Faculty Profile

Matthew Boulton

Matthew L. Boulton, MD, MPH

  • Professor of Epidemiology
  • Senior Associate Dean for Global Public Health
  • Associate Director, U-M Center for Global Health Equity
  • Pearl L. Kendrick Collegiate Professor of Global Public Health
  • Professor of Preventive Medicine
  • Director, Minority Health & Health Disparities International Research Training Program
  • Editor-in-Chief, American Journal of Preventive Medicine
  • Professor of Internal Medicine, Infectious Disease Division, Michigan Medicine

Dr. Boulton is the school’s Senior Associate Dean for Global Public Health and Director, Office ofGlobal Public Health while also serving as Associate Director of the university-wide Center for Global Health Equity.  He holds the first named professorship in global public health in the school’s history.He is the current Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine and Director of the NIH-funded Minority Health & Health Disparities International Research Training Program.  He was previously Associate Dean for Practice (2004-2010) and founded the school’s Office of Public Health Practice.  Prior to joining the University of Michigan, he spent 16 years in public health practice as a local health department Medical Director for four health departments and later as Governor Jennifer Granholm’s Chief Medical Executive and State Epidemiologist where he was lead physician/epidemiologist for the state health department. He has served as a special US CDC employee and was a member of the CDC’s Board of Scientific Counselors for Infectious Diseases for 6 years and has been a member of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) Editorial Board since 2011. He served as senior editor for the recently published 16 th (and 100 th anniversary) edition of Maxcy-Rosenau-Last Public Health & Preventive Medicine, considered the standard text in the field for public health physicians over the last century. He currently holds an appointment as Scientific Advisor to the Tianjin Centers for Disease Control in China.  His research interests are in global health, global vaccine equity, childhood vaccinations and vaccine preventable diseases, preventive medicine, and infectious disease epidemiology in low- and middle-income countries. Dr. Boulton is an author on almost 200 peer review publications, and he has been the recipient of approximately 40 international, national, state, university, and school of public health awards including the school’s Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award, Alumni of the Year Award, and he John H. Romani Award for contributions to public health leadership.

  • MPH International Health, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 1991
  • Preventive Medicine Residency, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 1989-1991
  • Medical Internship, Department of Family Practice, University of Michigan, 1988-1989
  • MD, University of Nevada School of Medicine, 1987
  • BS, Plant Biology w/ honors, University of Nevada, 1980
  • BS, Zoology w/ honors, University of Nevada, 1980

Research Interests:
Dr. Boulton's research interests are in global public health, infectious disease epidemiology and control, childhood vaccination and vaccine preventable diseases, use of immunization information system data and systems development, preventive medicine, and the health workforce.

Research Projects:
American Journal of Preventive Medicine Editorial Office (Principal Investigator)-funded by the American College of Preventive Medicine and the Association of Prevention Teaching and Research. This grant funds the editorial offices of the AJPM which are located at U-M SPH Department of Epidemiology and supports Dr. Boulton's role as the journal's Editor-in-Chief.

Preventive Medicine Residency (Principal Investigator)-funded by HRSA. Support the administrative offices of the PMR and provides funding support for physician residents training for board certification in General Preventive Medicine and Public Health.

Certificate in Population Health and Health Equity-funded by Detroit-Wayne Community Health Board (Principal Investigator). Develop, implement, and evaluate population health training curriculum for cohorts of osteopathic physicians completing their residency with Authority Health's Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education program.

Minority Health and Health Disparities International Research Training Program (Principal Investigator). Established to increase the representation of socially or economically disadvantaged groups who have been historically underrepresented in biomedical and behavioral careers and support the research training of students who will most likely contribute to the elimination of health disparities that exist among disadvantaged populations in the U.S.

Joachim GE, Wagner AL, Naseem M, Boulton ML. Trends in childhood vaccination in Pakistan and Associated Factors, 2006-2018. Vaccine. 2024 Jan 10:S0264-410X(24)00015-X. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2024.01.014. Online ahead of print. PMID: 38212203

Raj A, Singh AK, Wagner AL, and Boulton ML, Mapping the Cognitive Biases Related to Vaccination: A Scoping Review of the Literature. Vaccines (Basel) 2023, 11, 1837. doi:10.3390/vaccines11121837. PMID: 38140241

