Ethnographic and other qualitative research on health belief and behavior; laypersons' expectations and experiences of health, illness, and care; use of Complementary/Alternative Medicine (CAM) and Integrative Medicine/Integrative Health Care (IM/IHC); cultural and cross cultural issues and interactions in health care and bioethics; nurse-physician communication; physician attitudes to CAM and IM/IHC; resident education; inter-professional communication in health care
Research Statement
Ethnographic and other qualitative research on health belief and behavior; laypersons' expectations and experiences of health, illness, and care; use of Complementary/
Alternative Medicine (CAM) and Integrative Medicine/Integrative Health Care (IM/IHC); cultural and cross cultural issues and interactions in health care and bioethics; nurse-physician communication; physician attitudes to CAM and IM/IHC; resident education.
Funded Research
Warner Lambert, Inc.: Feasibility study: Folk healing traditions as potential sources of developable pharmaceutical and nutritional substances; 1991, one year, $5,000. (Principal Investigator, Bonnie B. O'Connor, PhD).
University of Pennsylvania Research Foundation (in conjunction with the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics): "Alternative and Complementary Therapies for HIV Infection, ARC and AIDS: The Social and Policy Implications." 1991, two years, $20,000. (Principal Investigators, Warwick H. Anderson, MD and Bonnie B. O'Connor, PhD).
The Pew Charitable Trusts: "Bridging the Gaps: Philadelphia Community Health Internship Program, Medical College of Pennsylvania Component," 1992, two years, $314,338. (Principal investigator, Eddy A. Bresnitz, MD; Co-Investigators, Harriet Rubenstein, JD, Bonnie B. O'Connor PhD).
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health: Generalist Training Initiative Development Grant, 1993, one year, $150,233. (Principal Investigator, Mary Ann Kuzma, MD; B O'Connor PhD, Program Faculty).
National Institutes of Health/National Heart, Blood, and Lung Institute (NIH/NHBLI): Tuberculosis Academic Award, #SK07 RL03013-03, 1994, five years, $424,225. (Principal Investigator, Matthew Levison, MD; B O'Connor PhD, Core Faculty).
Multiple funders (joint fundraising by five academic health institutions in Philadelphia [Philadelphia Bridging the Gaps Consortium]; see Appendix B in Curriculum Vitae for annual listing of specific funders): "Bridging the Gaps: Community Health Summer Internship Program." Annual amounts: 1994$718,793; 1995$699,632; 1996$668,383; 1997$657,147; 1998$671,666. (Principal Investigator: Philadelphia Bridging the Gaps Consortium; B O'Connor, PhD, Core Faculty).
The Nathan Cummings Foundation: "Assessment and Treatment of Quality of Life in Black Women with Breast Cancer," 1994, three years, $182,000. (Principal Investigators, Ruth Lamdan, MD, Kathryn Taylor, PhD; B O'Connor, PhD, multiculturalist and qualitative methodology consultant).
Mary DeWitt Pettit Fellowship of the Alumnae/I Association of the Medical College of Pennsylvania: "Assessment and Treatment of Quality of Life of an Underserved Population of Breast Cancer Patients," 1994, two years, $10,000. (Principal Investigators, Ruth Lamdan, MD, Kathryn Taylor, PhD; B O'Connor, PhD, multiculturalist, qualitative methodology consultant).
Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE): "Human Diversity Training for Medical Students," 1994, three years, $293,158. (Principal Investigator, David Hufford, PhD [Penn State University, Hershey College of Medicine]; B O'Connor, PhD, multiculturalist and health belief systems consultant).
National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIH/NIEHS): Environmental/Occupational Medicine Academic Award, # PAR-94-041, 1995, four years, $780,345. (Principal Investigator, Eddy A. Bresnitz MD; B O'Connor, Program Faculty).
Columbia University Center for Environmental Research and Conservation (CERC): "Ethnobotanical Studies in the Urban Environment of Therapies for Women's Health Problems," 1995, three years. (Principal Investigators, Fredi Kronenberg, PhD, [Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons], Michael Balick, PhD [New York Botanical Garden, Institute of Economic Botany]; B O'Connor, PhD, multiculturalist and health belief systems consultant).
Rosalie M. Albers, MD (private donor): "Spirituality and Medicine Curriculum Initiative," 1998, three years, $82,237. (Principal Investigator, Janet Fleetwood, PhD; B O'Connor, PhD, Core Faculty).
DHHS Office of Women's Health (Center of Excellence Supplement contract): "Enhancing Minority Women's Health Through Faculty Professional Development," 1999, one year, $57,000. (Principal Investigator, Ana Núñez, MD; B O'Connor, Senior Faculty Mentor).
Multiple Funders (1957 Charity Trust, American Medical Student Association (AMSA) Foundation, The Barra Foundation, Inc., Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, CIGNA, The Douty Foundation, Federal Work-Study Program, First Union Bank, Fourjay Foundation, Patricia Kind, Edna G. Kynett Memorial Foundation, Lankenau Hospital of the Jefferson Health System, The Nelson Foundation, Pennsylvania Department of Health, Malinda R. Farrow Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation, Prudential Foundation, Rhône-Poulenc Rorer, SmithKline Beecham, and an anonymous private donor): "Bridging the Gaps: Community Health Internship Program," 1999, one year, $619,533. (Principal Investigator: Philadelphia Bridging the Gaps Consortium; B O'Connor, PhD, Core Faculty).
Health Services and Resources Administration (HRSA) Faculty Development in General Internal Medicine/General Pediatrics (GIM/GP) Program, Grant #1 D08 PE 50093: "Brown University Faculty Development in Pediatrics," 1999, three years, $518,784. (Principal Investigator, Anthony J. Alario, MD; Co-Investigator, Bonnie B. O'Connor, PhD).
United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Grant # T-98132301-0: "Photography Intervention Kit (PIK) Asthma Study," 2001, nine months, $10,000. (Principal Investigator, Catherine Mansell, RN, MA; B O'Connor, PhD, Study Director and Student Mentor).
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), NIH, "Model of Integrative Care in an Academic Health Center" Grant #AT 00905, 2001, four years, $350,000 (first year). (Principal Investigator, David Eisenberg, MD; B O'Connor, PhD, Project Ethnographer and Core Faculty).
HRSA Faculty Development in GIM/GP Program, Grant #1 D14 HP 00174: "Brown University General Pediatrics Research Fellowship." 2002, three years, $142,000/yr. (Principal Investigator, Anthony J. Alario, MD; Co-Investigator, Bonnie B. O'Connor, PhD).
National Association of Healthcare Advocacy Consultants
American Academy on Communication in Healthcare
American Academy of Pediatrics
Ambulatory Pediatric Association
American Folklore Society
American Society for Bioethics and Humanities
American Anthropological Association, Medical Anthropology Section
Association for the Behavioral Sciences and Medical Education (ABSAME)
Association of Pediatric Program Directors
