Bruce Barrett, MD, PhD

Bruce Barrett received M.D. and Ph.D. (Anthropology) degrees from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 1992, then did an international health fellowship with Johns Hopkins University at a World Health Organization research institute in Guatemala. A 1997 graduate of the Eau Claire residency program, Dr. Barrett completed the Madison-based primary care research fellowship in 1999. He joined the Department of Family Medicine faculty in 2000, was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2006, full Professor in 2013, and Vice Chair of Research in 2019.

Dr. Barrett was supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Generalist Physician Faculty Scholar program as he developed SID theory and BHTO methods. The PEP and MEPARI trials were funded by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH, formerly NCCAM). The PEP trial (physician, echinacea, placebo) tested treatment effects of echinacea, placebo, and doctor-patient interaction on acute respiratory infection (ARI). The first MEPARI trial (meditation or exercise for preventing acute respiratory infection) tested preventive effects of 8-week trainings in mindfulness meditation or moderately strenuous exercise on all-cause ARI over a single cold and flu season. Substantive reductions in incidence, severity and duration of ARI were observed. A second, larger MEPARI-2 trial confirmed the ARI-preventing effects of mindfulness meditation and exercise, but found somewhat smaller effect sizes.

Dr. Barrett is Co-Director of the U.W. Primary Care Research Fellowship, which provides research training to primary care physicians and post-doctoral scientists, and is sponsored by a T32 National Research Service Award from the Health Resources and Services Administration.

Finally, Bruce is an engaged citizen and an environmental health and human rights activist. He volunteers with Wisconsin Physicians for Social Responsibility, the Farley Center for Peace, Justice and Sustainability, and Wisconsin Health Professionals for Climate Action. He is actively engaged in seeking solutions to the threats posed by global warming and climate change. When not busy with research, clinical care and community service, Bruce can be found enjoying life with his family and friends, and/or running, biking, swimming, skiing, hiking, climbing, canoeing or sailing.

An interview on Dr. Barrett’s work by Inver Hills Community College student, Dorothy Her, is available here: Scientific Research and the Publication Process (PDF).

Select Publications

Woods, D.K., N. Hua,A.E. R.P. Lennon, C. Sundarum, C.A. Burzinski, B. Barrett, R. Edwards, E. Garland, A.E. Zgierska, Adults with opioid-treated chronic low back pain: Qualitative analysis of the opioid medication impact.  Accepted 22 Jan 2023 Journal of Pain Management.

Kim B.R., Grabow M.L., Walters S., Rateike S., Hitchcock M., and Barrett B.  Imagining Eco-Wellness: A scoping review of interventions aimed at changing individual behaviors to promote both personal health and environmental sustainability.  Accepted by Wisconsin Medical Journal 21Nov2022

Temte, Jonathan L, Bruce Barrett, Rodney Erickson, Cristalyne Bell.  Developing a Research Agenda on Climate Change and Health in Primary Care.  Family Practice 3 December 2022  https://doi.org/10.1093/fampra/cmac130

Riordan, Kevin M., Donal MacCoon, Bruce Barrett, Melissa Rosenkranz, Dekila Chungyalpa, Sin U Lam, Richard J. Davidson, & Simon B. Goldberg.  Does meditation training impact environmental behaviors?  A cross-sectional comparison and a randomized controlled trial.  Journal of Environmental Psychology  Vol. 8, 2022,  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2022.101900

Barrett B.    Health and Sustainability Co-Benefits of Eating Behaviors: Towards a Science of Dietary Eco-Wellness.   Preventive Medicine Reports  Vol.28,  2022.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2022.101878

Yuanyuan Wang; Zehui He; Simin Chen; Yuntao Liu; Fang Li; Bruce Barrett; Zhongde Zhang; Cecilia Stålsby Lundborg; Guobin Su.  Validation of the Wisconsin Upper Respiratory Symptom Survey-24, Chinese version.     Annals of Medicine.  54(1):655-665 , 2022.

