About

Dr. Francesca L. Beaudoin is an accomplished physician-scientist and public health leader with a background as an emergency physician and clinical epidemiologist. She is a national expert in addressing opioid use disorders and pain management, focusing on evidence-based and community-centered approaches to substance use and recovery. Her work includes pioneering innovative solutions such as serving patients through a mobile drug recovery unit in partnership with CODAC Behavioral Healthcare, delivering treatment, medical care, and counseling to underserved communities in Rhode Island. She has contributed extensively to research, authoring over 190 peer-reviewed articles, and has served on notable advisory committees including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Anesthetic and Analgesic Drug Products Advisory Committee. Dr. Beaudoin has also served as a Senior Medical Advisor to the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, providing expert review of treatments such as gene therapies and GLP-1 medications for obesity. Her leadership roles at Brown University include serving as chair of the Department of Epidemiology, academic dean, and currently as interim dean of the School of Public Health, where she leads the school's strategy to advance education, research, and policy translation in public health. She continues to practice medicine, holding appointments at Brown University Health and CODAC Behavioral Healthcare.

Research topics

• Psychiatry
• Psychology
• Medicine
• Internal medicine
• Emergency medicine
• Pathology
• Neuroscience
• Clinical psychology

Selected publications

• Perspective: Advancing Public Health in Rhode Island and Beyond.

  PubMed · 2026-04-01

  article1st authorCorresponding
  Publisher

• Neighborhood disadvantage and accelerated epigenetic aging in the early aftermath of trauma: The moderating role of individual psychological resources

  Journal of Psychiatric Research · 2026-04-02 · 1 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Dismantling open-label placebos and their rationales: A remote 4-arm randomized controlled trial protocol

  Contemporary Clinical Trials · 2025-07-15 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access

  OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of rationales on placebos described honestly as inactive pills, (open-label placebos; OLPs) on chronic pain. DESIGN: Dismantling 4-arm randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Remote study with United-States residents. SUBJECTS: Chronic pain patients aged 18 to 89. METHODS: We plan to recruit 340 subjects, randomized before consent (Zelen randomization procedure) into one of 4 groups. Participants in a no-treatment group will not receive any OLPs. Participants in the three OLP groups will be told to take an OLP pill twice daily for 21 days. The information participants are given about placebos will vary. Those in the "Standard-OLP" group will be provided with a rationale similar to those used in prior OLP trials. Those in the "Mindfulness-OLP" group will be provided with a rationale taking a mindfulness approach. Those in the "Control-OLP" group (and no-treatment group) will be provided with length-matched information about pain demographics; no placebo information will be given. This dismantling design will allow us to compare rationales (Standard-OLP vs Mindfulness-OLP), and examine the rationale effect (Standard-OLP or Mindfulness-OLP vs. Control-OLP), the placebo effect (Standard-OLP or Mindfulness-OLP vs. No-treatment), and the pill effect (Control-OLP vs no-treatment). Pain intensity over 42 days is the primary outcome. CONCLUSIONS: This trial will investigate how different components of OLPs impact pain among a chronic pain population. We also highlight novel ways to address limitations of prior OLP studies; namely, lack of blinding and improper controls.

  PublisherDOI

• Cannabis Use Patterns and Blood Profiles in Adolescent Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome

  Pediatric Emergency Care · 2025-10-15 · 1 citations

  article

  OBJECTIVE: Adolescent use of cannabis in the United States is on the rise. Multiple toxicities and negative outcomes are possible with chronic or heavy cannabis use, including cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS). This study analyzes a population of adolescent emergency department patients with cyclic vomiting onset after cannabis use, with a hypothesis that use patterns or biomarkers may offer insights into diagnostics, pathophysiology, or management of this disease. METHODS: This pilot prospective observational cohort study recruited pediatric emergency department patients aged 14 to 21 years with symptomatic cyclic vomiting onset after chronic cannabis use, and reassessed them at an asymptomatic follow-up visit. Cannabis use patterns were assessed with validated questionnaires, and blood profiles of cannabinoid metabolites and essential minerals and B vitamins were quantified and compared. RESULTS: We screened 869 adolescent ED patients and enrolled ten participants. All participants (n=10) had cannabis use disorder (n=9) or hazardous cannabis use (n=1) by the Cannabis Use Disorders Identification Test-Revised, and participants reported withdrawal symptoms when attempting to discontinue cannabis. There were significant differences in 11-hydroxy-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol between index [median 0.6 ng/mL (IQR: 0, 2.6)] and asymptomatic follow-up visits [median 4.2 ng/mL (IQR: 1.2, 10.1)]. Median vitamin and mineral concentrations were within reference ranges. CONCLUSIONS: Symptomatic adolescent patients with suspected CHS had evidence of cannabis use disorder and had significantly lower blood concentrations of 11-hydroxy-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol when symptomatic. Further research is needed to better explore the pathophysiology and diagnostics in adolescent CHS, and exploration and treatment of cannabis use disorder should be considered in these patients.

