Harvard Health Experts and Contributors

James Richter, MD

Contributor

James Michael Richter, MD, is a Physician at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. He received his undergraduate degree from The University of Texas at Austin and Medical and Masters Degree from the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical School. He completed a residency in Internal Medicine and later a clinical and research fellowship in gastroenterology at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians. Dr. Richter practices consultative and endoscopic gastroenterology. Dr. Richter has an established interest in healthcare systems development and quality management, infectious, and inflammatory enteric diseases. He served as a Trustee of the Partners Community Healthcare; the community network that is a part of the Partners HealthCare System and Trustee of the Massachusetts General Hospital. He was Medical Director of the Massachusetts General Physicians Corporation and its successor, the Massachusetts General Physicians Organization between 1992 and 2002. There he chaired the Managed Care, Medical Management, Medical Policy Committees and Clinical Performance Management Task Force. He was Chief Medical Officer of the Caritas Christi Health Care System from 2002 through 2004. Dr. Richter served as a member of the Baldrige National Quality Award Board of Examiners and the Massachusetts Medical Society Information Technology and Quality of Care Committees. He is recently the chair of the Society for General Internal Medicine National Clinical Practice Committee which is responsible for quality of care, practice management, and applications of clinical information technology. He currently serves on the advisory committee to CMS developing the criteria for episodes of care for MIPS and MACRA. He continues to have an active leadership role in medical management, safety and quality of care improvement at the Massachusetts General Hospital. His research interests include the effectiveness of care of the adult patient with digestive disease, screening for colorectal cancer, quality management in healthcare and healthcare systems development and improvement. He has contributed over 180 original papers and chapters to the medical literature.

Paul M. Ridker, MD

Contributor

Dr. Paul M. Ridker is director of the Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention, a translational research unit at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. A cardiovascular medicine specialist, he is also the Eugene Braunwald Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. His clinical interests include coronary artery disease and the underlying causes and prevention of atherosclerotic disease.

Eric Rimm, ScD

Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing

Eric Rimm, ScD, is professor of epidemiology and nutrition, director of the program in cardiovascular epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School. He is internationally recognized for his extensive work in the study of the health effects of moderate alcohol consumption, whole grains, micronutrients, and polyphenols. He also studies the impact of local and national nutrition policy as it relates to the improvement of diets of school children, the one in eight Americans on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and other federal nutrition assistance programs. He served on the National Academy of Sciences’ food policy advisory committee for the USDA’s Economic Research Service, and previously served on the scientific advisory committee for the 2010 US Dietary Guidelines for Americans. He is also a nutritional advisor to the Boston Red Sox and the Liverpool Football Club in the English Premier League. He has published more than 800 peer-reviewed publications during his 28 years on the faculty at Harvard. Eric has received several awards for his work, including the American Society for Nutrition Innovation Award.

Eve Rittenberg, MD

Contributor

Eve Rittenberg, MD, is assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a primary care internist at the Fish Center for Women’s Health at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Her interests include women’s health, trauma-informed care, and health equity. She is a 2018–2021 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars fellow, working with an interdisciplinary team on trauma-informed care. She is the past medical director of primary care at the Fish Center, and is actively engaged in medical student education in women’s health.

Paul Rizzoli, MD

Contributor; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing

Dr. Paul Rizzoli is board-certified in internal medicine, neurology, and headache medicine. He is the clinical director of the Graham Headache Center at Brigham and Women’s/Faulkner Hospital in Boston. Begun in 1999 and affiliated with Harvard Medical School, it is one of the largest UCNS-accredited training programs in headache medicine in the United States. This academic headache center, located on the Faulkner Hospital campus, has as its mission to re-establish the Faulkner’s longstanding reputation for excellence in headache care, and to carry on the legacy of Dr. John Graham, an early headache pioneer. The center is known for excellence in headache management, research, and for clinical training in headache medicine.

