Bryn Austin

Dr. Austin is a faculty member at the Harvard Chan School and the Director of Fellowship Research Training in the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital. She is also Director of the Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders: A Public Health Incubator at the Harvard Chan School and Boston Children’s Hospital. Dr. Austin’s primary research is in the behavioral sciences and social epidemiology. Her research interests include lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender adolescent health and addressing social and physical environmental influences on physical activity, nutritional patterns, and eating disorders risk in school and community settings. The principal goals of her research are to: Examine sexual orientation group disparities in health in adolescence and identify determinants with the goal of eliminating these disparities. Identify the critical factors in the social and physical school and community environments affecting adolescent nutrition, physical activity and eating disorders. Design and evaluate school- and community-based preventive interventions to reduce risk of disordered weight control behaviors.

Representative Publications

Shumer DE, Roberts AL, Reisner SL, Lyall K, Austin SB. Brief Report: Autistic Traits in Mothers and Children Associated with Child’s Gender Nonconformity. J Autism Dev Disord 2014. Epub ahead of print.

Rosario M, Reisner SL, Corliss HL, Wypij D, Calzo J, Austin SB. Sexual-orientation disparities in substance use in emerging adults: a function of stress and attachment paradigms. Psychol Addict Behav 2014;28(3):790-804.

Roberts AL, Rosario M, Calzo JP, Corliss HL, Frazier L, Austin SB. Masculine boys, feminine girls, and cancer risk behaviors: an 11-year longitudinal study. J Adolesc Health 2014;55(3):373-9.

Pomeranz JL, Barbosa G, Killian C, Austin SB. The Dangerous Mix of Adolescents and Dietary Supplements for Weight Loss and Muscle Building: Legal Strategies for State Action. J Public Health Manag Pract 2014. Epub ahead of print.

Katz-Wise SL, Blood EA, Milliren CE, Calzo JP, Richmond TK, Gooding HC, et al. Sexual orientation disparities in BMI among U.S. adolescents and young adults in three race/ethnicity groups. J Obes 2014;2014:537242.

Austin SB, Pazaris MJ, Wei EK, Rosner B, Kennedy GA, Bowen D, et al. Application of the Rosner-Wei risk-prediction model to estimate sexual orientation patterns in colon cancer risk in a prospective cohort of US women. Cancer Causes Control 2014;25(8):999-1006.

Corliss HL, Wadler BM, Jun HJ, Rosario M, Wypij D, Frazier AL, et al. Sexual-orientation disparities in cigarette smoking in a longitudinal cohort study of adolescents. Nicotine Tob Res 2013;15(1):213-22.

Austin SB, Pazaris MJ, Nichols LP, Bowen D, Wei EK, Spiegelman D. An examination of sexual orientation group patterns in mammographic and colorectal screening in a cohort of U.S. women. Cancer Causes Control 2013;24(3):539-47.

Austin SB, Nelson LA, Birkett MA, Calzo JP, Everett B. Eating disorder symptoms and obesity at the intersections of gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation in US high school students. Am J Public Health 2013;103(2):e16-22.

Austin SB, Pazaris MJ, Rosner B, Bowen D, Rich-Edwards J, Spiegelman D. Application of the Rosner-Colditz risk prediction model to estimate sexual orientation group disparities in breast cancer risk in a U.S. cohort of premenopausal women. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2012;21(12):2201-8.