Harvard Health Experts and Contributors

Robert H. Shmerling, MD

Senior Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publishing; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing

Dr. Robert H. Shmerling is the former clinical chief of the division of rheumatology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), and is a current member of the corresponding faculty in medicine at Harvard Medical School. As a practicing rheumatologist for over 30 years, Dr. Shmerling engaged in a mix of patient care, teaching, and research. His research interests center on diagnostic studies in patients with musculoskeletal symptoms, and rheumatic and autoimmune diseases. He has published research regarding infectious arthritis, medical ethics, and diagnostic test performance in rheumatic disease. Having retired from patient care in 2019, Dr. Shmerling now works as a senior faculty editor for Harvard Health Publishing.

Shan Siddiqi, MD

Contributor

Dr. Shan Siddiqi is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and a neuropsychiatrist at the Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. His research centers on techniques to map the brain circuitry involved in neuropsychiatric disorders, with the goal of identifying treatment targets for therapeutic brain stimulation. Dr. Siddiqi received his medical degree at the University of Sydney, followed by residency in psychiatry at Washington University. He also completed two fellowships at Harvard Medical School, one at Massachusetts General/McLean Hospitals and another at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Ronald D. Siegel, PsyD

Contributor; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing

Dr. Ronald D. Siegel is an assistant professor of psychology (part-time) at Harvard Medical School; serves on the board of directors and faculty of the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy; is author of The Mindfulness Solution: Everyday Practices for Everyday Problems, coauthor of Back Sense: A Revolutionary Approach to Halting the Cycle of Chronic Back Pain, and Sitting Together: Essential Skills for Mindfulness-Based Psychotherapy; and coeditor of Mindfulness and Psychotherapy, 2nd Edition.

Julie Silver, MD

Chief Editor of Books, Harvard Health Publishing

Julie Silver, M.D., is the Chief Editor of Books at Harvard Health Publishing and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. She is an award-winning writer who has written many books that focus on healing including After Cancer Treatment: Heal Faster, Better, Stronger and What Helped Get Me Through: Cancer Survivors Share Wisdom and Hope. Her work has been featured in hundreds of media outlets including The CBS Early Show, The Today Show, Parade, NPR, USA Today, The Boston Globe and Prevention Magazine. Dr. Silver is also the director of an annual 3-day Harvard course that is open to all healthcare providers and others, titled “Publishing Books, Memoirs and Other Creative Nonfiction”. To learn more about Dr. Silver’s work, visit her website at JulieSilverMD.com.

Deborah Simmons, OT

Contributor

Deborah Simmons is a clinical specialist at Spaulding Cape Cod, an inpatient rehabilitation hospital, where she provides occupational therapy to patients recovering from injuries and illness. She holds a master’s degree in occupational therapy from Boston University and an advanced practice certificate in upper quarter and upper extremity rehabilitation from Drexel University. As a certified aging-in-place specialist (CAPS), she brings specialized knowledge in helping individuals maintain and maximize independence and safety in their homes. Deborah combines clinical expertise with advanced training to deliver evidence-based, client-centered therapy and consultation services that optimize functional outcomes and quality of life.

David K. Simon, MD, PhD

Contributor

Dr. David K. Simon is a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and chief of the movement disorders division at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), as well as director of the Parkinson’s Foundation Center of Excellence at BIDMC. He earned MD and PhD degrees from Washington University in St. Louis in 1993, and completed the Harvard-Longwood Neurology Residency in Boston, followed by a movement disorders fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital. In addition to providing clinical care for people with Parkinson’s, Dr. Simon also is involved in clinical studies, as well as laboratory research to test potential strategies to slow progression of Parkinson’s disease.

