Harvard Health Experts and Contributors

Elizabeth Matzkin, MD

Contributor

Elizabeth Matzkin, MD, is the chief of the Women’s Sports Medicine program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) and assistant professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School. Highly regarded for her accomplishments in education, research, and patient care, she has developed a world-class program for female athletes, which includes a research component. Matzkin completed her surgical and orthopedic residency training at the University of Hawaii. From there, she completed a fellowship in Shoulder and Sports Medicine at Duke University School of Medicine. During that time she served as an assistant team physician to the Duke University football and men’s basketball teams. Before coming to at BWH, she was an assistant professor at Tufts University School of Medicine. Matzkin’s clinical practice focuses on disorders of the shoulder, knee, and sports-related injuries. She specializes in advanced open and arthroscopic surgical techniques to restore damaged joints, ligaments, and bones. Her memberships include the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, and Arthroscopy Association of North America. She also serves on the Women’s Health Issues Advisory Board and the Council of Delegates for the American Society for Sports Medicine. In her free time, she enjoys running, playing ice hockey, and spending time with her husband and three daughters.

Maria Mavrikaki, PhD

Contributor

Maria Mavrikaki, PhD, studied psychology and neuroscience at the University of Crete in Greece. After obtaining her PhD, she pursued a postdoctoral research fellow position at The Scripps Research Institute in Florida, where she utilized genetic mouse models to study mechanisms underlying motivation for food. She then pursued a postdoctoral research fellowship and an assistant neuroscientist position at McLean Hospital, where she studied neurobiological mechanisms underlying prescription opioid addiction. Dr. Mavrikaki is currently staff scientist in Dr. Frank Slack’s lab at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Since March 2017, she is also an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Her ongoing research assesses the role of small molecules called microRNAs in opioid addiction.

Alice Maxfield, MD

Contributor

Alice Maxfield, MD, is an otolaryngologist with specialization in sinus and endoscopic skull base surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She is an instructor at Harvard Medical School and the BWH residency program director of the Harvard Otolaryngology Residency Program. Her clinical and research interests include sinus disease and outcomes of sinonasal surgery.

Candice Mazon, MD

Contributor

Dr. Candice Mazon is a second year adolescent medicine fellow at Boston Children's Hospital. She's a board certified pediatrician and received her training at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. She earned her MD degree from Drexel University College of Medicine. Her interests include sexual health and reproductive justice, as well as addressing various health inequities.

Cian McCarthy, MB, BCh, BAO, SM

Contributor

Dr. Cian McCarthy is an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a cardiovascular medicine attending physician at the Mass General Brigham Heart and Vascular Institute. He attended medical school at University College Cork, Ireland, before completing his internal medicine residency and cardiovascular disease fellowship training at Massachusetts General Hospital. He received a master of science in epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. McCarthy’s clinical and research interests include preventing cardiovascular disease and the diagnosis and management of acute myocardial infarction. He was a member of the writing committee for the 2024 European Society of Cardiology Guidelines for the management of elevated blood pressure and hypertension. His research is supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Claire McCarthy, MD

Former Senior Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publishing

Claire McCarthy, MD, is a primary care pediatrician at Boston Children’s Hospital, and an assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. In addition to being a senior faculty editor for Harvard Health Publishing, Dr. McCarthy writes about health and parenting for Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston.com, and the Huffington Post.

Chris McDougle, MD

Contributor

Dr. Christopher J. McDougle, director of the Lurie Center for Autism at Massachusetts General Hospital and Nancy Lurie Marks Professor in the Field of Autism at Harvard Medical School, is a neuropsychopharmacologist and internationally recognized expert in research and treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders that extend into adulthood. He has 25 years of experience diagnosing and caring for children, adolescents, and adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Before coming to Mass General, Dr. McDougle was the chairman of the department of psychiatry and executive director of the Institute of Psychiatric Research at Indiana University School of Medicine, where he was also the Albert Eugene Sterne Professor of Psychiatry. Dr. McDougle has maintained an active clinical practice throughout his career and continues this commitment to caring for individuals with ASDs at the Lurie Center, where he has expanded services for adults. As director of the Lurie Center, Dr. McDougle is keenly interested in leveraging the vast resources that exist at Mass General and elsewhere in Boston to advance new discoveries and treatments for children, adolescents, and adults with ASDs Dr. McDougle received a BA in chemistry from Valparaiso University in 1981 and an MD from Indiana University School of Medicine in 1986. He subsequently completed a residency in psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine (1990) and a fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry at the Yale Child Study Center (1995).

