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Research Overview

Dr. Isong is an Instructor in Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, and is engaged in health services and policy research. Dr. Isong's research focuses on assessing barriers to health care access and delivery of clinical preventive services. In particular, she is interested in integrating oral health into pediatric primary care, and evaluating multi-level determinants of children's oral health status and access to care. She also conducts research focused on preventing obesity and early childhood caries in early childhood. This work involves understanding the role sugar sweetened beverages and other behavioral risk factors play in early childhood caries and obesity, and identifying innovative strategies to address these chronic conditions. She is currently conducting research that assesses mechanisms that foster disparities in early childhood obesity and also evaluating the impact of social policies on children’s weight status.

 

Research Background

Inyang Isong, MD, MPH, SM is a practicing general pediatrician with clinical responsibilities at Boston Children's Primary Care at Longwood and Martha Elliot Health Center. She is an Instructor in Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, and is engaged in health services and policy research. Dr. Isong attended medical school at the College of Medical Sciences, University of Calabar, Nigeria. She earned a Masters in Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well as a Master of Science Degree in Clinical Epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. She completed her training in pediatrics at Cook County Children's Hospital, Chicago and a fellowship in Health Services Research at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. Before joining Boston Children’s Hospital, she worked as a community-based pediatrician at Lawndale Christian Health Center in Chicago, and subsequently as a Medical Officer with the United States Department of Health and Human Services in Rockville, Maryland. She is a member of the Pediatric Academic Societies as well as a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. 

Selected Publications

  1. Isong IA, Zuckerman KE, Rao SR, Kuhlthau KA, Winickoff JP, Perrin JM. Association between parents’ and children’s use of oral health services. Pediatrics. 2010;125(3):502-508.
  2. Isong IA, Silk, H, Rao SR, Perrin JM, Savageau JA, Donelan K. Provision of fluoride varnish to Medicaid-enrolled children by physicians: the Massachusetts experience. Health Serv Res. 2011;46(6pt1):1843-1862.
  3. Isong IA, Luff, D, Perrin JM, Winickoff JP, Ng MW. Parental perspectives of early childhood caries. Clin Pediatr. 2012;51(1):77-85.
  4. Isong IA, Soobader MJ, Fisher-Owens SA, Weintraub JA, Gansky SA, Platt LJ, Newacheck PW. Racial disparity trends in children's dental visits: US National Health Interview Survey, 1964-2010. Pediatrics. 2012;130(2):306-314. PMCID: PMC3408679.
  5. Fisher-Owens SA, Isong IA, Soobader MJ, Gansky SA, Weintraub JA, Platt LJ Newacheck PW. An examination of racial/ethnic disparities in children’s oral health in the United States. J Public Health Dent. 2013;73(2):166-174. PMCID: PMC3702186.
  6. Isong IA, Rao SR, Holifield C, Iannuzzi D, Hanson E, Ware J, Nelson L. Addressing dental fear in children with autism: a randomized controlled pilot study using electronic screen media. Clin Pediatr. 2014;53(3):230-237.

Publications