Harvey B. Simon, MD

Editor, Harvard Health

Harvey Simon founded the Harvard Men’s Health Watch in August 1996 and was its editor in chief until retiring in May 2012. Dr. Simon is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a member of the Health Sciences Technology Faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A graduate of Yale College and Harvard Medical School, Dr. Simon completed his post-graduate training at the National Institutes of Health and the Massachusetts General Hospital, where he provided primary medical care to patients for more than 30 years. Dr. Simon was a founding member of the Harvard Cardiovascular Health Center. He also served on the Massachusetts Governor’s Committee on Physical Fitness and Sports and was elected to Fellowship in the American College of Physicians. As author of more than 100 scientific articles and medical textbook chapters, including many on diet and exercise, Dr. Simon has been an active contributor to medical research. He is also committed to medical education, and he was honored to receive the London Prize for Excellence in Teaching from Harvard and MIT. As the author of many consumer health publications, Dr. Simon is dedicated to informing people about health and medicine. He has written scores of articles for newspapers and magazines ranging from the Boston Globe and Washington Post to Scientific American and Newsweek. He has also authored six health books, including The Harvard Medical School Guide to Men’s Health, Staying Well, Conquering Heart Disease, and The No Sweat Exercise Plan. Dr. Simon has received many national awards for his consumer health writing.

David A. Sinclair, AO, PhD

Contributor

David A. Sinclair is a tenured professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School. His pioneering work in genetics and aging biology has shaped understanding of the mechanisms of aging and age-related diseases, including research on sirtuins, NAD+ metabolism, and epigenetic reprogramming. His Information Theory of Aging is now a leading hypothesis for why we age. Professor Sinclair served as founding director of the Glenn Center for Biology of Aging Research at Harvard Medical School from 2005 to 2023. He is an Officer of the Order of Australia, inventor on more than 50 patents, has co-founded numerous successful companies, and is the author of the New York Times bestselling book Lifespan.

Aneesh Singhal, MD

Contributor

Aneesh B. Singhal, MD, is Vice-Chair of Neurology Quality and Safety at Massachusetts General Hospital and Associate Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA. He is a Board Certified Neurologist, Vascular Neurologist and, Neurosonologist. He serves on the Board of Trustees of the Partners Continuing Care and Spaulding Rehabilitation Network, is advisor to Partners HealthCare International and Neurology Foundation India. He is an elected Fellow to the American Neurological Association, the American Academy of Neurology, and the American Heart Association, and Past President of the Association of Indian Neurologists in USA. Dr. Singhal’s areas of research include stroke clinical trials, stroke in young adults, cerebral arteriopathies, advanced brain imaging for acute ischemic stroke, and stroke neuroprotection. He is internationally recognized for his work on characterizing the reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome (RCVS) and cerebral vasculitis. He is Deputy Principal Investigator of the New England Regional Coordinating Center (NERCC) for the NIH StrokeNet. He has served as the Principal Investigator of the NIH funded Indo-US Collaborative Stroke Project, the NIH funded Phase 2 trial of Normobaric Oxygen Therapy in Acute Stroke, and as site PI of several Industry funded stroke clinical trials. Dr. Singhal has authored or co-authored over 200 articles and book chapters.

Hicham Skali, MD, MSc, FACC

Contributor

Hicham Skali, MD, MSc, FACC, is a staff cardiologist, a member of the Non-invasive Cardiovascular Imaging Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), and at Brigham and Women’s/ Massachusetts General Health Care Center at Foxborough. He is also the Associate Medical Director of the BWH Cardiac Rehabilitation program. Dr. Skali is an instructor in Medicine and Radiology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Skali received his medical degree from University Hassan II/Faculté de Medicine de Casablanca in Morocco. He completed an internal medicine residency and a cardiovascular medicine fellowship at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Boston, followed by a cardiac imaging fellowship at BWH. Dr. Skali is certified as a diplomat in Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Diseases, as well as board certified in nuclear cardiology and echocardiography. Dr. Skali is also an associate director of the Cardiac Imaging Core Laboratory, and a senior member of the Clinical Endpoints Center at BWH. His research focuses on understanding the complex interactions between clinical and imaging biomarkers, as well as cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in high-risk populations with diabetes or kidney diseases. He has authored over 90 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Skali is working with ABT associates and AHRQ (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) as the Principal Investigator on the TAKEHeart Project designed to help increase referral to and utilization of Cardiac Rehab.

David M. Slovik, MD

Contributor

David M. Slovik, MD, is an endocrinologist at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) who specializes in osteoporosis, and an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is currently chief of the division of endocrinology at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, and former chief of medicine at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. Dr. Slovik did his internship in internal medicine at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, and then went into the Indian Health Service for two years. He then came to Boston to complete his internal medicine residency and endocrine fellowship at MGH, and has remained on staff there in endocrine practice for over 40 years. Since 1991, Dr. Slovik has acted as the medical editor for Osteoporosis: A Guide to Prevention and Treatment, a Harvard Health Publishing Special Health Report.