Li, Y., Y. Kong, M. H. Ebell, L. Martinez, X. Cai, R. P. Lennon, D. M. Tarn, A. G. Mainous, A. E. Zgierska, B. Barrett.  “Development and Validation of a Two-Step Predictive Risk Stratification Model for Coronavirus Disease 2019 In-hospital Mortality: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study.” Frontiers in Medicine 9, 2022.

Park, L. S., M.-Y. Chih, C. Stephenson, N. Schumacher, R. Brown, D. Gustafson, B. Barrett, A. Quanbeck. “Testing an mHealth System for Individuals With Mild to Moderate Alcohol Use Disorders: Protocol for a Type 1 Hybrid Effectiveness-Implementation Trial.” JMIR Research Protocols 11(2): e31109, 2022.

Wang, Y., Z. He, S. Chen, Y. Liu, F. Li, B. Barrett, Z. Zhang, G. Su and C. Stålsby Lundborg. “Validation of the Wisconsin upper respiratory symptom survey-24, Chinese version.” Annals of Medicine 54(1): 655-665, 2022.

Zgierska AE, Burzinski CA, Garland E, Lennon RP, Jamison R, Nakamura Y, Barrett B, Sehgal N, Mirgain SA, Singles JM, Cowan P, Woods D, Edwards RR. Mindfulness-based therapy compared to cognitive behavioral therapy for opioid-treated chronic low back pain: protocol for a pragmatic randomized controlled trial. Contemporary Clinical Trials, 110 (2021) 106548

Schmit, Kathryn M,  R Brown, S Hayer, MM Checovich, JE Gern, ER Wald, B Barrett. Wisconsin Upper Respiratory Symptom. Survey for Kids: Validation of an Illness-specific Quality of Life Instrument. Pediatric Research. 2021 Feb 24. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-021-01395-9

Ebell MH, Xinyan Cai,  Robert Lennon, Derjung M. Tarn,  Arch G. Mainous III, Aleksandra E. Zgierska, Bruce Barrett, Wen-Jan Tuan, Kevin Maloy, Munish Goyal, Alex Krist. Development and Validation of the COVID-NoLab and COVID-SimpleLab Risk Scores for Prognosis in 6 US Health Systems. Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine. February 2021 (v34/s1, ahead-of-print). https://www.jabfm.org/sites/default/files/COVID_20-0464.pdf

Converse AK, Barrett BB, Chewning BA, Wayne PM. Tai Chi training for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: A feasibility trial in college students. Complementary Therapies in Medicine. Sept 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2020.102538

Barrett B, Harden C, Brown R, Coe C, Irwin M. Mindfulness meditation and exercise both improve sleep quality among adults without known sleep problems: Secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial of community dwelling adults. Sleep Health: Journal of the National Sleep Foundation, May 2020. doi. org/10.1016/j.sleh.2020.04.003

Goldstein, Ellen; Flowers Benton, Susan; Barrett, Bruce.  Health Risk Behaviors and Resilience among Low-Income, Black Primary Care Patients: Qualitative findings from a trauma-informed primary care intervention study. Family Community Health 43(3):187-199, Jul/Sep 2020; doi: 10.1097/FCH.0000000000000260

Minichiello V, Hayer S, MD, Gillespie R, Goss M, Barrett B. Developing a mindfulness skills-based training program for resident physicians. Family Medicine 52(1) 48-52, 2020.

Hampton A, Temte E, Barrett B.  Individually tailored yoga for chronic neck or back pain in a low-income population: A pilot study.  International Journal of Yoga. Volume 13, Issue 1, January-April 2020.

Sorkin B, Kuszak A, Fukagawa N, Hoffmann F, Jafari M, Barrett B, et al. Improving Natural Product Research Translation: from Source to Clinical Trial. FASEB Journal. 34:41-65, January 2020.

