Robert B. Saper, MD MPH
Professor
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Dept of Family Medicine

MD, Harvard University
MPH, Harvard School of Public Health

Pronouns: he/him/his



Dr. Saper is the Director of Integrative Medicine for the Boston Medical Center Department of Family Medicine and Professor in the Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine. Dr. Saper attended Brandeis University for his undergraduate education. After graduating Harvard Medical School in 1988, he completed a family medicine residency and chief residency at UCSF from 1988-92 and was in private practice for 8 years in the San Francisco Bay area. While in California he worked closely with Dr. Ornish’s Program for Reversal of Heart Disease. In 2000 he moved back to the Boston area and retooled professionally by entering the three year NIH-funded Integrative Medicine Research Fellowship at Harvard Medical School which included an MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health. As a fellow, he published the first nationally representative survey of yoga use in the United States.

In 2004 he joined the Boston University faculty and medical staff of Boston Medical Center where he directs the Program for Integrative Medicine and Health Disparities. The mission of the Program is to bring evidence-based integrative medicine approaches to all, regardless of ability to pay. Soon after arriving at Boston Medical Center, he received a five year Academic Career Development Grant from the NIH National Center for Complementary Alternative Medicine. With this support, he published a pilot study of yoga for chronic low back pain in predominantly low income minorities recruited from federally qualified community health centers. In 2010 Dr. Saper was funded by the NIH to conduct a randomized controlled trial comparing the effectiveness and cost of yoga, physical therapy, and education for back pain in 320 adults. He is also funded by NIH to study yoga for back pain in veterans. Other major areas of research include the safety and efficacy of traditional Indian herbal medicines. Dr. Saper is the Past Chair of the Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health.



Optimization and multi-site feasibility of yoga for chronic
04/01/2020 - 03/31/2025 (PI)
Butler Hospital National Center for

Targeted Interventions to Prevent Chronic Low Back Pain in High Risk Patients:A Multi Site Pragma…
07/01/2015 - 06/30/2020 (PI)
University of Pittsburgh PCORI

Innovations in Non-Pharmacologic Approaches to Pain Management for the Underserved
03/14/2018 - 03/14/2020 (PI)
MEDTRONICS

Yoga vs. Physical Therapy for Chronic Low Back Pain in Minority Populations
09/01/2013 - 08/31/2018 (PI)
NIH-NCCIH
3R01AT005956-05S1

Yoga vs. Physical Therapy for Chronic Low Back Pain in Minority Populations
09/01/2010 - 08/31/2017 (PI)
NIH-NCCIH
5R01 AT005956-05

Yoga vs Physical Therapy for Chronic Low Back Pain in Minority Populations
09/01/2013 - 08/31/2016 (PI)
NIH-NCCIH
3R01AT005956-05S2

Moving Massage from Nice to Necessary: An Inpatient Pilot Study
01/01/2014 - 12/31/2015 (PI)
Muscular Therapy Institute Foundation

Integrative Medicine Group Visits: An Innovative Model of Care for the Future
11/01/2011 - 12/31/2015 (PI)
Chigier Family Fund

Academic Career Dvelopment in CAM Research and Education
08/01/2005 - 06/30/2011 (PI)
NIH-NCCIH
5K07AT002915-05

Therapeutic Massage for Cancer Patients at Boston Medical Center
09/01/2006 - 08/31/2007 (PI)
Massage Therapy Foundation


Title


Yr Title Project-Sub Proj Pubs
2015 Yoga vs. Physical Therapy for Chronic Low Back Pain in Minority Populations 3R01AT005956-05S1 9
2015 Yoga vs. Physical Therapy for Chronic Low Back Pain in Minority Populations 3R01AT005956-05S2 9
2014 Yoga vs. Physical Therapy for Chronic Low Back Pain in Minority Populations 5R01AT005956-05 9
2014 Yoga vs. Physical Therapy for Chronic Low Back Pain in Minority Populations 3R01AT005956-04S2 9
2014 Yoga vs. Physical Therapy for Chronic Low Back Pain in Minority Populations 3R01AT005956-04S1 9
2013 Yoga vs. Physical Therapy for Chronic Low Back Pain in Minority Populations 5R01AT005956-04 9
2012 Yoga vs. Physical Therapy for Chronic Low Back Pain in Minority Populations 5R01AT005956-03 9
2011 Yoga vs. Physical Therapy for Chronic Low Back Pain in Minority Populations 5R01AT005956-02 9
2010 Yoga vs. Physical Therapy for Chronic Low Back Pain in Minority Populations 1R01AT005956-01A1 9
2009 Academic Career Development in CAM Research and Education 5K07AT002915-05 13
Showing 10 of 14 results. Show All Results

Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.

iCite Analysis       Copy PMIDs To Clipboard

  1. Patil SJ, Golzy M, Johnson A, Wang Y, Parker JC, Saper RB, Haire-Joshu D, Mehr DR, Foraker RE, Kruse RL. Individual-Level and Neighborhood-Level Factors Associated with Longitudinal Changes in Cardiometabolic Measures in Participants of a Clinic-Based Care Coordination Program: A Secondary Data Analysis. J Clin Med. 2022 May 20; 11(10). PMID: 35629024; PMCID: PMC9145991; DOI: 10.3390/jcm11102897;
     
