Ruest, Stephanie

Stephanie Marie Ruest

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine

Overview

Dr. Ruest attended medical school at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and graduated in the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. She subsequently completed a Pediatrics Residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and stayed on for a Chief Resident year, followed by a Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship at Brown University/Hasbro Children's Hospital. During fellowship, she also completed a Masters in Public Health at Brown University. She is currently the Pediatric Emergency Medicine Trauma Liaison, a Rhode Island Hospital Injury Prevention Center faculty member, and PEM Fellowship Core Faculty, leading the Injury Prevention Research Track. Her research interests include childhood injuries and social determinants of health.

Dr. Ruest's main reserach focus is on child maltreatment (child abuse and neglect) and mitigating sociodemographic disparities that exist in child maltreatment evaluations and child protective services reporting. She is currently working on studies to identify disparities in clinician documentation and abuse evaluations and to develop tools to identify high risk presentations regardless of the patients' racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic background.

Dr. Ruest also has clinical and research interests in social determinants of health, particularly food insecurity, and has led collaborative needs assessment and intervention studies to evaluate and address food insecurity within Rhode Island.

In addition, she is a member of the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) Child Abuse and Neglect Research Interest Group as well as the Injury Prevention Research Interest Group, and a member of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committe on Child Abuse and Neglect. She was awarded the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine Director’s Clinical Excellence Award in 2019, The Department of Emergency Medicine PEM Rising Star Faculty Award in 2022, and the Department of Emergency Medicine Outstanding Young Investigator Research Award in 2023. She provides research mentorship to numerous past and current PEM and Child Abuse Pediatrics Fellows at Hasbro Children's Hospital, as well as Brown University medical, undergraduate, and graduate students.

Find a full list of my publications here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/stephanie.ruest.2/bibliography/public/

Brown Affiliations

Research Areas

child abuse | food insecurity | injury prevention | Social determinants of health

Publications Visualize it

Mello MJ, Baird J, Spirito A, Scott K, Zonfrillo MR, Lee LK, Kiragu A, Christison-Lagay E, Bromberg J, Ruest S, Pruitt C, Lawson KA, Nasr IW, Aidlen JT, Maxson RT, Becker S. "Adolescents' Perceptions of Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment Service at Pediatric Trauma Centers." Substance use : research and treatment, vol. 18, 2024, pp. 29768357241272356.

Full Text PubMed

Kaye AM, Rudman W, Ruest SM. "Evaluation of a Child Abuse Screen Performed by Nurses Among Young Children with Fractures Seen in a Pediatric Emergency Department." Rhode Island medical journal (2013), vol. 107, no. 8, 2024, pp. 21-27.

PubMed

Mello MJ, Baird J, Spirito A, Lee LK, Kiragu A, Scott K, Zonfrillo MR, Christison-Lagay E, Bromberg J, Ruest S, Pruitt C, Lawson KA, Nasr IW, Aidlen JT, Maxson RT, Becker S. "Implementing Screening, Brief Interventions, and Referral to Treatment at Pediatric Trauma Centers: A Step Wedge Cluster Randomized Trial." Journal of Pediatric Surgery, vol. 59, no. 11, 2024, pp. 161618.

Full Text PubMed

Savarino JR, Hanson HR, Pomerantz WJ, Zonfrillo MR, Formica MK, Ruest SM. "Pediatric Injury Trends in Rhode Island During the COVID-19 Pandemic." Rhode Island medical journal (2013), vol. 107, no. 4, 2024, pp. 23-28.

PubMed

Ruest S, Beucher M. "A Case of Child Abuse Presenting With a Traumatic Chylothorax." Rhode Island medical journal (2013), vol. 106, no. 10, 2023, pp. 25-28.