Mathew JL, Wagner AL, Carlson B, Boulton ML. Maternally transmitted anti-measles antibodies, and susceptibility to disease among infants in Chandigarh, India: A prospective birth cohort study. PLoS One. 2023 Oct 3;18(10):e0287110. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0287110. eCollection 2023.PMID: 37788252

Goodman OK, Wagner AL, Riopelle D, Mathew JL, Boulton ML. Vaccination inequities among children 12–23 months in India: An Analysis of inter-state differences. Vaccine X. 2023 May 5:14:100310. doi: https:10.1016/j.jvacx.2023.100310 eCollection 2023 Aug PMID: 37234595

Wagner AL, Mathew JL, Carlson BF, Kachoria AG, Bharti B, Suri V, Boulton ML, Measles Vaccination Immunogenicity and Association with Caste in Chandigarh, India. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2022 Oct 3:107(5):1129-1131. doi:10.4269/ajtmh.22-0086. PMID: 36191873

Rego RT, Ngugi AK, Sophia Delius AJ, Luchtersb S, Kolars JC, Irfan FB, Weinheimer-Haus E, Abubakar A, Shah R, Zhu J, Boulton ML, Hofer T, Waljee AK (2022) COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among non-refugees and refugees in Kenya. PLOS Global Public Health. 2(8):e0000917. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0000917

Mathew JL, Riopelle D, Ratho RK, Bhartia B, Singh MP, Suri V, Carlson BF, Wagner AL, Boulton ML, Measles Seroprevalence in Children over 1 year of age in Chandigarh, India, Hum Vacci Immuno, 2022 Oct 24:2136453. doi:10.1080/21645515.2022.2136453. Online ahead of print. PMID: 36279515

Porth JM, Wagner AL, Treleaven E, Fleischer NL, Matua MK, Braun T, Boulton ML, Childhood vaccination timeliness following maternal migration to an informal urban settlement in Kenya; Vaccine, doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.12.017 PMID: 34952757

Janusz CB, Mutua MK, Wagner AL, Boulton ML. New Vaccine Introduction and Childhood Vaccination Timeliness in Two Urban, Informal Settlements in Nairobi, Kenya. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2021 May 17;105(1):245-253. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.21-0006. PMID: 33999852

Wagner AL, Tefera YA, Gillespie BW, Carlson BF, Boulton ML. Vaccine coverage, timeliness and delay estimated from regional and national cross-sectional surveys in Ethiopia, 2016; Pan Afr Med J. 2021 Jul 19;39:205. doi: 10.11604/pamj.2021.39.205.22777 PMID: 34603586

Patel PN, Hada M, Carlson BF, Boulton ML, Immunization status of children in Nepal and associated factors, 2016, Vaccine. 2021 Sept 24:39(40):5831-5838. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.08.059. Epub 2021 Aug 26 PMID: 34456076

Porth JM, Treleaven E, Fleischer NL, Mutua MK, Boulton ML, The influence of maternal migration on child vaccination in Kenya: An inverse probability of treatment-weighted analysis; Int J Inf Dis, 106 (2021): 105-114 doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2021.03.067 PMID:33781901

Janusz CB, Frye M, Mutua MK, Wagner AL, Banerjee M, Boulton ML. Vaccine Delay and Its Association with Under vaccination in Children in Sub-Saharan Arrica. Am J Prev Med. 2021 Jan:60(1 Suppl 1):S53-S64. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.202.10.003. Epub 2020 No 12. PMID: 33189500

Bettampadi D, Lepkowski JM, Sen A, Power LE, Boulton ML. Vaccination Inequality in India, 2002-2013. Am J Prev Med. 2021 Jan:60(1 Suppl 1):S65-S76. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.202.06.034. Epub 2020 Oct 21. PMID: 33097336

Email: [email protected]

Assistant: 734-763-8345

Fax: 734-936-1615

Address: 5208 SPH II
1415 Washington Heights
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109

For media inquiries: [email protected] 

Areas of Expertise: Child Health,  Global Public Health,  Infectious Disease,  Public Health Practice,  Vaccines

Matthew Boulton in the News

Matthew L. Boulton

Matthew L. Boulton appointed associate director of Center for Global Health Equity

A person receives a vaccination in their left arm by a medical professional.

Am I fully vaccinated for polio? How to check your Michigan immunization record

Matthew Boulton featured in Detroit Free Press

A woman wearing a polka dot top receives a vaccination.

To Combat Vaccine Hesitation, Identify and Target 'Fence-Sitters' Early in Pandemic

New research from Abram L. Wagner

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