Paul Biddinger

Dr. Paul Biddinger holds the MGH Endowed Chair in Emergency Preparedness and is the Director of the Center for Disaster Medicine, and Vice Chairman for Emergency Preparedness in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Mass General. He is also the Director for Emergency Preparedness at Partners Healthcare. Dr. Biddinger additionally serves as the Director of the Emergency Preparedness Research, Evaluation and Practice (EPREP) Program at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, and holds appointments at Harvard Medical School and at the Chan School. Dr. Biddinger serves as a special advisor to the Massachusetts Medical Society’s Committee on Preparedness and serves as a medical officer for the MA-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) in the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) in the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Dr. Biddinger is an active researcher in the field of emergency preparedness and has lectured nationally and internationally on topics of preparedness and disaster medicine. He has authored numerous articles and book chapters on multiple topics related to emergency medical services and disaster medicine. He has also responded to numerous prior incidents, including Hurricane Katrina, the Boston Marathon bombings, Superstorm Sandy, the 2015 Nepal earthquakes and others. He completed his undergraduate study in international relations at Princeton University, attended medical school at Vanderbilt University, and completed residency training in emergency medicine at Harvard.

Overview

Dr. Paul Biddinger is the Director of the Center for Disaster Medicine, and is Vice Chairman for Emergency Preparedness in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston. He is also the Medical Director for Emergency Preparedness at MGH and at Partners Healthcare. He is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a Senior Fellow at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.

Research Summary

Dr. Biddinger's academic interests are focused in disaster medicine and response. He has led numerous research and other funded projects funded by the CDC, ASPR, AHRQ and others regarding emergency preparedness and response.\

Publications

1. Impact of a Multidisciplinary Treatment Pathway for Atrial Fibrillation in the Emergency Department on Hospital Admissions and Length of Stay: Results of a Multi-Center Study.

Ptaszek LM, Baugh CW, Lubitz SA, Ruskin JN, Ha G, Forsch M, DeOliveira SA, Baig S, Heist EK, Wasfy JH, Brown DF, Biddinger PD, Raja AS, Scirica B, White BA, Mansour M.

J Am Heart Assoc. 2019 Sep 17;8(18):e012656. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.119.012656. Epub 2019 Sep 12.

2/ Social Media Learning Collaborative for Public Health Preparedness.

Testa MA, Savoia E, Su M, Biddinger PD.

Am J Public Health. 2018 Nov;108(S5):S375-S377. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2018.304610. Epub 2018 Sep 3./ Ebola Virus Disease Preparations Do Not Protect the United States Against Other Infectious Outbreaks.

Gibbs SG, Lowe JJ, Le AB, Herstein JJ, Biddinger PD.

Am J Public Health. 2018 Oct;108(10):1327-1329. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2018.304667. No abstract available.

4./ Current Emergency Preparedness Resources and Capabilities Among Academic Health Systems in the United States.

Biddinger PD, Reisman D, Seger RF, Prestipino AL, Sinclair J, Wante B, Goralnick E, Kemen K.

Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2018 Oct;12(5):574-577. doi: 10.1017/dmp.2017.131. Epub 2018 Feb 21.

5./ Advocating for an Enhanced Presence of Social Workers in Special Medical Needs Shelters during Emergencies.

Kleinman S, Biddinger PD.

Soc Work. 2018 Apr 1;63(2):182-184. doi: 10.1093/sw/swy008. No abstract available.

6./ Substance use patterns and in-hospital care of adolescents and young adults attending music concerts.

Ruest SM, Stephan AM, Masiakos PT, Biddinger PD, Camargo CA, Kharasch S.

Addict Sci Clin Pract. 2018 Jan 9;13(1):1. doi: 10.1186/s13722-017-0105-x.

7./ Video-Based Learning vs Traditional Lecture for Instructing Emergency Medicine Residents in Disaster Medicine Principles of Mass Triage, Decontamination, and Personal Protective Equipment.

Curtis HA, Trang K, Chason KW, Biddinger PD.

Prehosp Disaster Med. 2018 Feb;33(1):7-12. doi: 10.1017/S1049023X1700718X. Epub 2018 Jan 10.

8./ US State Public Health Departments Special Pathogen Planning.

Herstein JJ, Biddinger PD, Gibbs SG, Le AB, Jelden KC, Hewlett AL, Lowe JJ.

J Public Health Manag Pract. 2018 Sep/Oct;24(5):E28-E33. doi: 10.1097/PHH.0000000000000714.

9./ U.S. High-Level Isolation Unit Clinical Laboratory Capabilities Update.