PubMed

Mello MJ, Lee LK, Christison-Lagay E, Spirito A, Becker S, Bromberg J, Ruest S, Zonfrillo MR, Scott K, Pruitt C, Lawson K, Nasr I, Aidlen J, Baird J. "Counseling for opioids prescribed at discharge of hospitalized adolescent trauma patients." Injury epidemiology, vol. 10, no. Suppl 1, 2023, pp. 53.

Full Text PubMed

Fraser Doh K, Chaudhary S, Ruest SM, Shaahinfar A, Chun T, Cooper N, Fein J, Feng A, Feske-Kirby K, Figueroa J, Gutman CK, Grupp-Phelan J, Kanaan G, Keathley N, Khan N, McGlamry K, Myers S, Nance M, Russell K, Rowker K, Sheline E, Simon HK, Morris CR. "Variability in firearm injury among major pediatric trauma centers across the USA." Trauma surgery & acute care open, vol. 8, no. 1, 2023, pp. e001014.

Full Text PubMed

Bromberg JR, Nimaja E, Kiragu AW, Lawson KA, Lee L, Nasr IW, Pruitt C, Ruest SM, Mello MJ. "Developing and Implementing Electronic Consent Procedures in Response to Covid-19 Restrictions." Ethics & human research, vol. 44, no. 4, 2022, pp. 39-44.

Full Text PubMed

Mello MJ, Baird J, Bromberg JR, Spirito A, Zonfrillo MR, Lee LK, Christison-Lagay ER, Ruest SM, Pruitt CW, Lawson KA, Kiragu AW, Nasr I, Aidlen JT, Ebel BE, Maxson RT, Scott K, Becker SJ. "Variability in opioid pain medication prescribing for adolescent trauma patients in a sample of US pediatric trauma centers." Trauma surgery & acute care open, vol. 7, no. 1, 2022, pp. e000894.

Full Text PubMed

Donner J, Ruest S. "Neonate with Seizures After Consuming Star Anise Tea." Rhode Island medical journal (2013), vol. 104, no. 8, 2021, pp. 8-10.

PubMed

Ruest S, Kanaan G, Moore JL, Goldberg AP. "Pediatric Rib Fractures Identified by Chest Radiograph: A Comparison Between Accidental and Nonaccidental Trauma." Pediatric Emergency Care , 2020.

Full Text PubMed

Rubinstein M, Ruest S, Amanullah S, Gjelsvik A. "Having a Regular Primary Care Provider Is Associated With Improved Markers of Well-Being Among Children With Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder." Clinical Pediatrics, vol. 57, no. 9, 2018, pp. 1086-1091.

Full Text PubMed

Ruest SM, Stephan AM, Masiakos PT, Biddinger PD, Camargo CA, Kharasch S. "Substance use patterns and in-hospital care of adolescents and young adults attending music concerts." Addiction Science & Clinical Practice, vol. 13, no. 1, 2018, pp. 1.

Full Text PubMed

Ruest S, Gjelsvik A, Rubinstein M, Amanullah S. "The Inverse Relationship between Digital Media Exposure and Childhood Flourishing." The Journal of Pediatrics, vol. 197, 2018, pp. 268-274.e2.

Full Text PubMed

Ruest S, Kanaan G, Moore JL, Goldberg AP. "The Prevalence of Rib Fractures Incidentally Identified by Chest Radiograph among Infants and Toddlers." The Journal of Pediatrics, 2018.

Full Text PubMed

Gardner K, Ruest S, Cummings B. "Diagnostic Uncertainty and Ethical Dilemmas in Medically Complex Pediatric Patients and Psychiatric Boarders." Hospital Pediatrics, vol. 6, no. 11, 2016, pp. 689-692.

Full Text PubMed

Ruest S, Anderson A. "Management of acute pediatric pain in the emergency department." Current Opinion in Pediatrics, vol. 28, no. 3, 2016, pp. 298-304.

Full Text PubMed

Allister L, Ruest S. "A systematic approach to the evaluation of acute unexplained crying in infants in the emergency department." Pediatric emergency medicine practice, vol. 11, no. 3, 2014, pp. 1-17; quiz 17-8.

