Adam C. Levine, MD, MPH

Director, Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies
Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine

Areas of Interest: Disasters, emerging infectious diseases, humanitarian emergencies, human rights.

Biography

Emerging and Re-emerging Epidemic Diseases: Dr. Levine has led a series of studies related to the management of epidemics, including cholera and ebola, in low-income and unstable settings worldwide. His NIH, CDC, and Gates Foundation funded work focuses on the development of new tools to aid local providers in caring for patients during disease outbreaks.

Civilian-Military Coordination in Humanitarian Response: Both local and international militaries are becoming more engaged in the response to humanitarian emergencies worldwide, though little research exists to help us understand how military and civilian actors coordinate in the field, as well as the perceptions of local communities. Dr. Levine leads two new funded projects exploring these questions in a variety of humanitarian settings.

Trauma Management in Austere Settings: Dr. Levine has conducted prior research on the management of traumatic injuries, both in resource-limited settings such as sub-Saharan Africa and during humanitarian emergencies. His research has focused on understanding the burden of injury in these contexts, as well as developing new strategies for improving the delivery of care to patients across the globe suffering from acute injuries.

Research

1. Cholera: Accurate and rapid assessment of dehydration status is critical to preventing morbidity and mortality in patients with epidemic cholera, yet the tools available to providers for diagnosing dehydration are limited. Previously, Dr. Levine conducted a series of studies in Rwanda and Bangladesh focused on the development of new tools for the assessment of dehydration in young children with acute diarrhea. Currently, he is the Primary Investigator for a large NIH-funded study that will develop and validate a novel mobile health tool for helping clinicians better manage cholera in older children and adults.
2. Ebola: From 2015-2016, Dr. Levine directed International Medical Corps’ Ebola Research Team, leading a series of retrospective and prospective studies in West Africa. Currently he is supporting the PALM Trial in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the largest clinical trial ever conducted of treatments for Ebola.
3. Improved Diagnostics for Global Health: Dr. Levine has 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 for the assessment of dehydration in children, as well as the use of oxygen saturation for predicting pneumonia, and biosensor patches for monitoring vital signs in patients with sepsis and Ebola.
4. Trauma Management in Austere Settings: Dr. Levine has conducted prior research on the management of traumatic injuries, both in resource-limited settings such as sub-Saharan Africa and during humanitarian emergencies. His research has focused on understanding the burden of injury in these contexts, as well as developing new strategies for improving the delivery of care to patients across the globe suffering from acute injuries.

Publications

1. Levine AC. Academics are from Mars, humanitarians are from Venus: Finding common ground to improve research during humanitarian emergencies. Clin Trials. 2016 Feb;13(1):79-82. doi: 10.1177/1740774515617935. Epub 2016 Jan 14. PubMed PMID: 26768562.1.

2. Balhara KS, Silvestri DM, Tyler Winders W, Selvam A, Kivlehan SM, Becker TK, Levine AC; Global Emergency Medicine Literature Review Group (GEMLR). Impact of nutrition interventions on pediatric mortality and nutrition outcomes in humanitarian emergencies: A systematic review. Trop Med Int Health. 2017 Dec;22(12):1464-1492. doi: 10.1111/tmi.12986. Epub 2017 Nov 20. Review. PubMed PMID: 28992388.

3. Lamontagne F, Fowler RA, Adhikari NK, Murthy S, Brett-Major DM, Jacobs M, Uyeki TM, Vallenas C, Norris SL, Fischer WA 2nd, Fletcher TE, Levine AC, Reed P, Bausch DG, Gove S, Hall A, Shepherd S, Siemieniuk RA, Lamah MC, Kamara R, Nakyeyune P, Soka MJ, Edwin A, Hazzan AA, Jacob ST, Elkarsany MM, Adachi T, Benhadj L, Clément C, Crozier I, Garcia A, Hoffman SJ, Guyatt GH. Evidence-based guidelines for supportive care of patients with Ebola virus disease. Lancet. 2018 Feb 17;391(10121):700-708. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)31795-6. Epub 2017 Oct 17. PubMed PMID: 29054555; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6636325.

4. Colubri A, Hartley MA, Siakor M, Wolfman V, Felix A, Sesay T, Shaffer JG, Garry RF, Grant DS, Levine AC, Sabeti PC. Machine-learning Prognostic Models from the 2014-16 Ebola Outbreak: Data-harmonization Challenges, Validation Strategies, and mHealth Applications. EClinicalMedicine. 2019 Jun 22;11:54-64. doi: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2019.06.003. eCollection 2019 May-Jun. PubMed PMID: 31312805; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6610774.

5. Morelli M, Cyrus G, Weissbecker I, Kpangbai J, Mallow M, Leichner A, Ryan E, Wener R, Gao J, Antigua J, Levine AC, Feuchte F. Recovering from the Ebola crisis: 'Social Reconnection Groups' in a rural Liberian community. Glob Ment Health (Camb). 2019 Aug 13;6:e17. doi: 10.1017/gmh.2019.13. eCollection 2019. PubMed PMID: 31531227; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6737586.

6. Mulangu S, Dodd LE, Davey RT Jr, Tshiani Mbaya O, Proschan M, Mukadi D, Lusakibanza Manzo M, Nzolo D, Tshomba Oloma A, Ibanda A, Ali R, Coulibaly S, Levine AC, Grais R, Diaz J, Lane HC, Muyembe-Tamfum JJ; PALM Writing Group; PALM Consortium Study Team. A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Ebola Virus Disease Therapeutics. N Engl J Med. 2019 Nov 27. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1910993. PubMed PMID:  31774950.

7. Evans NG, Hills KE, Levine AC. How Should the WHO Guide Infectious Disease Research and Clinical Practice During Outbreaks? AMA Journal of Ethics, 2020 Jan; 22(1): E27-35.

Teaching

PHP 1802S: Human Security and Humanitarian Response

Brown-PDRF Humanitarian Field Program