board for the WHO/NIH led PALM Trial to identify the first treatments for EVD. Our research has led to the development of new tools that front-line health workers can use to diagnose and manage patients with EVD in the context of an epidemic, as well as expanding our understanding of this deadly disease.
3. COVID-19 Pandemic Response: I was site PI for the largest trial to demonstrate the effectiveness of early convalescent plasma treatment for decreasing hospitalizations in patients with COVID-19, as well as first author of an international meta-analysis confirming these results. I have also led studies on COVID-19 response and vaccine hesitancy in low and middle-income countries.
4. Global Diarrheal Disease: Despite tremendous progress over the past several decades, diarrheal diseases remain a leading cause of death in both children and adults worldwide. I conducted a series of studies in Rwanda, Bangladesh, Tanzania, and the United States focusing on the development of new tools for the assessment of dehydration in children and adults with acute diarrhea.
5. Improved Diagnostics for Global Health: I have also carried out a series of studies investigating the novel use of cost-effective diagnostic technologies for managing the most common causes of death in children and adults worldwide. This includes several studies on the use of handheld, portable ultrasound and wearable biosensor patches for monitoring vital signs in patients with infectious diseases. Improved diagnostics can help clinicians in resource-limited settings provide the effective care for patients while limiting the overuse of precious health care resources.
6. Trauma Management in Low Resource Settings: I have conducted prior research on the management of traumatic injuries, both in low resource settings and during humanitarian emergencies. My research has focused on understanding the burden of injury in these contexts, as well as developing novel methods for improving the delivery of care to patients across the globe suffering from acute injuries.
Publications
Boland ST, Nylen A, Bates M, Alejandria MC, Grace R, Tayyeb Z, Levine AC. Armed actor interventions in humanitarian and public health crises: examining perspectives of crisis-affected community members. Confl Health. 2024 Apr 18;18(1):33. doi: 10.1186/s13031-024-00593-6. PMID: 38632646; PMCID: PMC11025275.
Mamun GM, Moretti K, Afroze F, Brintz BJ, Rahman AS, Gainey M, Sarmin M, Shaima SN, Chisti MJ, Levine AC, Garbern SC. Modelling climate impacts on paediatric sepsis incidence and severity in Bangladesh. J Glob Health. 2024 Jul 19;14:04107. doi: 10.7189/jogh.14.04107. PMID: 39024619; PMCID: PMC11257703.
Garbern SC, Mamun GMS, Shaima SN, Hakim N, Wegerich S, Alla S, Sarmin M, Afroze F, Sekaric J, Genisca A, Kadakia N, Shaw K, Rahman ASMMH, Gainey M, Ahmed T, Chisti MJ, Levine AC. A novel digital health approach to improving global pediatric sepsis care in Bangladesh using wearable technology and machine learning. PLOS Digit Health. 2024 Oct 30;3(10):e0000634. doi: 10.1371/journal.pdig.0000634. PMID: 39475844; PMCID: PMC11524492.
Jones A, Ahmed SM, Platts-Mills JA, Kotloff KL, Levine AC, Nelson EJ, Pavia AT, Khan AI, Leung DT. Etiology of Severely Dehydrating Diarrheal Illness in Infants and Young Children Residing in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2024 Oct 11;11(11):ofae619. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofae619. PMID: 39494449; PMCID: PMC11530959.
Yeabah TO, Kaba I, Ramaswamy G, Dahal P, Delamou A, Vonhm BT, Jetoh RW, Merson L, Levine AC, Relan P, Harries AD, Kumar AMV. Factors associated with death in patients admitted with Ebola virus disease to Ebola Treatment Units in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia - December 2013 to March 2016. F1000Res. 2025 Mar 3;13:672. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.149612.2. PMID: 40046245; PMCID: PMC11880755.
Karim N, Nyinawankusi JD, Belsky MS, Mugemangango P, Mutabazi Z, Gonzalez Marques C, Zhang AY, Baird J, Marie Uwitonze J, Levine AC. Needs Assessment and Tailored Training Pilot for Emergency Care Clinicians in the Prehospital Setting in Rwanda. West J Emerg Med. 2025 Jan;26(1):103-110. doi: 10.5811/westjem.18698. PMID: 39918149; PMCID: PMC11908519.
Nylen AJ, Deluca G, Bala B, Charvis JS, Tanzer JR, Bah O, Levine AC. Then, We Lost Everything:' Afghan Refugee Mental Health Challenges Post-2021 Evacuation. J Immigr Minor Health. 2025 Apr;27(2):251-257. doi: 10.1007/s10903-024-01640-3. Epub 2025 Jan 4. PMID: 39755900; PMCID: PMC11903503.
Qu K, Gainey M, Kanekar SS, Nasrim S, Nelson EJ, Garbern SC, Monjory M, Alam NH, Levine AC, Schmid CH. Comparing the predictive discrimination of machine learning models for ordinal outcomes: A case study of dehydration prediction in patients with acute diarrhea. PLOS Digit Health. 2025 May 6;4(5):e0000820. doi: 10.1371/journal.pdig.0000820. PMID: 40327713; PMCID: PMC12054866.
Teaching
IAPA 1802S: Human Security and Humanitarian Response
Recent News
In Nature, Adam Levine discusses the need for global preparedness as outbreaks of animal-transmitted diseases like Marburg become increasingly frequent.
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News from Watson
Alumni Spotlight: Laura Cianciolo ’24 MPA
Laura Cianciolo, who earned her Master of Public Affairs at the Watson Institute in 2024, credits her Watson-acquired expertise in statistics, econometrics, data visualization, problem-solving skills and interdisciplinary problem-solving with empowering her to conduct more sophisticated and meaningful research.
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In a new paper, a team of researchers led by members of the Watson Institute's Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies found that civil society organizations in the Global South played a critical role in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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This year six Watson research proposals were awarded a total of $121,486 in Birkelund Funds. The funds are used to support faculty research — especially in the early stages — and to encourage student engagement in research.
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In an article for NBC News, Adam Levine discussed the risk of tainted water in war zones, noting that in other conflicts around the world, infectious diseases actually kill more civilians than bombs or bullets.
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