Francis J. McGovern, MD

Contributor

Dr. Francis J. (Frank) McGovern is a urologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital department of urology. He specializes in the treatment of urologic cancer, prostate cancer, bladder cancer, kidney cancer, utereal cancer, testicular cancer, urologic trauma, and reconstructive surgery.

Katherine D. McManus, MS, RD, LDN

Contributor

Kathy McManus is Director of the Department of Nutrition and Director of the Dietetic Internship at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School in Boston. In addition, she serves as the Director for Nutrition at Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and the Director of Nutrition and Behavior Modification Programs for the Program for Weight Management at the Brigham. Ms. McManus has been involved with a number of cardiovascular and obesity related research trials during her years at the Brigham including an NIH funded obesity study, POUNDS (Preventing Overweight Using Novel Dietary Strategies) Lost as a co-investigator.

Darshan Mehta, MD, MPH

Contributor

Dr. Darshan Mehta is an assistant professor in medicine and psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He is the medical director of the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), director of the Office for Well-Being with the Center for Faculty Development at MGH, and the medical and education director for the Osher Research Center at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. In addition, he is the MGH site director for the Practice of Medicine curriculum required of all first-year Harvard Medical School students. After completing his residency in internal medicine at the University of Illinois-Chicago Hospital, Dr. Mehta completed a clinical research fellowship in complementary and integrative medicine at the Osher Center, during which he received a master of public health degree from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He is board certified in internal medicine and integrative medicine.

Jigar Mehta, PharmD, BCACP, AAHIVP, 340B ACE

Contributor

Jigar Mehta is the manager of outpatient pharmacy operations for pharmacy at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. He leads initiatives to improve medication access, promote adherence, and strengthen transitions of care across outpatient pharmacy services. A board-certified ambulatory care pharmacist, Dr. Mehta has been recognized for advancing practice innovation and workforce development through his leadership in the Massachusetts Society of Health-System Pharmacists, and committee involvement with the American Pharmacists Association. He earned his doctor of pharmacy degree from Northeastern University.

Robert C. Meisner, MD

Contributor

Robert C. Meisner, MD, is the medical director of the ketamine service in the psychiatric neurotherapeutics program at McLean Hospital, and an attending psychiatrist in the acute psychiatric service at Massachusetts General Hospital. He graduated from Princeton summa cum laude and attended Harvard Medical School. He was a doctoral student in cultural anthropology at the Harvard Graduate School for Arts and Sciences, where he focused on child soldiering in Uganda under American anthropologist Arthur Kleinman. He received his early clinical training as a resident at Harvard in internal medicine, anesthesia, critical care, and pain. Dr. Meisner has written and lectured on a wide range of topics, from pediatric and collegiate mood disorders to the safe translation of ketamine research into evidence-based clinical practice. He has previously served on the administrative board of Harvard College, as acting resident dean at Harvard College’s Currier House, and on the faculty of arts and sciences at Harvard University.

Christopher M. Melnic, MD

Contributor

Dr. Christopher M. Melnic is a board certified, fellowship-trained orthopaedic arthroplasty surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Melnic attended Boston College and was granted early acceptance into Tufts University School of Medicine, where he obtained his medical degree. He completed his residency in orthopaedic surgery at The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, followed by a fellowship in adult joint reconstruction at Rush University in Chicago. He is the director of the MGH adult reconstructive surgery fellowship program. He also serves on the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons evidence-based medicine committee, and is a member of the Arthroplasty Today editorial board. Dr. Melnic resides in Boston, MA with his wife and two-year-old son.