Celeste Robb-Nicholson, MD

Contributor

Celeste Robb-Nicholson, M.D., is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Physician and Associate Chief of the General Internal Medicine Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, and founding Editor-in-Chief of theâ€¯Harvard Women's Health Watch. She also serves as the Medical Director of Primary Care Office InSite, a web site for general internists and their patients. In thisâ€¯role, she is responsible for the development of guidelines for primary care clinicians and health information for their patients. Dr. Robb-Nicholson received her undergraduate degree from Radcliffe College, her medical degree from Duke University, and her master's in public health in maternal and child health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is board certified in Internal Medicine. She maintains an active medical practice as a Primary Care Physician at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Laura K. Rock, MD

Contributor

Dr. Laura K. Rock is a pulmonologist and critical care physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. She is also faculty for the Center for Medical Simulation, and a VitalTalk instructor. She runs communication training programs and conducts research on debriefing as it relates to teamwork and patient safety. These include programs for effective and empathic communication between clinicians and patients or family members; work culture and how it affects teamwork, the patient experience, and clinician well-being; managing conflict at the bedside; and providing feedback that improves performance.

Adam Rodman, MD, MPH, FACP

Contributor

Dr. Adam Rodman is a general internist and medical educator at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is the director of AI programs at the Carl J. Shapiro Institute for Research and Education at BIDMC, and he leads the steering group for integration of AI into the medical school curriculum. He is also a visiting researcher at Google DeepMind, where he works on oversight systems for patient-facing AI. He also serves as an associate editor at NEJM AI. Dr. Rodman completed his residency in internal medicine at Oregon Health and Science University and his global health fellowship at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, which included clinical work in Molepolole, Botswana. He lives in Boston with his wife and two young sons.

Whitney Rokui, PT, DPT

Contributor

Whitney Rokui holds a doctorate of physical therapy from the MGH Institute of Health Professions. She enjoys treating complex neck and back disorders in addition to postoperative and general orthopedics, vertigo, and chronic pain. She enjoys working with a wide variety of ages but has a soft spot for older populations. In addition to clinical work at Spaulding Rehabilitation, Whitney also works in clinical research at the University of Utah, studying how to integrate behavioral change modalities into the clinical setting in rural/underserved populations for improved patient outcomes.

Dennis Rosen, MD

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School

Dennis Rosen, M.D. is a pediatric pulmonologist and sleep specialist at at Boston Children’s Hospital, where he is the associate medical director of the Center for Pediatric Sleep Disorders. He is also an assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Rosen is author of Successful Sleep Strategies for Kids (Harvard Medical School Guide) and Vital Conversations: Improving Communication Between Doctors and Patients

John Ross, MD, FIDSA

Contributor; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing

Dr. John Ross is an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is board certified in internal medicine and infectious diseases, and practices hospital medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He is the author of Shakespeare’s Tremor and Orwell’s Cough: Diagnosing the Medical Groans and Last Gasps of Ten Great Writers, and is one of the editors of the textbook Principles and Practice of Hospital Medicine.

Natalia S. Rost, MD, MPH, FAAN, FAHA

Contributor

Natalia S. Rost, MD, MPH, FAAN, FAHA, is chief of the stroke division at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) department of neurology, and professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School. A cum laude graduate of Boston University School of Medicine, she also holds a master of public health degree from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Rost trained in neurology and vascular neurology at MGH and Brigham and Women's Hospital residency and fellowship programs. Dr. Rost is internationally recognized for her expertise in vascular neurology, neuroimaging of cerebrovascular disease, and big-data science applications to personalized clinical outcome prediction in acute stroke. She is the author of numerous peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and is coauthor of the Harvard Medical School Special Health Report Stroke: Strategies to prevent, treat, and recover from a "brain attack" and the MGH Handbook of Neurology. Dr. Rost is a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology and American Heart Association, former president of the Boston board of the American Heart Association (2014–2016), scientific chair of the 2022 NINDS Alzheimer’s Disease-Related Dementias Summit, and she serves as associate editor of the journal Stroke.

Christian Ruff, MD, MPH

Contributor

Christian Thomas Ruff, MD, MPH, Director, Genetics Core Laboratory; Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts Christian T. Ruff, MD, MPH is the Director of General Cardiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He graduated from Harvard University with a degree in Neurobiology and earned his medical degree at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr Ruff is an investigator in the Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) Study Group and serves as the Director of the Genetics Core Laboratory and as Co-Director of the Clinical Events Committee. He has specific expertise in atrial fibrillation, risk stratification and implementation of antithrombotic therapy for stroke prevention, as well as the treatment and prevention of venous thromboembolism.