  PublisherDOI

• Pre-trauma insomnia and posttraumatic alcohol and cannabis use in the AURORA observational cohort study of trauma survivors

  Journal of Psychiatric Research · 2025-06-20

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Predicting Traumatic Brain Injury Post-Trauma Using Temporal Attention on Sleep-Wake Data

  IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering · 2025-07-24

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a major public health concern, and accurate classification is essential for effective treatment and improved patient outcomes. Sleep/wake behavior has emerged as a potential biomarker for TBI classification, yet the optimal time window in which to identify sleep/wake changes after TBI remains unclear. METHODS: We evaluated daily longitudinal sleep/wake data from a prospective cohort of more than 2,000 emergency department patients with and without blood biomarker-documented TBI (Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein - GFAP $ > 268 \frac{pg}{ml}$). We utilized a deep learning model to identify the impact of time from trauma and duration of data collection on the model's ability to distinguish between TBI-positive (TBI+) and TBI-negative (TBI-) cases. RESULTS: Our analysis showed that sleep/wake data from the first 7 days after TBI most accurately identified TBI. Sleep-wake data from the first 7, 14, and 21 days after trauma achieved sensitivity/specificity of 81%/25%, 40%/66%, and 45%/58%, respectively. F1 scores of deep learning models developed from the first 7, 14, and 21 days were 22%, 21%, and 20%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that early sleep/wake data has promise for assisting with TBI identification. SIGNIFICANCE: In the future, the incorporation of sleep/wake derived biomarkers into TBI identification tools could assist in the identification of individuals with potential TBI for further screening and intervention.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Longitudinal Associations Between Peritraumatic Oestradiol and Fear Responding in Women and Men

  Stress and Health · 2025-03-22 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  PTSD is more prevalent in women than men and associated with autonomic dysfunction. Higher oestradiol levels have been associated with decreased PTSD severity, however, the impact of oestradiol on autonomic function is not well characterised. We examined associations among peritraumatic oestradiol levels and autonomic function in the multi-site AURORA study. Participants (n = 283, 69.6% female) were recruited from the emergency department (ED) following trauma exposure. Skin conductance (SC) was measured during trauma recall at the ED. Oestradiol was assayed from blood collected at ED, 2-week and 6-month. Fear conditioning, including fear potentiated startle (FPS), was completed at 2-week and 6-month. In women, ED oestradiol was significantly positively associated with ED SC and FPS at 6-month. In men, significant negative correlations between ED oestradiol and SC were found. Among women in the study, peritraumatic oestradiol was positively associated with fear responding 6-month. Findings suggest that the protective effects of oestradiol on PTSD may depend on other factors, such as time since trauma. Additional research is needed to elucidate how peritraumatic oestradiol and autonomic function may interact to confer risk for PTSD.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Persistent and Widespread Pain Among Blacks Six Weeks after MVC: Emergency Department-based Cohort Study

  UNC Libraries · 2025-04-26

  articleOpen access

  INTRODUCTION: African-Americans in the United States experience greater persistent pain than non-Hispanic Whites across a range of medical conditions, but to our knowledge no longitudinal studies have examined the risk factors or incidence of persistent pain among African-Americans experiencing common traumatic stress exposures such as after a motor vehicle collision (MVC). We evaluated the incidence and predictors of moderate to severe axial musculoskeletal pain (MSAP) and widespread pain six weeks after a MVC in a large cohort of Black adults presenting to the emergency department (ED) for care. METHODS: This prospective, multi-center, cohort study enrolled Black adults who presented to one of 13 EDs across the US within 24 hours of a MVC and were discharged home after their evaluation. Data were collected at the ED visit via patient interview and self-report surveys at six weeks after the ED visit via internet-based, self-report survey, or telephone interview. We assessed MSAP pain at ED visit and persistence at six weeks. Multivariable models examined factors associated with MSAP persistence at six weeks post-MVC. RESULTS: Among 787 participants, less than 1% reported no pain in the ED after their MVC, while 79.8 (95% confidence interval [CI], 77.1 - 82.2) reported MSAP and 28.3 (95% CI, 25.5 - 31.3) had widespread pain. At six weeks, 67% (95% CI, 64, 70%) had MSAP and 31% (95% CI, 28, 34%) had widespread pain. ED characteristics predicting MSAP at six weeks post-MVC (area under the curve = 0.74; 95% CI, 0.72, 0.74) were older age, peritraumatic dissociation, moderate to severe pain in the ED, feeling uncertain about recovery, and symptoms of depression. CONCLUSION: These data indicate that African-Americans presenting to the ED for evaluation after MVCs are at high risk for persistent and widespread musculoskeletal pain. Preventive interventions are needed to improve outcomes for this high-risk group.