Bryan T, Hicks A, Barrett B, Middlecamp C. An Environmental Impact Calculator for 24-h Diet Recalls. Sustainability.11(23), 6866; December 3, 2019. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11236866

Meyer J, Hayney M, Coe C, Ninos C, Barrett B. Differential Reduction of IP-10 and C-Reactive Protein Via Aerobic Exercise or Mindfulness-Based Stress-Reduction Training in a Large Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology. April 26, 2019.

Barrett B, Torres ER, Meyer J, Barnet J, Brown R.  Predictors of sustained adherence to exercise and meditation practice, from MEPARI-2, a randomized controlled trial. Mindfulness.  March 28, 2019.

McClintock AS, R Brown, CL Coe, AE Zgierska, B Barrett.  Mindfulness Practice and Stress Following Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction:  Examining Within-Person Associations with Latent Curve Modeling. Mindfulness. December 2018.

Barrett B, Muller D, Hayer S, Ewers T, Chase J, Brown R.  Feeling Loved: A novel brief self-report health measure.   Explore: Journal of Science and Healing   Published online  1 September 2018.

Barrett B, Hayney MS, Muller D, Rakel D, Brown R, Zgierska AE, Checovich MM, Barlow S, Hayer S, Barnet J, Torres ER, Coe CL.  Meditation or exercise for preventing acute respiratory infection (MEPARI-2): A randomized controlled trial.  PLOS ONE 13(6): e0197778. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0197778. PMCID: PMC6014660

Xie Yaoguo, Zhang Zhengjun, Paul J Rathouz, Bruce Barrett.  Multivariate semi-continuous proportionally constrained two-part fixed effects models and applications.   Statistical Methods in Medical Research October 2018. https://doi.org/10.1177/0962280218807730

Meyer Jacob D., Torres, Elisa R., Grabow, Maggie L., Zgierska, Aleksandra E., Teng, Hao Yang, Coe, Christopher L., Barrett, Bruce P.  Benefits of 8-wk Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction or Aerobic Training on Seasonal Declines in Physical Activity.  Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 2018, 50(9): 1850–1858.  PMCID: PMC6130204

Stiles MM, Barrett B, Beasley JW.  METRICS for Metrics. Wisconsin Medical Journal Vol 117 (3), 2018.

Grabow, M.; Bryan, T.; Checovich, M.M.; Converse, A.K.; Middlecamp, C.; Mooney, M.; Torres, E.R.; Younkin, S.G.; Barrett, B.     Mindfulness and Climate Change Action: A Feasibility Study. Sustainability 2018, 10, 1508.

Goldstein Ellen, James Topitzes, Roger L. Brown, Bruce Barrett, MD.  Mediational Pathways of Mindfulness and Exercise on Mental Health and Perceived Stress: A Randomized Controlled Trial.  Journal of Health Psychology.  May 2018. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105318772608.

Hayney M. S., Henriquez K. M., Barnet J. H., Ewers T., Champion H. M., Flannery S., and Barrett B.. Serum IFN-gamma-induced protein 10 (IP-10) as a biomarker for severity of acute respiratory infection in healthy adults. J Clin Virol. 90:32-37, 2017. PMCID: PMC5408957

Chen Chen, Bruce Barrett and Kristine L. Kwekkeboom.   Efficacy of oral ginger (Zingiber officinale) for dysmenorrhea: A systematic review and meta-analysis.   Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2016:6295737. doi: 10.1155/2016/6295737. Review. PMID: 27274753; PMCID: PMC4871956.

Brown Roger, Chidi Obasi, Bruce Barrett.  Rasch analysis of the WURSS-21: Dimensional validation and assessment of invariance. Journal of Lung, Pulmonary & Respiratory Research. 2016 3(2):00076. DOI: 10.15406/jlprr.2016.03.00076 NIHMSID: 799586 PMCID: PMC5089813.

