Eric Fleegler

Eric Fleegler, MD, MPH is a pediatric emergency physician and health services researcher at Boston Children’s Hospital. He was a political science major at Brown University, earned his medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and his masters in public health at the Harvard School of Public Health. He has 20 years’ experience leading large-scale research projects and performing injury prevention research with a focus on violence and firearm fatalities. He is the founder and director of HelpSteps, a web and mobile-based system for helping families with social problems connect to social services, which is now the referral system for United Way/Mass2-1-1.

His injury work has focused on evaluating the role of legislation in reducing injury fatalities, especially related to firearms, and understanding the epidemiology of firearm violence. His work in disparities and health inequities has looked at the relationship of concentrated poverty to multiple health outcomes, disparities in pain management and consultative care. He is the co-director of the Essentials of the Profession: Social Medicine course at Harvard Medical School. He is the recipient of over two-dozen grants, multiple awards, and has published over 100 original research articles including in JAMA Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, JAMA Pediatrics, the American Journal of Preventive Medicine and others.