Welcome
The Rubenstein Lab
The Rubenstein Lab is focused on improving the lives of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including Down syndrome and autism. Epidemiology, the science of public health, is the crucial tool that can help reach the ultimate goal of improving health and well-being for the population with intellectual and developmental disabilities. That work cannot be done without input and collaboration from the intellectual and developmental disability community, which motivates and drives our work to be impactful and translatable. Our current projects focus on health in Down syndrome, aging with intellectual and developmental disability, and pregnancy among people with intellectual and developmental disability. We use big data, epidemiologic methods paired with community-based inclusive methodologies.
Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity
Now more than ever we need to prioritize justice and equity. The Rubenstein Lab is committed to fostering a safe and inclusive environment. Creating anti-racist, anti-sexist, and pro-inclusion settings is a continual process and we strive to learn and grow. As the Lab grows, we will recruit, retain, and develop a diverse group of individuals to ensure a vibrant community.
Contact information:
Email: erubens@bu.edu | rubensteinlab.busph@gmail.com
715 Albany St T318E, Boston, Massachusetts 02121
What we’ve been up to:
Co-Research Readiness Project
This summer, Jennifer Guan and Daniel O’Donnell, co-researchers in the department, worked on the Co-Research Readiness Project, where they helped lay the groundwork for two adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to join two Boston University research labs at Sergeant college as co-researchers. Throughout their project, they helped prepare the co-researchers to work alongside BU research teams by teaching Research Fundamentals and CITI-approved Research Ethics trainings. They also conducted site visits with the BU labs to assess their readiness for co-research and provided recommendations for making their research practices more accessible. Together, this work helped lay the foundation for these co-research partnerships to begin. Come hear Jen and Dan share more about their project on September 17th at 1:00 PM in Room T302C. There will be cake! Thank you, and we look forward to seeing you on Thursday!
Recent publications:
Evaluation of a Co-Research Program: optimizing engagement in research. British Journal of Learning Disabilities. Scott, A., Rowland, S., Mehdi, A., Rubenstein, E., https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bld.70012
Novel predictors of Alzheimer dementia in Down syndrome identified using machine learning. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. Rubenstein, E., Tewolde, S., Michals, A., Fortea, J., Jimenez, M.P., Skotko, B.G., Tripodis, Y., Weuve, J., Rossellini, A.J. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/13872877251385423
The Occurrence of Obstructive Sleep Apnea and its Association with Alzheimer Dementia in Medicaid-enrolled Adults with Down Syndrome, 2011-2019. Higgins, A., Tewolde, S., Paige, S., Rubenstein, E. 2025. American Journal of Medical Genetics A. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajmg.a.64241