Caroline Sokol, MD

Contributor

Dr. Caroline Sokol is a physician-scientist at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), where she is a practicing allergist/immunologist as well as the principal investigator of a laboratory focused on determining the initial immunologic steps leading to allergic diseases. Her laboratory has made fundamental discoveries linking the sensory nervous system with allergen detection and the allergic immune response. She is an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, where she teaches immunology to medical and graduate students. She is also the associate program director of the Stanbury Physician-Scientist Program, which is part of the internal medicine residency program at MGH. Dr. Sokol earned her medical degree and doctorate degree in immunology from Yale University School of Medicine. She then completed her internal medicine residency and fellowship in allergy/immunology at MGH.

Matthew Solan

Former Executive Editor, Harvard Men's Health Watch

Matthew Solan is the former executive editor of Harvard Men’s Health Watch. He previously served as executive editor for UCLA Health’s Healthy Years and as a contributor to Duke Medicine’s Health News and Weill Cornell Medical College’s Women’s Nutrition Connection and Women’s Health Advisor. Matthew’s articles on medicine, exercise science, and nutrition have appeared in Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Muscle & Fitness, Runner’s World, and Yoga Journal. He earned a master of fine arts in writing from the University of San Francisco and a bachelor of science in journalism from the University of Florida.

Jessica Solodar

Health Writer

Jessica Solodar is an award-winning medical writer and editor. Her content for consumers and clinicians has been published by Massachusetts General Hospital, the American Heart Association, psychologytoday.com, the Epilepsy Therapy Project, the International League Against Epilepsy, the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, and others. Jessica is a past president of the American Medical Writers Association New England Chapter.

Guru P. Sonpavde, MD

Contributor

Guru P. Sonpavde, MD is the director of the bladder cancer program at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and is on the faculty of Harvard Medical School. He completed his medical oncology fellowship at Indiana University. His primary focus is on clinical trials to develop new drugs and combinations to treat urologic cancers, particularly bladder cancer. He also has led translational projects and developed prognostic classifications and endpoints focused on bladder cancer. He is a member of the Genitourinary Committee of Southwest Oncology Group and the Bladder Cancer Task Force of the National Cancer Institute Genitourinary Steering Committee.

Celia Smoak Spell

Assistant Editor, Harvard Health Publishing

Celia is an assistant editor at Harvard Health Publishing. Celia received her B.A. from Wake Forest University where she studied Biology and Classical Studies, and she recently earned her Masters in Science in Science Journalism from Boston University.

Jacqueline Sperling, PhD

Contributor

Jacqueline Sperling, PhD, is a clinical psychologist, an assistant professor of psychology in the department of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and the co-founder and co-program director of the McLean Anxiety Mastery Program at McLean Hospital. She is the author of the book Find Your Fierce: How to Put Social Anxiety in Its Place, and a contributor for Harvard Health Publishing. Dr. Sperling specializes in implementing cognitive behavioral therapy with exposure and response prevention, and working with youth with anxiety disorders and/or obsessive-compulsive disorder. She also focuses on caregiver guidance such as behavioral parent training, to help families address children’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors.

Corporate Learning Staff

Harvard Medical School’s Corporate Learning solutions provide emerging and established companies with the knowledge they need to address the industry's toughest business challenges. Their extensive portfolio of learning solutions helps teams achieve their potential by advancing their knowledge and capabilities in areas ranging from medical science and emerging diseases to employee health and wellness. A comprehensive ecosystem of online, in-person, and hybrid solutions supports learners at all levels — from new hires to CEOs and their leadership teams.

Fatima Cody Stanford, MD, MPH, MPA, FAAP, FACP, FTOS

Contributor

Fatima Cody Stanford, MD, MPH, MPA, MBA, FAAP, FACP, FAHA, FAMWA, FTOS is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and an obesity medicine physician scientist at the Massachusetts General Hospital. She is the Director Equity for the MGH Endocrine Division and Director of Diversity for the Nutrition Obesity Research Center at Harvard (NORCH). She is one of the most sought after international experts in the fields of obesity and health disparities.

