Elizabeth S. Barnert, MD, MPH
(she/her)
- Pediatrics
About
Elizabeth Barnert, MD, MPH, MS, is a pediatrician, health policy researcher, and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at UCLA. Her research, grounded in human rights and social action, focuses on children affected by violence, family separation, and incarceration. She leads NIH- and foundation-funded research to improve health outcomes for youth in custody and to develop DNA-based tools for family reunification in humanitarian crises.
Dr. Barnert's research has directly shaped state and federal legislation, including laws that decriminalize youth who are sex trafficked, establish a minimum age for juvenile prosecution, and improve healthcare access for youth transitioning out of incarceration. A Cuban-American born and raised in Los Angeles, she provides pediatric care in juvenile hall and helps guide California’s youth justice transformation efforts with the state’s Health & Human Services Agency.
She serves as Chair of the Juvenile Health Committee for the National Commission on Correctional Health Care and co-founder of DNA Bridge, a nonprofit advancing evidence-based tools for family reunification. Dr. Barnert has authored over 85 peer-reviewed publications, and her work has been featured in Science, JAMA Pediatrics, Pediatrics, and The New York Times, among others. Her book, Reunion: Finding the Disappeared Children of El Salvador (UC Press), documents her decades-long work to reunite families separated by civil war.
Dr. Barnert’s work is guided by the principle that all children should receive the support they need to be healthy and thrive.
Languages
Education
Medical Board Certification
Fellowship
Residency
Internship
Degrees
Recognitions
- Drukier Prize in Children’s Health Research, Weill Cornell Medicine, 2025
- Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine, Southern California Chapter Recognition Award, 2024
- UCLA Public Impact Research Award, 2022
- See More
Hospital Affiliations
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital
Medical Services
Areas of Focus
Research
Interests
- Youth justice system; Youth in custody; Family reunification; Commercial sexual exploitation of children; Child trafficking; DNA and biometrics; Children’s rights; Human rights
Publications
Link to Dr. Barnert's PubMed publications
Selected Publications
- Barnert ES. Childhood Behind Bars: Children and the U.S. Juvenile Legal System. Advances in Pediatrics. 2024 August; 71(1):29-40. PMID: 38944487.
- Barnert ES, et al. Parents’ Adverse and Positive Childhood Experiences and Offspring Involvement with the Criminal Legal System. JAMA Network Open. 2023 October; 6(10):e2339648. PMID: 37878312.
- Barnert ES. (2023). Reunion: Finding the Disappeared Children of El Salvador. University of California Press.
- Barnert ES, et al. Reimagining Children’s Rights in the US. JAMA Pediatrics. 2022 December; 176(12):1242-1247. PMID: 36279125
- Barnert ES, et al. Using DNA to Reunify Migrant Families [Policy Forum Perspective]. Science; 2021 June; 372(6547):1154-1156. PMID: 34045324.
In the News
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Co-authored Washington Post op-ed calling for legislation to end the arrest and prosecution of young children in the United States (February 2021).
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Featured in the New York Times in a story about a Kansas student charged with a felony for making a finger gun gesture, underscoring the hypercriminalization of childhood and the need for justice system transformation (October 2019)
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Authored Forbes article on the long-term health consequences of family separation (October 2018).
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Interviewed on Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness, discussing the lifelong impact of family separation on children (July 2018)
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Featured on Univision 34 Los Angeles in a Spanish-language segment: “Sentí que mi identidad estaba completa”: Doctora hispana reunifica a familias de El Salvador por medio del ADN [“I felt that my identity was complete”: Hispanic doctor reunites Salvadoran families through DNA] (February 2023)
Insurance
- Aetna
- Anthem Blue Cross
- Blue Shield of California
- Centivo
- Cigna
- First Health
- Health Net of California
- Interplan (part of HealthSmart)
- L.A. Care
- Medicare Advantage
- MultiPlan
- UFCM Health System
- Prime Health Services
- Private Healthcare Systems (PHCS)
- TRICARE
- UnitedHealthcare
The list of health care plans above may not be comprehensive and could change.
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Recognitions
- Drukier Prize in Children’s Health Research, Weill Cornell Medicine, 2025
- Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine, Southern California Chapter Recognition Award, 2024
- UCLA Public Impact Research Award, 2022
- “100 in 100" UCLA Health 100 Trailblazing Women, 2020
- New Member Outstanding Science Award, Society for Pediatric Research, 2019