Babar Memon, MD, MSc

Contributor

Dr. Babar Memon is an infectious disease specialist with an interest in prosthetic joint infections, tick-borne illnesses, and infection control. He earned his medical degree at Dow Medical College in Karachi, Pakistan, and obtained a master’s degree in infection control from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He completed his training in internal medicine at Carney Hospital in Boston and his infectious disease fellowship at Boston University Medical Center. He currently provides medical care at Beth Israel Lahey Health-Milton, where he is an infectious disease consultant and runs an outpatient general infectious diseases clinic, and at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital.

Elise Merchant, MD

Contributor

Dr. Elise Merchant is an infectious diseases fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She completed her internal medicine residency and chief residency at Tufts Medical Center, after earning her MD from Tufts University School of Medicine and an AB in anthropology and biology from Brown University. Her academic interests include medical education and HIV.

Rebecca Mercuro, PT, DPT, OCS, CSCS

Contributor

Rebecca “Becky” Mercuro, PT, DPT, OCS, CSCS, is an outpatient orthopedic physical therapist with MGB/Spaulding Rehabilitation. She graduated from Northeastern University with her doctorate and completed an orthopedic residency with the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions. Becky is a certified strength and conditioning specialist with experience coaching soccer, and personal interest in treating and preventing knee and hip injuries throughout the lifespan. She treats total joint replacements throughout different stages of their care, from “pre-hab” and joint classes leading up to surgery, to day of surgery training and discharge planning, to outpatient physical therapy and return to prior level of function.

Beverly Merz

Executive Editor, Harvard Women's Health Watch

Beverly Merz is Executive Editor of Harvard Women’s Health Watch, a publication she helped start in 1993. Before coming to Harvard she was an Associate Editor of JAMA, Managing Editor with the Union of Concerned Scientists, and held editorial positions at Encyclopedia Britannica and World Book Encyclopedia. She was also a founding editor of Cardio, a newsmagazine for cardiologists and SusanLoveMD.org. Beverly has contributed to a variety of general and health publications including The New England Journal of Medicine, Good Housekeeping, and The Chicago Tribune. She is a graduate of The University of Colorado.

Eric A. Meyerowitz, MD

Contributor

Dr. Eric Meyerowitz (he/him/his) is an infectious diseases fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital in the HIV clinician educator track. Dr. Meyerowitz received his undergraduate degree from Harvard College and his MD from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his internship and residency at the University of Washington in Seattle in the HIV pathway, where he trained in the Madison Clinic. His clinical interests include caring for people living with HIV and those at risk for HIV. He is passionate about working to ensure everyone has access to high-quality healthcare.

Amy Leigh Miller, MD, PhD

Contributor

Amy Leigh Miller, MD, PhD, received her MD and PhD from the University of Michigan, and completed her Medicine residency, Cardiology fellowship, and Cardiovascular Electrophysiology fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she has been on staff since 2010. She is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard. In addition to seeing patients, Amy is the Associate Chief Medical Information Officer at Partners Healthcare and is the Executive Director of Clinical Informatics for the Partners Healthcare Epic implementation (“Partners eCare”).

Joan Miller, MD

Contributor; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing

Dr. Joan Miller is the David Glendenning Cogan Professor and Chair of the department of ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School (HMS), chief of ophthalmology at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Massachusetts General Hospital, and ophthalmologist-in-chief at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she earned her MD from HMS and completed her ophthalmology residency and vitreoretinal fellowship at Mass Eye and Ear. Her clinical research interests focus on retinal disorders, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Dr. Miller and her colleagues at Mass Eye and Ear/HMS pioneered the development of verteporfin photodynamic therapy (Visudyne®), the first pharmacologic therapy for AMD. The group also identified the key role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in ocular neovascularization, leading to the development of anti-VEGF therapies now administered to millions of people with sight-threatening retinal diseases around the world. Her current studies focus on the pathogenesis of AMD, including genomics, metabolomics, imaging, and functional measures; strategies for early intervention in AMD; and neuroprotective therapies for retinal diseases. An internationally recognized expert in the field of retina, Dr. Miller has published over 280 original articles and more than 95 book chapters, reviews, and editorials. A member of the National Academy of Medicine and the Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis, she has received numerous honors for her work. Among them, Dr. Miller delivered the 2012 Edward Jackson Lecture for the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), and was a co-recipient of the 2014 António Champalimaud Vision Award, the highest distinction in ophthalmology and visual science. In 2015, Dr. Miller became the first woman to receive the Mildred Weisenfeld Award for Excellence in Ophthalmology from Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO); in 2018, she became the first woman awarded the Charles L. Schepens Award from AAO. Recently, Dr. Miller was awarded the 2018 Lucien Howe Medal from the American Ophthalmological Society, and the 2018 Gertrude D. Pyron Award from the American Society of Retinal Specialists.