Christina Ruggeri, PT, DPT, NCS

Contributor

Christina Ruggeri earned her doctor of physical therapy degree at the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions in 2018, and became an APTA board-certified neurologic specialist in 2022. She practices at the Spaulding Outpatient Center in Salem, MA, where she is experienced in caring for patients with a variety of medically complex conditions and injuries. Christina is a member of the Spaulding North Shore Innovative Sports Medicine Team, where she is involved in aquatic therapy, wheelchair evaluations, and fittings in the brace clinic. Christina has assisted with adaptive kayaking and adaptive golf through Spaulding’s adaptive sports program, and advocates for the program to patients who may benefit. Christina also works in acute care at Salem Hospital.

Emily S. Ruiz, MD, MPH

Contributor; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing

Emily Ruiz, MD, MPH, is an associate physician at the Mohs and Dermatologic Surgery Center at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center; an instructor in dermatology at Harvard Medical School; and director of the High-Risk Skin Cancer Clinic at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Ruiz received her undergraduate degree from Duke University, medical degree from New York University School of Medicine, and master of public health degree from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She completed an internship in internal medicine at New York University School of Medicine, dermatology residency at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and fellowship in micrographic surgery and dermatologic oncology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Elisabeth J. Ryan, JD, MPH

Guest Contributor

Elisabeth Ryan, JD, MPH, is the Legal Fellow at the Northeastern University School of Law Center for Health Policy and Law. She has formerly practiced as a public defender and as deputy general counsel for the Massachusetts public safety executive office. She currently heads Public Health Law Watch and her work focuses on the intersection of criminal justice and public health.

Katherine Sakmar, MD

Contributor

Dr. Katherine Sakmar is a physician in the department of internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Her interests include hypertension and medical education. She treats outpatients at the MGH Comprehensive Hypertension Center and the inpatient medicine service at MGH. Dr. Sakmar earned her medical degree with honors at the University of Chicago, followed by a residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Maureen Salamon

Executive Editor, Harvard Women's Health Watch

Maureen Salamon is the executive editor of Harvard Women’s Health Watch. She also writes for the Harvard Health Letter, Harvard Heart Letter, and Harvard Men’s Health Watch, as well as for Harvard Health Publishing’s flagship website. She began her career as a newspaper reporter and later covered health and medicine for a wide variety of websites, magazines, and hospitals. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, CNN.com, WebMD, Medscape, and HealthDay, among other major outlets. Maureen earned a BA in print journalism from Penn State University.

Meghan Salamon, MS, RDN, LDN, CPT

Contributor

Meghan Salamon is a registered dietitian at the Weight Center at Massachusetts General Hospital. She has a passion for and background in bariatrics, GLP-1 and weight-loss medication nutrition therapy, as well as behavioral weight management. Meghan received her bachelor of science degree in dietetics at Boston University and completed her master of science in nutrition and dietetic internship at Saint Elizabeth University. She is a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the National Academy of Sports Medicine. Outside of the Weight Center, Meghan is a certified personal trainer who coaches group fitness in the Boston area.

Suzanne Salamon, MD

Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing

Dr. Suzanne Salamon is an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. She is a geriatrician and practices primary care geriatrics at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where she is the associate chief for clinical geriatrics. She is board certified in internal medicine and geriatric medicine. She is the geriatrics editor of the Harvard Health Letter, and has been the medical editor for Harvard Health Publishing Special Health Reports including Better Balance and Aging in Place. She is active in community public health, serving on the board of the Brookline Senior Center and writing a monthly column for their newsletter called “Ask a Geriatrician,” and she belongs to the Medical Reserve Corps. (Her mother, who just turned 100, lives with her and her family.)

