Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies

Biography

Dr. Adam C. Levine is a Professor of Emergency Medicine and International and Public Affairs at Brown University. Dr. Levine currently serves as the Director for the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, whose mission is to promote a just, peaceful, and secure world by furthering a deeper understanding of human rights and humanitarian challenges around the globe, and encouraging collaboration between local communities, academics, and practitioners to develop innovative solutions to these challenges. He also serves as the Associate Dean of Global Health Equity at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Dr. Levine received his Medical Doctorate from the University of California, San Francisco and his Masters of Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley before completing his specialty training in Emergency Medicine at the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency in Boston. He has previously led research and training initiatives in East and West Africa and South and South-East Asia. His own NIH and foundation-funded research focuses on improving the delivery of emergency care in resource-limited settings and during humanitarian emergencies.

Research

1. Global Diarrheal Disease: Despite tremendous progress over the past several decades, diarrheal disease remains a leading cause of death in both children and adults worldwide. Dr. Levine conducted a series of studies in Rwanda and Bangladesh focusing on the development of new tools for the assessment of dehydration in both children and adults with acute diarrhea. His current NIH funded research has focused on the development of a mobile health application to assist clinicians in low-resource settings to provide appropriate rehydration and treatment for patients with acute diarrhea.
2. Ebola Virus Disease: Dr. Levine served as Principal Investigator for International Medical Corps’ Ebola Research Team during serial outbreaks in both West Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This research has resulted in more than two-dozen publications and led to the development of new tools that front-line health workers can use to diagnose and manage patients with EVD in the context of an epidemic, as well as expanding our understanding of the natural history of this deadly disease. Most recently, he served on the Global Trial Board of the PALM Trial, which led to the discovery of the first effective treatments for Ebola Virus Disease, and also led a study of Ebola and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in eastern DRC.
3. Improved Diagnostics for Global Health: Dr. Levine has carried out a series of studies investigating the novel use of cost-effective diagnostic technologies for managing the most common causes of death in children and adults worldwide. This includes several studies on the use of handheld, portable ultrasound for the assessment of dehydration in children with diarrhea, new mobile health tools for managing dehydration in patients with diarrhea, and biosensor patches for monitoring vital signs in patients with suspected EVD and sepsis. Improved diagnostics can help clinicians in resource-limited settings provide the effective care for patients while limiting the overuse of precious health care resources.
4. Trauma Management in Austere Settings: Dr. Levine previously conducted research on the management of traumatic injuries, both in resource-limited settings such as sub-Saharan Africa and during humanitarian emergencies. This research  focused both on understanding the burden of injury in these contexts, as well as developing novel methods for improving the delivery of care to patients across the globe suffering from acute injuries.
5. COVID-19: Dr. Levine has served as the site-Primary Investigator for a multicenter randomized controlled trial of convalescent plasma for outpatient treatment of early COVID-19 infection in adults, with the primary goal of reducing hospitalizations in this cohort. In addition, he was sub-investigator for a separate randomized controlled trial of outpatient monoclonal antibodies for outpatient treatment of early COVID-19 in adults, which demonstrated a greater than 70% reduction in COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths. Dr. Levine is also primary investgator for a qualitative, multi-country study evaluating the role of civil society in COVID-19 response and a separate study investigating the role of military, national guard, and police during the COVID-19 response in the US and other countries.

Publications

For a full listing of publications, please see https://vivo.brown.edu/display/al16#Publications

Teaching

PHP 1802S - Human Security and Humanitarian Response: Increasing Effectiveness and Accountability