Barrett Bruce, Jason Ricco, Margaret Wallace, David Kiefer, David Rakel. Communicating statin evidence to support shared decision-making.  BMC Family Practice 2016 Apr 6; 17:41. doi: 10.1186/s12875-016-0436-9. PMID: 27048421; PMCID: PMC4822230.

Dorresteijn Paul M., Daniel Muller, Yaoguo Xie, Zhengjun Zhang, Bruce P. Barrett.  Validation of the Nasal Mucus Index: a novel measure of acute respiratory infection severity.  American Journal of Rhinology & Allergy.  2016 Sep;30(5):324-8. doi: 10.2500/ajra.2016.30.4337. PubMed PMID: 27657897.

Barrett Bruce, Maggie Grabow, Cathy Middlecamp, Margaret Mooney, Mary M. Checovich, Alexander K. Converse, Bob Gillespie and Julia Yates.  Mindful Climate Action: Health and Environmental Co-Benefits from Mindfulness-Based Behavioral Training.  Sustainability 2016: 8(10), 1040; doi:10.3390/su8101040 NIHMS: 826863 PMCID: PMC5170843

Karsh-Völk M, Barrett B, Linde K.  Echinacea for preventing and treating the common cold.  JAMA  2015 Feb 10: 313(6): 618-9.  Doi: 10.1001/jama.2014.17145.  NIHMSID: NIHMS665988; PMID: 25668266 PMC: PMCID: PMC4367446

Barrett Bruce, Charles Joel W, Temte Jonathan L. Climate change, human health, and epidemiological transition.  Preventive Medicine (70) January 2015.  doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2014.11.013   PMID: 25434735.  PMCID: PMC4367446

Rakel D, Mundt M, Ewers T, Fortney L, Zgierska A, Gassman M, Barrett B.  Value associated with mindfulness meditation and moderate exercise intervention in acute respiratory infection: The MEPARI Study.  Family Practice 2013 Aug;30(4):390-7. PMCID: PMC3722506

Barrett B.  Sufficiently important difference: Concepts, caveats and clarifications. Medical Decision Making, 2013; 33(6):869-874 PMID: 23482376; PMCID: PMC3653614

Barrett B.  Evidence, values, guidelines and rational decision-making.  Journal of General Internal Medicine 2011; 27(2):238-240. PMCID: PMC3133578

Barrett B, Brown R, Rakel D, Rabago D, Marchand L, Scheder J, Mundt M, Thomas G, Barlow S.  Placebo effects and the common cold: A randomized controlled trial.  Annals of Family Medicine. 2011; 9(4):312-22.   PMCID: PMC 31335578

• Highlighted by positive editorials, including: Brinkhaus, B.  Placebo pills, echinacea, empathy, and the common cold.  Forschende Komplementarmedizin, 2012; 9(3): 157-159   AND Wenk, G. How to Think Away Those Cold Symptoms.  Psychology Today, September 26, 2011.

Barrett B, Brown R, Rakel D, Mundt M, Bone K, Barlow S, and Ewers T. Echinacea for treating the common cold: A randomized controlled trial. Annals of Internal Medicine 2010; 153:769-777.  PMCID: PMC 3056276

Barrett B, Brown R, Mundt M.  Comparison of anchor-based and distributional approaches in estimating important difference in common cold.  Quality of Life Research 2008; 17(1):75-85.  PMID: 18027107

Barrett B, Rakel D, Chewning B, Marchand L, Rabago D, Brown R, Scheder J, Schmidt R, Gern JE, Bone K, Thomas G, Barlow S. Rationale and methods for a trial assessing placebo, Echinacea, and doctor patient interaction in common cold. Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing 2007; 3(6):561-572.  PMID: 18005908

Barrett B., Harahan, D. Brown, Z. Zhang, R. Brown.  Sufficiently important difference for common cold: Severity reduction.   Annals of Family Medicine 2007; 5(3):216-223.  PMCID:  PMC 1886488

