About the Program Director – Joni R. Beshansky, MPH, LP.D.

Dr. Joni R. Beshansky serves as the Program Director of Master of Healthcare Administration program; is an Associate Clinical Professor in the Connell School of Nursing at Boston College; and from 2020 to 2021, a Research Fellow in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Appointed as the Program Director in June 2019, she brings more than 20 years of experience as an educator, research scientist, and innovative leader. Her expertise in developing, designing, and executing complex strategies for major healthcare research initiatives complemented by her background in law and policymaking provide her with a transdisciplinary perspective on the health ecosystem.

Prior to joining Boston College, Dr. Beshansky was an Associate Professor at Tufts University School of Medicine, and Associate Professor at Regis College where she also served as the Director of the Regulatory Affairs and Clinical Research Management graduate program. As the Associate Director of the Center for Cardiovascular Health Services Research in the Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies at Tufts, she was recognized nationally as an accomplished clinical research scientist in the field of cardiovascular disease and emergency medicine; in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the Food and Drug Administration.

Conducting clinical effectiveness research and decision science, along with her passion for improving the way healthcare is practiced, have afforded her the opportunity to have an impact on people’s lives, while contributing to numerous scientific publications. More recently her research has focused on the ethics of informed consent; the evaluation of vaccination policymaking and its impact on healthcare policies and stakeholders; and social justice initiatives – all of which support her current role as an educator and instructor in health policy and politics, and health ethics and law.

Dr. Beshansky received her bachelor’s degree from Lesley University, a master’s degree in epidemiology and biostatistics from Boston University’s School of Public Health, a doctoral degree in Law and Policy at Northeastern University, and completed a Bioethics Fellowship in the Department of Bioethics at Harvard Medical School.