Harvard Health Experts and Contributors

Gad Marshall, MD

Contributor

I received my undergraduate and medical degree from Boston University. I then completed a neurology residency at the University of Pittsburgh, followed by a dementia and behavioral neuroscience fellowship at the University of California, Los Angeles. I am board certified in Neurology. I am currently the Director of Clinical Trials at the Center for Alzheimer Research and Treatment at Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Associate Neurologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Assistant in Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital; and Associate Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. Over the past 17 years, I have focused on improving the clinical care of patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related conditions, in conjunction with clinical research in AD. Over the past 14 years, I have been site principal investigator for 14 clinical trials and 4 observational imaging studies in AD and am currently the site principal investigator for the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) 3 and the Anti-Amyloid Treatment in Asymptomatic Alzheimer’s Disease (A4) trial. My NIH-funded research has focused on clinical correlates of instrumental activities of daily living and neuropsychiatric symptoms with amyloid, tau, and FDG PET, structural and resting-state functional MRI, and CSF biomarkers across the early AD spectrum. More recently, I have been developing novel sensitive performance-based instrumental activities of daily living tests for early-stage AD.

Mallika Marshall, MD

Contributing Editor

Mallika Marshall, MD, is an Emmy-award winning journalist and physician who serves as Medical Director at WBZ-TV in Boston. A practicing physician who is Board Certified in both internal medicine and pediatrics, Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at the Massachusetts General Hospital’s (MGH) Chelsea Urgent Care Clinic and MGH Revere Health Center. Marshall is currently a Contributing Editor for Harvard Health Publishing (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School, and host of HHP’s e-learning courses. She has nearly 15 years of media experience, including serving as “HealthWatch” Anchor at WBZ-TV News for 10 years beginning in 2000. A cum laude graduate of Harvard College, Marshall received her medical degree with honors at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine. She completed her medical residency at Harvard in internal medicine and pediatrics. She is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honors Society, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the National Association of Black Journalists. She also has served on the Board of Trustees for the Urgent Care Foundation and the Board of Directors for Dress for Success Boston. In addition to numerous medical awards, she was an Associate Editor of the Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide.

Peter T. Masiakos, MS, MD, FACS, FAAP

Contributor

Dr. Masiakos is a pediatric surgeon, the director of pediatric trauma service at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and co-director of the MGH Center for Gun Violence Prevention, which he founded in June 2018. He is an associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School and a visiting surgeon at MGH, where he has a clinical interest in pediatric trauma care and injury prevention.

Paul G. Mathew, MD, FAAN, FAHS

Contributor

Paul G. Mathew, MD, FAAN FAHS is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School (HMS), and holds clinical positions at three HMS affiliated institutions. He serves as the Director of Continuing Medical Education at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Department of Neurology, John R. Graham Headache Center. He is also a staff neurologist at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates/Atrius Health and the Cambridge Health Alliance. He completed his neurology residency at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, PA, and then completed a fellowship in headache medicine at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. He is board certified in neurology and headache medicine. In addition to conventional headache treatments, Dr. Mathew performs Botox injections, trigger point injections, and nerve blocks. In terms of his academic responsibilities, he has been involved in the training of neurology, psychiatry, internal medicine, family medicine, and dental residents, as well as two headache medicine fellows per year. Regarding medical student education, he is the founder and clerkship director of the Harvard Medical School Advanced Neurology Clerkship. He also serves on the faculty of the Harvard Medical School Cambridge Integrated Clerkship. He has written multiple publications, and has presented at both national and international conferences. Dr. Mathew serves as a peer reviewer for multiple journals including Cephalalgia, Headache, Headache Currents, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Neurology, the British Medical Journal, and the New England Journal of Medicine. He is the Co-Chief Medical Editor of the journal Practical Neurology. He is a member of several medical societies including the Massachusetts Neurological Association, the American Academy of Neurology, the Headache Cooperative of New England, the American Headache Society, and the International Headache Society. Dr. Mathew also applies his passion and expertise to the role of advocate for both patients and fellow physicians. He has participated in multiple successful lobbying efforts in Washington, DC headed by the American Academy of Neurology to improve patients’ access to healthcare. In March, 2015, Dr. Mathew was appointed as the neurology representative on the advisory board of the National Board of Physicians and Surgeons. The National Board of Physicians and Surgeons (www.NBPAS.org) is an organization committed to providing board re-certification that ensures physician compliance with national standards and lifelong learning after completing initial board certification with an American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) Board.

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.

Jessica McCannon, MD

Contributor

Dr. Jessica McCannon is a member of the Mass General Brigham division of pulmonary and critical care medicine, and is the director for faculty advancement in the division. She practices pulmonary medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and at the MGH Chelsea Community Health Center, and cares for patients in a variety of inpatient settings at MGH as well. She is a passionate advocate for her patients and the faculty members she supports.

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.

Alec L. Meleger, MD

Contributor

Dr. Alec L. Meleger specializes in the nonsurgical management of spine-related conditions and spinal pain. His practice focuses on the comprehensive evaluation and diagnosis of patients with spinal disorders, and the development of individualized, multidisciplinary treatment plans designed to optimize function, reduce pain, and improve quality of life. Dr. Meleger is a board-certified, fellowship-trained interventional spine physiatrist and a member of the medical staffs of Newton-Wellesley Hospital, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, and Massachusetts General Hospital. He received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from Boston University, and earned his medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He subsequently completed residency training in physical medicine and rehabilitation through the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital/Harvard Medical School training program.

Lauren Mellett, PT

Contributor

Lauren Mellett is a board-certified cardiovascular and pulmonary physical therapist with over 25 years of experience in outpatient cardiac rehabilitation. She manages the cardiac rehabilitation program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital at the Mass General Brigham Healthcare Center in Foxborough, MA, and was instrumental in establishing the program. Mellett also serves as adjunct faculty in the physical therapy department at Northeastern University’s Bouvé College of Health Sciences in Boston.

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.

Harvard Health Experts and Contributors

List of Experts

Gad Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD

Peter T. Masiakos, MS, MD, FACS, FAAP

Paul G. Mathew, MD, FAAN, FAHS

Elizabeth Matzkin, MD

Maria Mavrikaki, PhD

Alice Maxfield, MD

Candice Mazon, MD

Jessica McCannon, 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

Alec L. Meleger, MD

Lauren Mellett, PT

Christopher M. Melnic, MD

Babar Memon, MD, MSc

Elise Merchant, MD

Rebecca Mercuro, PT, DPT, OCS, CSCS

Beverly Merz

Eric A. Meyerowitz, MD