Kathleen W. Miller, MD

Contributor

Dr. Kathleen W. Miller is a third-year resident at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Miller received her undergraduate degree and medical degree from Harvard University before starting internship and residency at MGH. She is starting the combined MGH/Brigham and Women's Hospital infectious disease fellowship in the HIV clinician educator track in July 2021. Her clinical interests focus on HIV care, care for the underserved, and medical education.

Michael Craig Miller, M.D.

Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing

Dr. Michael Craig Miller was Editor in Chief of the Harvard Mental Health Letter from August 2000 to March 2012. Published monthly, the Harvard Mental Health Letter was read widely by professionals and nonprofessionals alike. Dr. Miller’s writing on mental health topics has appeared in Newsweek, The Boston Globe, and in syndicated articles that appear in newspapers nationwide. He has appeared as a commentator on the Today show, The Martha Stewart Show, ABC News, CNN, and NPR, and for media outlets in the Boston area. In practice for more than 30 years, Dr Miller is a member of the faculty of Harvard Medical School and on the medical staff at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Jeannine Miranne, MD, MS

Contributor

Jeannine M. Miranne, MD, MS is a Urogynecologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and an Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School. She also serves as the Course Director for the Harvard Medical School Urogynecology Advanced Elective at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She sees patients at both Brigham and Women’s main campus and in Braintree, MA and operates at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, and South Shore Hospital. Her clinical interests include urinary incontinence, recurrent UTI, and pelvic organ prolapse.

David Mischoulon, MD, PhD

Contributor

Dr. Mischoulon is the Joyce R. Tedlow Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and Director of the Depression Clinical and Research Program (DCRP) of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). He is a board-certified psychiatrist and an accredited medical acupuncturist. His research and clinical work have focused on various areas of depression, including complementary and alternative medicine. He has carried out research studies funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH). Dr. Mischoulon has mentored research fellows and junior faculty from all over the world, including Europe, Asia, and Australia. He has published more than 250 original research articles, review articles, and book chapters. He has co-edited a textbook on natural medications for psychiatric disorders, and is currently co-editing a guide to treatments of depression. Dr. Mischoulon teaches in the MGH Department of Psychiatry’s residency program and in various continuing medical education programs nationwide. He also cares for patients through the DCRP’s clinical practice, and is regularly sought out for consultation regarding management of treatment-resistant depression and use of complementary therapies for psychiatric disorders.

Arianna Mitropoulos, DPT

Contributor

Arianna Mitropoulos is a board-certified pelvic health physical therapist and clinical specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She received her doctor of physical therapy degree from the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions. Her clinical interests include management of chronic pelvic pain, sexual dysfunction, and optimizing rehabilitation in gender-affirming care.

Harvard Health Experts and Contributors

List of Experts

Elizabeth Matzkin, MD

Maria Mavrikaki, PhD

Alice Maxfield, MD

Candice Mazon, MD

Cian McCarthy, MB, BCh, BAO, SM

Claire McCarthy, MD

Chris McDougle, MD

Francis J. McGovern, MD

Katherine D. McManus, MS, RD, LDN

Darshan Mehta, MD, MPH

Jigar Mehta, PharmD, BCACP, AAHIVP, 340B ACE

Robert C. Meisner, MD

Christopher M. Melnic, MD

Babar Memon, MD, MSc

Elise Merchant, MD

Rebecca Mercuro, PT, DPT, OCS, CSCS

Beverly Merz

Eric A. Meyerowitz, MD

Amy Leigh Miller, MD, PhD

Joan Miller, MD

Kathleen W. Miller, MD

Michael Craig Miller, M.D.

Jeannine Miranne, MD, MS

David Mischoulon, MD, PhD

Arianna Mitropoulos, DPT