Daniel Sands, MD, MPH

Contributor

Dr. Daniel Sands earned a bachelor of science degree from Brown University, his M.D. from Ohio State University, and a master of public health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, received internal medicine training at Boston City Hospital, and did fellowships in clinical computing and general medicine at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (formerly Beth Israel Hospital). Dr. Sands is an assistant clinical professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and practices primary care internal medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where he also teaches residents and medical students. He is also co-founder and chief advocacy officer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

Kathyana P. Santiago Mangual

Contributor

Kathyana P. Santiago Mangual is a clinical research fellow in dermatology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She is also a medical student at the University of California, Los Angeles, and will be graduating in 2025.

Danielle L. Sarno, MD

Contributor; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing

Dr. Danielle Sarno is the director of interventional pain management in the department of neurosurgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and an instructor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School. She is the founding co-director of the Harvard Interventional Pain Simulation Center, where she is developing and studying an interventional spine simulation–based education curriculum for physicians specializing in pain medicine. She has written widely on pain care and the spine, and presented her research nationally and internationally. Dr. Sarno received a Pillars of Excellence Award for integrating diversity, equity, and inclusion from Mass General Brigham, and a “20 Under 40” award from the North American Spine Society. She co-directs a virtual integrative program (www.finerprogram.org) for people with chronic pain, which aligns with her mission to broadly increase access to pain management resources and improve quality of life. Instagram: Danielle Sarno, MD

Ameet Sarpatwari, JD, PhD

Contributing Editor

Ameet Sarpatwari is an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School and an Associate Epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital based in the Program On Regulation, Therapeutics, And Law (PORTAL) within the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics. His research draws upon his interdisciplinary training as an epidemiologist and lawyer and focuses on the effects of laws and regulations on therapeutic development, approval, use, and related public health outcomes. Among other projects, he is currently examining the public health implications of variation in state drug product selection laws, the risk of re-identification under HIPAA pathways for data sharing for post-approval drug research, and the comparative safety and effectiveness of biosimilars.

David Scales, MPhil, MD, PhD

Contributor

David Scales, MPhil, MD, PhD is a physician, sociologist and faculty member at Cambridge Health Alliance and Harvard Medical School. David received his BA in Chemistry and American History from the University of Pennsylvania, received a scholarship to study History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine at Cambridge University then completed his MD and PhD degrees at Yale University, where his dissertation focused on the World Health Organization’s efforts to track and manage the spread of diseases across international borders. His post-doctoral work at HealthMap.org included working on BioMosaic, a Centers for Disease Control project mapping the intersection of demography, migration and infectious diseases and volunteering for SyriaTracker, a non-profit tracking human rights abuses in Syria. David completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Cambridge Health Alliance, where he currently works as a Hospitalist. David’s clinical interests focus on providing care to the medically underserved both in the US and in the Middle East. Focusing on migrants and refugees, he works with local NGOs Questscope and the Lajee Center, in Jordan and Palestine respectively, advising them as they address structural determinants of health by promoting agency and minimizing health inequalities. With a certificate in medical interpreting in Levantine Arabic, David’s writing centers on medical communication – between healthcare providers, in the doctor-patient relationship and to the general public. He has written for Aeon, MedPage Today and is a contributor to WBUR’s CommonHealth.

Harvard Health Experts and Contributors

List of Experts

James Richter, MD

Paul M. Ridker, MD

Eric Rimm, ScD

Eve Rittenberg, MD

Paul Rizzoli, MD

Celeste Robb-Nicholson, MD

Laura K. Rock, MD

Adam Rodman, MD, MPH, FACP

Whitney Rokui, PT, DPT

Dennis Rosen, MD

John Ross, MD, FIDSA

Natalia S. Rost, MD, MPH, FAAN, FAHA

Christian Ruff, MD, MPH

Christina Ruggeri, PT, DPT, NCS

Emily S. Ruiz, MD, MPH

Elisabeth J. Ryan, JD, MPH

Katherine Sakmar, MD

Maureen Salamon

Meghan Salamon, MS, RDN, LDN, CPT

Suzanne Salamon, MD

Daniel Sands, MD, MPH

Kathyana P. Santiago Mangual

Danielle L. Sarno, MD

Ameet Sarpatwari, JD, PhD

David Scales, MPhil, MD, PhD