PubMed

Research

Research Overview

Dr. Ruest currently has NIH funding through a RI Hospital Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) Grant, and is working with experts in machine learning and artificial intellegence techniques to develop clinical decision support for clinicians who see young children with potential abusive/inflicted fractures. She is also funded through the Children's Miracle Network on a collaborative intervention program to address food insecurity among patients seen at Hasbro Children's Hopsital and Rhode Island Hospital.

Dr. Ruest has ongoing research projects focused on child abuse and accidental injury. She has been the site PI for multiple multicenter studies. She is the site PI for an ongoing Injury Free Coalition for Kids study of pediatric injuries during the Covid-19 pandemic. The second study is an NIAAA funded multicenter study evaluating alcohol misuse screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment among adolescents admitted for traumatic injuries. Her recently completed projects include an American Academy of Pediatrics CATCH Grant-funded food insecurity intervention program in the Hasbro ER as well as a Pediatric Emergency Care Research Network (PECARN) nodal study describing pediatric firearm-related injuries.

Funded Research

5/2022 – Present

Rhode Island Hospital Injury Control Center for Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE)

Research Project 3: Derivation of a Clinical Prediction Rule for Pediatric Abusive Fractures (Ruest)

NIH/NIGMS P20 GM139664

12/1/21-11/30/26 Total COBRE Award Amount: $12,099,111; Research Project 3: $1,327.163

COBRE Study PI: Michael Mello, MD, MPH

Research Project 3 PI: Stephanie Ruest, MD, MPH, FAAP

The study will use machine learning and natural language processing techniques to develop a CDR to detect fracture presentations highly associated with abusive fractures among children ≤5 years old and validate it in a different institutional cohort, with the subsequent goal of broad validation in a multi-center prospective study.
Collaborators include machine learning experts at the Brown University Artificial Intelligence Lab and pediatric child abuse specialists.

11/1/2022 - Present

Children’s Miracle Network, Hasbro Children’s Hospital Department of Pediatrics

A Primary Care and Emergency Department Collaboration to Address Food Insecurity in Rhode Island Families

11/1/2022-12/31/2023, $25,000

Primary Investigators: Celeste C Corcoran, MD and Stephanie Ruest, MD, MPH

Key Personnel: Susan Duffy MD, MPH, Rebecca Wingerter, MD, and Christine Penfield, RN

Background

Education and Training

Year	Degree	Institution
2011	MD	University of Massachusetts
2006	BS	Emmanuel College

Postdoctoral/Other Training

Masters in Public Health

Brown University, School of Public Health, MPH

Honors and Awards

2023 Department of Emergency Medicine Outstanding Young Investigator Research Award

2022 Department of Emergency Medicine PEM Rising Star Faculty Award

2019 Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine Director’s Clinical Excellence Award

2017 Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellow Teaching Award, Hasbro Children’s Hospital

Affiliations Visualize it

Collaborators

Name	Title
Chun, Thomas	Professor of Pediatrics, Professor of Emergency Medicine
Duffy, Susan	Professor of Pediatrics, Professor of Emergency Medicine
Eickhoff, Carsten	Manning Assistant Professor of Medical Science, Assistant Professor of Computer Science
Goldberg, Amy	Professor of Pediatrics
Linakis, James	Professor Emeritus of Emergency Medicine
Mello, Michael	Professor of Medical Science, Professor of Health Services, Policy and Practice, Professor of Emergency Medicine
Mercurio, Laura	Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Clinician Educator, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, Clinician Educator
Zonfrillo, Mark	Professor of Pediatrics, Professor of Emergency Medicine

Researchers@Brown

Researchers@Brown

Stephanie Marie Ruest

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine

Overview

Brown Affiliations

Research Areas

Publications Visualize it

Research

Research Overview

Funded Research

Background

Education and Training

Postdoctoral/Other Training

Honors and Awards

Affiliations Visualize it

Collaborators

Teaching