Herstein JJ, Iwen PC, Jelden KC, Biddinger PD, Gibbs SG, Le AB, Hewlett AL, Lowe JJ.

J Clin Microbiol. 2018 Jan 24;56(2). pii: e01608-17. doi: 10.1128/JCM.01608-17. Print 2018 Feb.

10./ High-Level Isolation Unit Infection Control Procedures.

Herstein JJ, Biddinger PD, Gibbs SG, Le AB, Jelden KC, Hewlett AL, Lowe JJ.

Health Secur. 2017 Sep/Oct;15(5):519-526. doi: 10.1089/hs.2017.0026.

11./ A Highly Infectious Disease Care Network in the US Healthcare System.

Le AB, Biddinger PD, Smith PW, Herstein JJ, Levy DA, Gibbs SG, Lowe JJ.

Health Secur. 2017 May/Jun;15(3):282-287. doi: 10.1089/hs.2016.0073.

12./ Sustainability of High-Level Isolation Capabilities among US Ebola Treatment Centers.

Herstein JJ, Biddinger PD, Gibbs SG, Le AB, Jelden KC, Hewlett AL, Lowe JJ.

Emerg Infect Dis. 2017 Jun;23(6):965-967. doi: 10.3201/eid2306.170062.

13./ Effect of a Multidisciplinary Approach for the Management of Patients With Atrial Fibrillation in the Emergency Department on Hospital Admission Rate and Length of Stay.

Ptaszek LM, White B, Lubitz SA, Carnicelli AP, Heist EK, Ellinor PT, Machado M, Wasfy JH, Ruskin JN, Armstrong K, Brown DF, Biddinger PD, Mansour M.

Am J Cardiol. 2016 Jul 1;118(1):64-71. doi: 10.1016/j.amjcard.2016.04.014. Epub 2016 Apr 21.

14./ U.S. Ebola Treatment Center Clinical Laboratory Support.

Jelden KC, Iwen PC, Herstein JJ, Biddinger PD, Kraft CS, Saiman L, Smith PW, Hewlett AL, Gibbs SG, Lowe JJ.

J Clin Microbiol. 2016 Apr;54(4):1031-5. doi: 10.1128/JCM.02905-15. Epub 2016 Feb 3.

15./ Initial Costs of Ebola Treatment Centers in the United States.

Herstein JJ, Biddinger PD, Kraft CS, Saiman L, Gibbs SG, Smith PW, Hewlett AL, Lowe JJ.

Emerg Infect Dis. 2016 Feb;22(2):350-2. doi: 10.3201/eid2202.151431. No abstract available.

16./ Current Capabilities and Capacity of Ebola Treatment Centers in the United States.

Herstein JJ, Biddinger PD, Kraft CS, Saiman L, Gibbs SG, Le AB, Smith PW, Hewlett AL, Lowe JJ.

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2016 Mar;37(3):313-8. doi: 10.1017/ice.2015.300. Epub 2015 Dec 8.

17./ Development of an Online Toolkit for Measuring Performance in Health Emergency Response Exercises.

Agboola F, Bernard D, Savoia E, Biddinger PD.

Prehosp Disaster Med. 2015 Oct;30(5):503-8. doi: 10.1017/S1049023X15005117. Epub 2015 Sep 15.

18./ CASE RECORDS of the MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL. Case 28-2015. A 32-Year-Old Man with Fever, Headache, and Myalgias after Traveling from Liberia.

Biddinger PD, Hooper DC, Shenoy ES, Bajwa EK, Robbins GK, Branda JA.

N Engl J Med. 2015 Sep 10;373(11):1060-7. doi: 10.1056/NEJMcpc1503828. No abstract available.

19./ Academic Institutions' Critical Guidelines for Health Care Workers Who Deploy to West Africa for the Ebola Response and Future Crises.

Cranmer H, Aschkenasy M, Wildes R, Kayden S, Bangsberg D, Niescierenko M, Kemen K, Hsiao KH, VanRooyen M, Burkle FM Jr, Biddinger PD.

Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2015 Oct;9(5):586-90. doi: 10.1017/dmp.2015.79. Epub 2015 Aug 14.

20./ Diagnostic emergency imaging utilization at an academic trauma center from 1996 to 2012.

Arasu VA, Abujudeh HH, Biddinger PD, Noble VE, Halpern EF, Thrall JH, Novelline RA.

J Am Coll Radiol. 2015 May;12(5):467-74. doi: 10.1016/j.jacr.2014.11.018. Epub 2015 Jan 23.