Back to Results

Laurel K. Leslie, MD, MPH Accepting New Patients


Training + Education University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; San Diego State University; University of California, San Francisco
Board Certifications Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics, Pediatrics
NPI # 1417996273
Gender Female
Language(s) Spanish
Accepted Insurances View Accepted Insurances at Tufts Medical Center

Tufts Medical Center
755 Washington St., #334
Boston, MA 02111
Phone #: 617-636-8100
Fax #: 617-636-5621

2001 National Consortium for Leadership in Academic Medicine Award, for 9 months of intensive leadership training for junior faculty at University of California, San Francisco

2004 Blue Cross of California Recognition Award, for community education to primary care clinicians and school nurses on ADHD

2005 John B. Welsh Lecturer, University of California, San Diego, Department of Pediatrics

2006 Delta Omega Honorary Public Health Society, nominated by San Diego State University Graduate School of Public Health

2012 CHF Rapp Foundation Visiting Professorship, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics

1. Leslie LK, Maciolek S, Biebel K, Debourdes G, Nicholson J. ”Exploring knowledge exchange at the research-policy-practice interface in children’s behavioral health services.” Admin and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research. In press.

2. Leslie LK, * Rodday AM, Saunders TS, Cohen JT, Wong JB, Sheldrick RC, Parsons SK. Survey of U.S. child and adolescent psychiatrists’ cardiac screening practices prior to starting stimulants. J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol. 2012 Oct;22(5):375-84. doi: 10.1089/cap.2011.0141.

3. Concannon TW, Meissner P, Grunbaum JA, McElwee N, Guise JM, Santa J, Conway PH, * Daudelin D, Morrato EH, Leslie LK. A new taxonomy for stakeholder engagement in patient-centered outcomes research. J Gen Intern Med. 2012 Aug;27(8):985-91. Epub 2012 Apr 13 [ahead of print]. PMID: 22528615.

4. Leslie LK, Cohen JT, Newburger JW, Alexander ME, Wong JB, Sherwin E, * Rodday AM, Parsons SK, Triedman JK. Costs and benefits of targeted screening for causes of sudden cardiac death in children and adolescents. Circulation. 2012 May 29;125(21):2621-9. Epub 2012 May 3. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.111.087940.

5. * Rodday AM, Triedman JK, Alexander ME, Cohen JT, Ip S, Newburger JW, Parsons SK, Trikalinos TA, Wong JB, Leslie LK. Electrocardiogram screening for disorders that cause Sudden Cardiac Death in asymptomatic children: A meta-analysis. Pediatrics. 2012;129(4):e999-e1010. Epub 2012 Mar 5. PMID: 22392183.

6. Leslie LK, Raghavan R, * Hurley M, Zhang J, Landsverk J, Aarons G. Investigating geographic variation in use of psychotropic medications among youth in child welfare. Child Abuse Negl. 2011;35(5):333-342. PMID: 21620160

7. Leslie LK, Slaw KM, Edwards A, * Starmer AJ, Duby JC; Members of Vision of Pediatrics 2020 Task Force. Peering into the future: Pediatrics in a changing world. Pediatrics. 2010;126(5):982-988. PMID: 20956417. Available at: www.pediatrics.org/cgi/doi/10.1542/peds.2010-1890

8. Leslie LK, * Lambros KM, Aarons GA, * Haine RA, Hough RL. School-based service use by youth with ADHD in public sector settings. J Emot Behav Disord. 2008;16(3):163-177.

9. Leslie LK, * Plemmons D, * Monn A, Palinkas LA. Investigating ADHD treatment trajectories: Listening to families' stories about medication use. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2007;28(3):179-188. PMID: 17565284

10. Leslie LK, Aarons G, Haine R, Hough RA. Caregiver depression and medication use by youths with ADHD who receive services in the public sector. Psychiatr Serv. 2007;58(1):131-134. PMID: 17215424

Dr. Leslie’s areas of clinical, research, and policy work broadly address the effective development and implementation of evidence-informed care targeting children and adolescents with health, developmental, and behavioral concerns cared for in community settings such as pediatric outpatient care, child welfare/child protective services, and schools. She prioritizes fostering exchange between researchers, patients/families, practitioners, and policymakers regarding the identification and treatment of pediatric mental health and developmental disorders. She also prioritizes mentoring and teaching individuals across the educational trajectory, beginning in the undergraduate years and continuing through graduate school and/or junior faculty positions.

Research equipment at Tufts Medical Center in Boston.

Tufts MC to study options for adolescents with high cholesterol.

$1 million awarded in Adolescent high cholesterol research

Dr. Leslie directs the Program for Assessing and Implementing Medical and Mental Health Services in Pediatrics (AIMS) within the Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies (ICRHPS). Affiliated faculty and staff work at the research-policy-practice interface. Research areas of interest broadly address the effective development and implementation of evidence-informed care targeting children and adolescents with health, developmental, and behavioral concerns cared for in community settings such as pediatric outpatient care, child welfare/child protective services, and schools.

Methodologies employed are broad; for example, AIMS recently completed a two –year National Institutes of Health (NIH) Stimulus Challenge Grant (RC1) applying evidence-based synthesis and decision analysis to examine the comparative effectiveness of cardiac screening practices prior to beginning stimulant medications for the treatment of ADHD. AIMS currently is funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to apply similar techniques to the issue of universal cholesterol screening in adolescents. Examples of other methodologies include quantitative surveys to study the use antipsychotics among children with ADHD and qualitative case study methods to investigate the use of research evidence in the development of the Children’s Behavioral Health Initiative in Massachusetts.

AIMS also has developed substantial body of work on the developmental and mental health care of youth active to child welfare/child protective services, including the use of psychotropic medications. Current funding through the William T. Grant Foundation examines the use of available research evidence as well as quality improvement efforts to implement psychotropic medication oversight systems across state child welfare agencies in the U.S. Dr. Leslie and her staff have served as expert consultants to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and to the federal Administration on Children and Families, the Food and Drug Administration, The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Dr. Leslie also serves as Director of the Program on Aligning Researchers and Communities for Health (ARCH) at the Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI). Under her directorship, ARCH has developed research participation capacity building training programs for community leaders, developed on-line training modules on stakeholder engagement in comparative effectiveness research, and implemented quality improvement collaboratives.

Dr. Leslie's expertise in behavioral and developmental pediatrics and in pediatrics more broadly is recognized nationally; work with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and National Initiative on Children's Healthcare Quality (NICHQ) includes development of an ADHD toolkit; the eQIPP interactive, web-based CME module on ADHD; and efforts on the Task Force on Foster Care. She also maintains an active interest in the future of pediatric practice and education.

She has participated in the Task Force on the Future of Pediatric Education II (FOPE II), the Pediatric Leadership Alliance, the American Board of Pediatrics' Residency Review and Redesign Project (R3P), and the AAP’s Vision of Pediatrics Task Force. Dr. Leslie was recently elected as a member of the Board of Directors at the American Board of Pediatrics. In addition, she has conducted leadership training workshops for the AAP, American Medical Association, and the Veteran’s Administration as well as for international sites.