  PublisherDOI

• Early life adversity increases risk for chronic post-traumatic pain, data from humans and rodents

  Pain · 2025-06-18 · 2 citations

  article

  ABSTRACT: Traumatic stress exposures (TSEs) are common in life. Although most individuals recover after a TSE, a substantial subset develop adverse post-traumatic neuropsychiatric sequelae such as chronic post-traumatic musculoskeletal pain (CPMP). Vulnerability factors for CPMP are poorly understood, which hinders identification of high-risk individuals for targeted interventions. One known vulnerability factor for many pain types is exposure to early life adversity (ELA), but few studies have assessed whether ELA increases risk for CPMP. This study used data from the Advancing Understanding of RecOvery afteR traumA study, a prospective human cohort study of TSE survivors, to test the hypothesis that ELA increases risk for CPMP. In addition, in secondary analyses, we assessed which subtypes of ELA (including childhood bullying) were most predictive of CPMP and whether a rat ELA model consisting of neonatal limited bedding, combined with single prolonged stress (SPS) in adulthood, would accurately model human findings. In Advancing Understanding of RecOvery afteR traumA study participants (n = 2480), using multinomial logistic regression modeling of 4 identified latent pain classes, we found that ELA increased vulnerability to the high unremitting pain class (odds ratio [OR] = 1.047, P < 0.001), the moderate pain class (OR = 1.031, P < 0.001), and the moderate recovery pain class (OR = 1.018, P = 0.004), with physical abuse, emotional abuse, and bullying being the strongest predictors of high pain class assignment. Similarly, in male and female Sprague Dawley rats, in comparison with SPS alone, neonatal limited bedding combined with SPS caused increased baseline sensitivity and prolonged mechanical hypersensitivity (F(11,197) = 3.22, P < 0.001). Further studies in animals and humans are needed to understand mechanisms by which ELA confers vulnerability to CPMP.

  PublisherDOI

• Emotion Identification and Emotion Sensitivity Following Interpersonal and Noninterpersonal Traumatic Experiences: Results From the AURORA Study

  Clinical Psychological Science · 2025-08-16

  articleOpen access

  Social cognition is an important mechanism linking trauma to psychopathology; however, current models fail to explain individual differences in social cognition after trauma exposure. We investigated whether the interpersonal nature of trauma exposure helps to explain variability in social-cognitive outcomes. Our sample was derived from the AURORA study, a national initiative involving intensive follow-up of trauma survivors for 1 year. We analyzed data from 2,241 participants (age: M = 35.12 years; 64% female; 54% Black) who experienced an assault ( n = 262) or a motor vehicle collision ( n = 1,979). Social cognition was assessed with the Multiracial Emotion Identification Task and the Belmont Emotion Sensitivity Test. Overall emotion-identification accuracy declined over time among participants who experienced interpersonal trauma (β = −0.10, p = .03) but not noninterpersonal trauma (β = 0.00, p = .83). These results may help to enhance the prediction of psychopathological outcomes following trauma exposure.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Mobile Peer Support for Opioid Use Disorders: Refinement of an Innovative Machine Learning Tool

  NIH · $225k · 2019–2020

• Identifying optimal buprenorphine dosing for OUD treatment and prevention of overdose

  NIH · $425k · 2022–2024

Frequent coauthors

• Phyllis L. Hendry

  University of Florida

  317 shared

• Paul I. Musey

  Indiana University School of Medicine

  317 shared

• Sophia Sheikh

  Florida College

  309 shared

• Niels K. Rathlev

  University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School

  305 shared

• León D. Sánchez

  Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital

  297 shared

• Gari D. Clifford

  Emory University

  272 shared

• Laura Germine

  266 shared

• Robert M. Domeier

  265 shared

Education

• M.D.

  Brown University

• Ph.D.

  Brown University