Skip to content
Headshot of Robert Sege

Robert Sege, MD, PhD, FAAP

Director
HOPE National Resource Center

Biography

Robert Sege, MD, PhD, FAAP, Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at the Tufts University School of Medicine, is the Director of the HOPE National Resource Center located within the Center for Community-Engaged Medicine at Tufts Medicine and is the Co-Director of the Community and Stakeholder Engagement program at the Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute. He is a Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of Social Policy, a national, nonprofit public policy, research and technical assistance organization. Dr. Sege is a board-certified general and child abuse pediatrician for over 20 years, leading pediatric primary care at the Tufts Children’s Hospital (formerly Floating Hospital for Children) and Boston Medical Center.

Dr. Sege is nationally known for his research on effective health systems approaches that directly address the social determinants of health. His academic work incorporates community engagement at all stages of design, implementation, dissemination, and improvement. At the HOPE National Resource Center, he has led numerous publications that includes research on the prevalence of positive childhood experiences (PCEs) among adults (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), corporal punishment (Pediatric Reports) amd child physical abuse (JAMA Pediatrics) during the COVID-19 pandemic, and addressing health equity in clinical translational research (Journal of Clinical and Translational Science).

Dr. Sege frequently presents keynote addresses on the HOPE framework and the science of PCEs at national and international conferences, recently The Picower Institute Spring 2023 Symposium, 2024 Frank M. Norfleet Forum for the Advancement of Health, and PAS (Pediatric Academic Societies) 2024. He serves on the board of the Massachusetts Children’s Trust and served for many years on the Board of Prevent Child Abuse America and on American Academy of Pediatrics’ (AAP) Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect and Committe on Injury, Violence, and Poisoning Prevention.

In recognition of his work identifying the importance of PCEs, Dr. Sege received the 2022 Richard D. Krugman award presented by the National Foundation to End Child Abuse and Neglect (EndCAN) and the 2019 Ray E. Helfer award from the Alliance of Children’s Trusts and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Dr. Sege holds a MD degree from Harvard Medical School, a PhD degree in biology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a BS degree in biology from Yale University. He is an avid swimmer and lives in the Boston area where he and his wife have raised three adult children.

Other Positions

Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics
Tufts University School of Medicine

Co-Director
Community and Stakeholder Engagement Program, Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute

Senior Fellow
Center for the Study of Social Policy

Board Member
Massachusetts Children’s Trust

Education and Training

Pediatrics Internship and Residency
Children’s Hospital Boston, Boston, MA

MD
Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

PhD, Biology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, MA

BS, Biology
Yale University, New Haven, CT

Predictors of Corporal Punishment during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Sege R, Purdue EL, Burstein D, Niolon PH, Swedo EA, Hurley TP, Prasad K, Klika B.
Pediatr Rep. 2024 April 19. 16(2): 300-312. DOI: 10.3390/pediatric16020026

Childcare Disruptions and Parental Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Xu C, Purdue EL, Sege R, Sweigart B, Burstein D.
J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2024 Jan. 45(1): e21-30. DOI: 10.1097/DBP.0000000000001241

Protective factors associated with reduced substance use and depression among gender minority teens

Burstein D, Purdue EL, Jones J, Breeze J, Chen Y, Sege R.
J LGBT Youth. 2023 Jul 2. DOI: 10.1080/19361653.2023.2230462

Community-engaged training in informed consent

Markman KM, Weicker NP, Klein AK, Sege R.
J Clin Transl Sci. 2023 Apr 20. 7(1): e108. DOI: 10.1017/cts.2023.534

Steps Towards Equity in Research

Sege R, Laraque-Arena D.
J Clin Transl SCi. 2023 Mar 3. 7(1): 365. DOI: 10.1017/cts.2023.8

Sustaining and scaling a clinic-based approach to address health-related social needs

Arbour M, Fico P, Floyd B, Morton S, Hampton P, Sims JM, Atwood S, Sege R.
Front Health Serv. 2023 Feb 17. 3: 1040992. DOI: 10.3389/frhs.2023.1040992

Child Physical Abuse Did Not Increase During the Pandemic

Sege R, Stephens A.
JAMA Pediatr. 2022 Apr 1. 176(4): 338-340. DOI: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.5476

Responding to the Community: HOPE (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences

Sege R, Burstein D, Yang C.
In: Lerner D, Palm ME, Concannon TW. (eds)
Broadly Engaged Team Science in Clinical and Translational Research. 2022 Feb 27. 139-148. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-83028-1_15

Starting Off Right: Supporting Community Involvement in the Evaluation of Research Proposals

Sege R, Hughes MF.
In: Lerner D, Palm ME, Concannon TW. (eds)
Broadly Engaged Team Science in Clinical and Translational Research. 2022 Feb 27. 215-224. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-83028-1_23

View more publications

Applying the HOPE framework to Citizen Review.

2024 National Citizen Review Panel Conference.
Keynote presentation. May 2024. San Diego, CA.

Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences (HOPE): A community-engaged public health initiative.

PAS (Pediatric Academic Societies) 2024.
Panel presentation. May 2024. Toronto, CA.

The Science of HOPE – Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences.

2024 Frank M. Norfleet Forum for the Advancement of Health.
Keynote presentation. April 2024. Memphis, Tennessee.

Incorporating Assessment and Prevention of Adverse Childhood Experiences into Clinical Practice.

2023 AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) National Conference & Exhibition.
Workshop presentation. October 2023. Washington, DC.

HOPE in Practice.

2023 Early Childhood Mental Health Conference: We Can’t Wait!.
Keynote presentation. September 2023. San Diego, CA.

Operationalizing Resilience and Belonging in Mendocino County.

First 5 Mendocino Children’s Mental Health Summit.
Keynote presentation. May 2023. Ukiah, CA.

Transforming care for children and families everywhere all at once.

The Picower Institute Spring 2023 Symposium.
Presentation. May 2023. Cambridge, MA.

Spreading HOPE.

New Zealand Trauma Conference.
Keynote presentation. February 2023. Christchurch, NZ.

Building Resilience.

2023 NACCHO Overdose Prevention Summit.
Workshop presentation. April 2023. Arlington, VA.

Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences.

National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect.
Keynote presentation. July 2021. Virtual.

Professional

Richard D. Richard Krugman Award
End Child Abuse and Neglect (EndCAN) Coalition, 2022

Change Agent
Academy on Violence and Abuse, 2021

Honorary Degree in Human Services Administration
Urban College, Boston, MA. 2021

Ray E. Helfer Award
Alliance of Children’s Trusts, American Academy of Pediatrics, 2019

Grants

Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences
The JPB Foundation, 2023-2026

Fourth Annual HOPE Summit – The HOPE Transformation
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2024

Strengthening Families with HOPE
National Association of County and City Health Officials, 2023-2024

Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Data Analysis
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022-2024

Uniform Definitions and Measures for Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) and Childhood Protective Factors
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Public Health, 2022

Back To Top