Iris W. Borowsky, MD, PhD

Iris Wagman Borowsky, MD, PhD is a Professor of Pediatrics, Director of the Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Health, and Director of the Interdisciplinary Post-Doctoral Research Training Program in Child & Adolescent Primary Care Research at the University of Minnesota. She received her undergraduate degree at Duke University, and her PhD in Neuroscience and MD from Washington University School of Medicine. Her pediatric internship and residency were at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, where she also completed a fellowship in General Academic Pediatrics, with an emphasis on children and adolescents living in high-risk environments.

Much of Dr. Borowsky's clinical and teaching activities are at the Community University Health Care Center, a neighborhood-based outreach clinic of the University of Minnesota which provides care to an ethnically-diverse, low income urban population. Her research focuses on risk and protective factors for involvement in self-directed and interpersonal violence among youth, as well as the development of effective violence prevention strategies, particularly interventions that can be used by health care providers in clinical encounters. Her studies laid the foundation for the development of a theoretically-grounded, evidence-based youth violence prevention intervention, and one of the first randomized, controlled evaluations of a primary care-based intervention designed to reduce violence involvement and violence-related injury among youth. Through presentations to diverse professional audiences, Congressional testimony, media coverage of peer-reviewed publications, and preparation and dissemination of monographs and briefing materials, she has sought to use her research to impact practice and policy decisions. Throughout her career, Dr. Borowsky has mentored medical, graduate, undergraduate, and high school students, as well as residents, fellows, and junior faculty in multiple disciplines. In 2013, she received the Miller-Sarkin Mentoring Award from the national American Pediatric Association (APA), which recognizes the contributions of an APA member who has provided outstanding mentorship to learners or colleagues, both locally and nationally, and serves as model to others who aspire to mentor others as they mature.

• Gisela & E. Paul Konopka Endowed Chair in Adolescent Health and Development, University of Minnesota Medical School (2018)
• Alumni Achievement Award, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center Department of Pediatrics (2017)
• Miller-Sarkin Mentoring Award, Academic Pediatric Association (2013)
• Women Changing the Face of Pediatrics Lectureship, Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics (2012)
• Academic Pediatric Association Presidential Plenary Session Platform Presentations
• (2003, 2007)
• Jundt Research Award, U of MN, Minneapolis (2001)
• Generalist Physician Faculty Scholars Award, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (1999-2003)
• McQuarrie Research Scholar Award, U of MN, Minneapolis ( 1998-2000)
• Physician Research Commendation, Minnesota Physician (1997)
• Sandoz Award in Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine (1990)
• Oliver H. Lowry Prize in Pharmacology, Washington University School of Medicine (1986)
• National Institutes of Health, Research Services Award, Medical Scientist Training Program (1984-1990)

Risk and protective factors for health-risk behaviors among youth; Development of effective strategies to reduce psychosocial problems in children and adolescents; Prevention of interpersonal and self-directed violence and bullying among youth