Barrett B, Muller D, Rakel D, Rabago D, Marchand L, Scheder J.  Placebo, meaning and health. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 2006; 49(2):178-198.  PMID: 16702703

Barrett B, Brown D, Mundt MP, Brown RL.  Sufficiently important difference: Expanding the framework of clinical significance.  Medical Decision Making, 2005; 25(3):250-61. PMID: 15951453

• This article was highlighted and accompanied by the following two positive editorials:

Lehmann HP. Are we ready for patient-based effect sizes in clinical-trials research? Medical Decision Making 2005; 25 (3):248-249.

• Brand DA. Benefits, harms, and the design of clinical trials. Medical Decision Making 2005; 25  (3):246-247.

Barrett B, Brown RL, Mundt MP, Safdar N, Dye L, Maberry R, Alt J.  The Wisconsin Upper Respiratory Symptom Survey is responsive, reliable, and valid.  Journal of Clinical Epidemiology 2005; 58(6):609-617.  PMID: 15878475

Barrett B, Brown RL, Mundt MP, Dye L, Alt J, Safdar N, Maberry R. Using benefit harm tradeoffs to estimate sufficiently important difference: the case of the common cold.  Medical Decision Making 2005; 25(1):47-55.  PMID:  15673581

Barrett B. Medicinal properties of echinacea: A critical review.  Phytomedicine 2003; 10(1):66-86.  PMID:12622467

Barrett B, Brown R, Locken K, Maberry R, Bobula J, D’Alessio D.  Treatment of the common cold with unrefined echinacea: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.  Annals of Internal Medicine 2002; 137(12):939-946.  PMID: 12540331

Barrett B, Locken K, Brown R, Bobula J, Maberry R, Schwamman J, Stauffacher E.  The Wisconsin Upper Respiratory Symptom Survey (WURSS): A new research instrument for assessing the common cold.  Journal of Family Practice 2002; 51(3):265. PMID: 11978238

Barrett B, Ladinsky J, Volk N.  Village-based primary health care in the central highlands of Vietnam.  Journal of Community Health 2001; 26(1):51-71.  PMID:  11297190

Barrett B, Vohmann M, Calabrese C.  Echinacea for upper respiratory infection: Evidence-based clinical review.  Journal of Family Practice 1999; 48(8):628-635.  PMID:  10496642

Barrett B, Shadick K, Schilling R, Spencer L, del Rosario S, Moua K, Vang M.  Hmong/medicine interactions: Improving cross-cultural health care.  Family Medicine 1998; 30(3):179-184.  PMID: 9532439

Barrett B.  Identity, ideology and inequality: Methodologies in medical anthropology, Guatemala 1950-1995.  Social Science and Medicine 1997; 44(5): 579-587.  PMID:  9032826

Barrett B. Integrated local health systems in Central America.  Social Science and Medicine 1996; 43(1):71-82.  PMID:  8816012

Barrett B.  Ethnomedical interactions: Health and identity on Nicaragua’s Atlantic coast.  Social Science and Medicine 1995; 40(12:1611-1621.  PMID: 7660174

Barrett B.  Herbal knowledge on Nicaragua’s Atlantic coast: Consensus within diversity.  Journal of Community Health 1995; 20(5):403-421.  PMID:  8550868

Barrett B.  Plants, pesticides and production in Guatemala: Nutrition, health, and nontraditional agriculture.  Ecology of Food and Nutrition 1995; 33:293-309.

Barrett B.  Medicinal plants of Nicaragua’s Atlantic coast.  Economic Botany 1994; 48(1):8-20.

Barrett B.  Health care behavior on Nicaragua’s Atlantic coast.  Social Science and Medicine 1993; 37(3):355-368.  PMID:  8356484

• Bruce Barrett, MD, PhD – Curriculum-Vitae (PDF)