Wendy Stead, MD

Contributor

Dr. Wendy Stead is the program director of the BIDMC infectious diseases fellowship and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Stead received her BA from George Washington University and her MD from the University of Massachusetts. She completed her residency and chief residency in internal medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, followed by her fellowship in infectious diseases, and joined the BIDMC faculty with a joint appointment in the divisions of infectious diseases and general medicine and primary care in 2003. Her research interests include examining the effects of interspecialty education strategies on communication and collaboration between specialty services; developing resident and fellowship curricula in HIV, general infectious diseases, and trainee wellness; and communication skills in patients with opioid use disorders.

Allen Steere, MD

Contributor

Dr. Allen Steere serves as the Morse Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and as a member of the rheumatology division at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). His research has focused on the elucidation of Lyme disease. Highlights include the discovery of the disease in 1976, descriptions of the clinical manifestation of the illness, as well as treatment and vaccine studies. Currently, as a principal investigator in the MGH Center for Immunology and Inflammatory Diseases, he is researching how certain infectious agents may trigger autoimmune phenomena leading to chronic illness.

Daniel Stein, MD, MPH

Contributor

Dr. Daniel J. Stein is a faculty member in Harvard Medical School’s department of gastroenterology, hepatology, and endoscopy, and focuses on improving the care of patients hospitalized with gastrointestinal disorders. Dr. Stein’s philosophy focuses on listening to the patient to fully understand their issues and priorities for care to achieve shared decision making. His clinical practice centers on general gastroenterology including anemia, discussions about cancer screening, irritable bowel syndrome, constipation, ulcer disease, reflux, and swallowing problems. His procedural interests include endoscopy and colonoscopy, feeding tube placement, and deep (balloon) small bowel enteroscopy. Dr. Stein's research primarily focuses on improving outcomes for patients hospitalized with bleeding and other conditions requiring urgent procedures while in the hospital.

Adam P. Stern, MD

Contributor

Adam P. Stern, MD, is the director of psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center’s Berenson-Allen Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation, and an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He has published in journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, The American Journal of Psychiatry, as well as The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and STAT News. He is also the author of Committed: Dispatches from a Psychiatrist in Training, an upcoming memoir.

Nicole Stern, MD

Contributor

Dr. Nicole Stern is currently a Commonwealth Fund Fellow in minority health policy at Harvard University. She is completing a master of public health degree in health management. Dr. Stern is board certified in internal medicine and sports medicine, and is a past president of the Association of American Indian Physicians. A critical focus for Dr. Stern's work is to increase the number of American Indian and Alaska Native health care professionals who can best reverse health care disparity trends common in American Indian and Alaska Native tribal communities.

Balachundhar Subramaniam , MD, MPH, FASA

Contributor

Dr. Subramaniam earned his medical degree from Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) in Pondicherry, India. He then pursued his anesthesiology residency from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, and gained expertise in cardiac anesthesiology following a degree from Harvard Medical School, Boston. He also completed a master of public health in clinical effectiveness research from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston. He was awarded the Ellison “Jeep” Pierce Chair of Anesthesia. He is the director of the Center for Anesthesia Research Excellence at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and an associate professor of anesthesiology at Harvard Medical School. He conducts research in perioperative outcomes and has special interest in meditation as a pre-habilitation tool in cardiac surgical population. He also researches the effects of meditation on sleep quality, postoperative delirium, and physician burnout, and other topics.

Harvard Health Experts and Contributors

List of Experts

Robert H. Shmerling, MD

Shan Siddiqi, MD

Ronald D. Siegel, PsyD

Julie Silver, MD

Deborah Simmons, OT

David K. Simon, MD, PhD

Harvey B. Simon, MD

David A. Sinclair, AO, PhD

Aneesh Singhal, MD

Hicham Skali, MD, MSc, FACC

David M. Slovik, MD

Caroline Sokol, MD

Matthew Solan

Jessica Solodar

Guru P. Sonpavde, MD

Celia Smoak Spell

Jacqueline Sperling, PhD

Corporate Learning Staff

Fatima Cody Stanford, MD, MPH, MPA, FAAP, FACP, FTOS

Wendy Stead, MD

Allen Steere, MD

Daniel Stein, MD, MPH

Adam P. Stern, MD

Nicole Stern, MD

Balachundhar Subramaniam , MD, MPH, FASA