Kelli

O'Laughlin

MD, MPH, FACEP

biography

Dr. O'Laughlin is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine and Global Health. After Emergency Medicine residency training at UCLA, she joined the faculty in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.  She completed her MPH in International Health from Harvard School of Public Health, the Program in Clinical Effectiveness through the Harvard School of Public Health and a Research Fellowship with the Medical Practice Evaluation Center at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. O’Laughlin joined the University of Washington in 2019 and is a member of the Section of Population Health in the Department of Emergency Medicine. Dr. O’Laughlin is Affiliated Faculty at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative and the President of the Global Emergency Medicine Academy (GEMA) in the Society of Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM).

Dr. O’Laughlin is a global health research scientist focused on assessing the health needs of refugee populations and on designing and evaluating refugee-specific interventions to improve care. Presently she is implementing and evaluating an intervention to improve engagement in HIV care for refugees living in Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda (PI; K23MH108440). Dr. O’Laughlin is also investigating an interactive voice response (IVR) telephone-based COVID-19 symptom and exposure surveillance tool among refugees in Uganda. She aims to validate a prediction model with COVID-19 testing, assess knowledge and perceptions of risk and explore barriers and facilitators to risk mitigation strategy adoption among this population (PI; Elrha/R2HC). She is also studying assisted partner notification (APN) for HIV among refugees in West Nile Uganda using an implementation science approach (PI; UW/FH Center for AIDS Research).

While Dr. O’Laughlin is passionate in her pursuit to improve health outcomes for refugees, she is equally committed to developing this same enthusiasm and these skills in medical students, residents, and fellows. She has served as a mentor for numerous trainees and as the Director of the International Health Mentorship Program for the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency program. She was awarded the Scholars in Medicine Excellence in Student Mentoring Award from Harvard Medical School in 2019.

Education & Training: 

• MD, Oregon Health and Science University (1999-2003)
• Internship and Residency, Emergency Medicine Residency, UCLA Olive View (2007)
• MPH, Harvard School of Public Health (2008)

Honors: 

• Scholars in Medicine Excellence in Student Mentoring Award, Harvard2019

Research & Clinical Interests

Research

• Linkage to care in refugee populations

Publications