Harvard Health Experts and Contributors

Brian C. Jacobson, MD, MPH, FASGE, AGAF

Contributor

Dr. Brian C. Jacobson is a gastroenterologist and the director of program development for the gastroenterology division at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Jacobson cares for people with a broad range of gastrointestinal problems, and has expertise in advanced endoscopic procedures for the diagnosis and management of gastrointestinal cancers. His current research focuses on several aspects of colonoscopy quality and effectiveness. In addition to publishing numerous research articles and book chapters, Dr. Jacobson has co-authored several guidelines and standards of practice for the gastroenterology community. He has also served in leadership roles within several gastroenterological organizations, and has received many awards for teaching, mentoring, quality improvement, and clinical care excellence. Dr. Jacobson received his undergraduate degree from Amherst College, his medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and a master's in public health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. When not working, Dr. Jacobson enjoys woodworking, baking, reading, and being part of a close-knit family.

Ted A. James, MD

Contributor

Dr. Ted James is the Chief of Breast Surgical Oncology and Co-Director of the Breast Care Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He is an advocate of patient-centered care and believes that treatment should always incorporate the individual priorities and values of each patient. Dr. James works with national health organizations to improve outcomes and ensure that patients receive the best care possible.

James Januzzi, MD

Contributor

James L. Januzzi, MD, is the Hutter Family Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, a staff cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Senior Cardiometabolic Faculty at Baim Institute for Clinical Research. After completing his undergraduate studies at Holy Cross College in 1988, Dr. Januzzi graduated at the top-ranked student at New York Medical College, and subsequently performed a residency in Internal Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and fellowship in Cardiology and Cardiac Ultrasound at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He joined the Cardiology Division at MGH in 2000. Dr. Januzzi is a clinician, teacher and clinical trialist. His research has contributed to the understanding of cardiac biomarker testing, where his studies have set international standards for use in diagnosis, prognosis, and management of patients suffering from acutely decompensated heart failure, chronic heart failure as well as those with acute coronary syndromes. Dr Januzzi has published more than 500 manuscripts, book chapters and review articles, has edited two text books on cardiac biomarker testing and the MGH Cardiology Board Review Textbook. He is among the top 1% most cited researchers, according to Clarivate/Web of Science. He is an Associate Editor at both Journal of the American College of Cardiology and Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Heart Failure. He is currently the chair of the American College of Cardiology Task Force on Expert Consensus Decision Pathway Documents and will join the Board of Trustees of the American College of Cardiology in 2019. He has participated in numerous guideline and consensus documents in cardiovascular medicine. Since 2005, Dr. Januzzi has also served on the Medical Staff of the Boston Red Sox Baseball Club.

Sogol Javaheri, MD, MPH

Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing

Dr. Sogol Javaheri is an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and a physician in the division of sleep and circadian rhythm disorders at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. She graduated from Case Western Reserve University with her MD as well as a masters in bioethics. She completed an internal medicine residency and a sleep fellowship at Brigham and Women's, and subsequently obtained her MPH at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. In addition to seeing patients, she serves as the director of the Atrial Fibrillation Center of Excellence Sleep Clinic, and as associate program director for the MGB Clinical Sleep Fellowship program. Her primary research focus is sleep disorders and cardiovascular disease, and she is currently leading a clinical trial among patients with obstructive sleep apnea and atrial fibrillation.

Jeff Meade

Health Writer

Jeff Meade is a health writer and editorial consultant with interests in consumer health and health policy. He is a former news director for the Webby Award–winning intelihealth.com, and senior editor/producer for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH

Contributing Editor

Ashish K. Jha, M.D., M.P.H. is Director for the Harvard Global Health Institute, K.T. Li Professor of International Health & Health Policy at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and a practicing Internal Medicine physician at the VA Boston Healthcare System. Dr. Jha received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School and trained in Internal Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco where he also served as Chief Medical Resident. He completed his General Medicine fellowship from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School and received his M.P.H. from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Jha’s major research interests lie in improving the quality and costs of healthcare with a specific focus on the impact of policy efforts. His work has focused on a broad set of issues including transparency and public reporting of provider performance, financial incentives, health information technology, and leadership, and the roles they play in fixing healthcare delivery systems.

Tien Jiang, DMD, MEd

Contributor; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing

Tien Jiang, DMD, MEd, is an assistant professor in the department of oral health policy and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM). As a prosthodontist, Dr. Jiang teaches in the HSDM predoctoral preclinic and clinic, and practices in Littleton, MA. Dr. Jiang’s interests include interprofessional education and practice, health literacy, patient education, and curricular reform. Dr. Jiang is the 2023 recipient of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine Fellowship in honor of Aina M. Auskaps, DMD, for her work in health communication and patient education. Dr. Jiang earned her doctor of dental medicine degree at HSDM. Afterward, she moved to the Midwest to specialize in prosthodontics at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Jiang also completed a master's of education in instructional leadership at UIC College of Education.

Anthony Joseph, MD

Contributor

Anthony Joseph, MD, specializes in the medical, laser and surgical treatment of conditions that affect the retina and vitreous. His areas of expertise and interest include macular degeneration, diabetic eye disease, retinal vascular occlusions, macular holes, epiretinal membranes, retinal detachments, and proliferative vitreoretinopathy. Prior to medical school, Dr. Joseph attended Stanford University where he earned bachelor’s degrees with distinction in both Biological Science and Economics. He also earned his Master’s degree in Information Science from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Joseph received his medical degree from Duke University School of Medicine. He completed his Internship in ophthalmology at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, MI and his ophthalmology residency at the Jules Stein Eye Institute, University of California at Los Angeles. He went on to complete his fellowship training in vitreoretinal surgery at Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston and the New England Eye Center at Tufts Medical Center. Dr. Joseph is a Board-certified ophthalmologist and member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Medical Association, the American Medical Informatics Association, and the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. He has authored numerous research articles and has presented his work nationally.

Richard Joseph, MD

Contributor

Dr. Richard Joseph is the founder of VIM Medicine, cofounder of Vital CxNs, a practicing clinician in the Center for Weight Management and Wellness at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA, and a faculty member at Harvard Medical School. He completed his residency in primary care/internal medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital after receiving his medical and business degrees from Stanford University. Dr. Joseph designed and currently conducts an intensive group-based lifestyle program, and is a coauthor of The Lifestyle Medicine Handbook: An Introduction to the Power of Healthy Habits. Prior to his medical training, Dr. Joseph worked as a CSCS-certified personal trainer, helping numerous clients toward their health and fitness goals. His background in athletics and performance training, combined with his practice of lifestyle medicine and weight management, informs his vision of holistic health and well-being. Dr. Joseph aspires to help bridge the gap between the health and fitness industry and traditional health care to create a prevention-oriented, performance-focused, community-centric, and equitable model of care.

Stephen Juraschek, MD, PhD

Contributor

Dr. Stephen Juraschek is a physician investigator at Beth Isreal Deaconess Medical Center and an associate professor of medicine at both Harvard Medical School and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health's department of nutrition. His research focuses on healthy food, food insecurity, blood pressure variability outside of the clinic, orthostatic hypotension, gout, and falls. Dr. Juraschek received his medical degree from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and earned a doctorate in cardiovascular disease epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Harvard Health Experts and Contributors

List of Experts

Brian C. Jacobson, MD, MPH, FASGE, AGAF

Ted A. James, MD

James Januzzi, MD

Sogol Javaheri, MD, MPH

Jeff Meade

Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH

Tien Jiang, DMD, MEd

Anthony Joseph, MD

Richard Joseph, MD

Stephen Juraschek, MD, PhD