  2. Joyce CT, Chernofsky A, Lodi S, Sherman KJ, Saper RB, Roseen EJ. Do Physical Therapy and Yoga Improve Pain and Disability through Psychological Mechanisms? A Causal Mediation Analysis of Adults with Chronic Low Back Pain. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2022 Jul; 52(7):470-483.View Related Profiles. PMID: 35584010; PMCID: PMC9510936; DOI: 10.2519/jospt.2022.10813;
     
  3. Beneciuk JM, George SZ, Patterson CG, Smith CN, Brennan GP, Wegener ST, Roseen EJ, Saper RB, Delitto A. Treatment effect modifiers for individuals with acute low back pain: secondary analysis of the TARGET trial. Pain. 2023 01 01; 164(1):171-179.View Related Profiles. PMID: 35543647
     
  4. Lin Y, Saper R, Patil SJ. Long COVID Shared Medical Appointments: Lifestyle and Mind-Body Medicine With Peer Support. Ann Fam Med. 2022 Jul-Aug; 20(4):383. PMID: 35443975; PMCID: PMC9328700; DOI: 10.1370/afm.2817;
     
  5. Marshall A, Joyce CT, Tseng B, Gerlovin H, Yeh GY, Sherman KJ, Saper RB, Roseen EJ. Changes in Pain Self-Efficacy, Coping Skills, and Fear-Avoidance Beliefs in a Randomized Controlled Trial of Yoga, Physical Therapy, and Education for Chronic Low Back Pain. Pain Med. 2022 Apr 08; 23(4):834-843.View Related Profiles. PMID: 34698869; PMCID: PMC8992579; DOI: 10.1093/pm/pnab318;
     
  6. Joyce C, Keysor J, Stevans J, Ready K, Roseen EJ, Saper RB. Beyond the pain: A qualitative study exploring the physical therapy experience in patients with chronic low back pain. Physiother Theory Pract. 2022 Jan 27; 1-11.View Related Profiles. PMID: 35086420; PMCID: PMC9325917; DOI: 10.1080/09593985.2022.2029650;
     
  7. Standish KR, Gonzalez SC, Roy V, McGuire CM, Barnett KG, Saper RB. Resident Outcomes and Perspectives Over 2 Years of a New Scholarship Curriculum. Fam Med. 2021 Jun; 53(6):461-466.View Related Profiles. PMID: 34077966
     
  8. Roseen EJ, Rajendran I, Stein P, Fredman L, Fink HA, LaValley MP, Saper RB. Association of Back Pain with Mortality: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Cohort Studies. J Gen Intern Med. 2021 10; 36(10):3148-3158.View Related Profiles. PMID: 33876379; PMCID: PMC8481518; DOI: 10.1007/s11606-021-06732-6;
     
  9. Delitto A, Patterson CG, Stevans JM, Freburger JK, Khoja SS, Schneider MJ, Greco CM, Freel JA, Sowa GA, Wasan AD, Brennan GP, Hunter SJ, Minick KI, Wegener ST, Ephraim PL, Beneciuk JM, George SZ, Saper RB. Stratified care to prevent chronic low back pain in high-risk patients: The TARGET trial. A multi-site pragmatic cluster randomized trial. EClinicalMedicine. 2021 Apr; 34:100795. PMID: 33870150; PMCID: PMC8040279; DOI: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.100795;
     
  10. Joyce C, Roseen EJ, Keysor JJ, Gross KD, Culpepper L, Saper RB. Can Yoga or Physical Therapy for Chronic Low Back Pain Improve Depression and Anxiety Among Adults From a Racially Diverse, Low-Income Community? A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2021 06; 102(6):1049-1058.View Related Profiles. PMID: 33556352; PMCID: PMC8184573; DOI: 10.1016/j.apmr.2021.01.072;
     
Showing 10 of 123 results. Show More

This graph shows the total number of publications by year, by first, middle/unknown, or last author.

Bar chart showing 123 publications over 19 distinct years, with a maximum of 20 publications in 2015

YearPublications
19851
19912
20044
20072
20087
20098
20102
20112
201210
201311
201414
201520
20167
20176
20181
20199
20204
20217
20226


Challenges Faced When Implementing an Integrative Care Model

Practical Pain Management 11/26/2018

2019 Boston Medical Center: Be Exceptional Award
2014 South Boston Community Health Center: Best Preceptor Award
2010 Society for Teachers of Family Medicine: Honorable Mention, Best Research Paper Award
2006 South Boston Community Health Center: Best Preceptor Award
2006 Society for Teachers of Family Medicine: Honorable Mention, Best Research Paper Award
2003 Harvard Medical School Class of 2003: Recognition for Outstanding Teaching
1998 Alta Bates Medical Center: President's Award
1983 Brandeis University: Summa cum laude with highest honors in biology
In addition to these self-described keywords below, a list of MeSH based concepts is available here.

Ayurveda
complementary alternative medicine
health disparities
integrative medicine
low back pain
yoga

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771 Albany St
Boston MA 02118
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