Harvard Health Experts and Contributors

Suzanne Bertisch, MD, MPH, is an Associate Physician and Clinical Director of Behavioral Sleep Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Her research focuses 1) adapting sleep health interventions to a variety of community and clinical populations and 2) impact of sleep disorders consequent influence on pain and cardiometabolic health, for which she has won several awards. Dr. Bertisch has also published on national patterns of use of pharmacologic and behavioral treatments of insomnia. She also coleads innovations aimed to improve the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders in the primary care setting. She was named a Top Doctor by Boston Magazine in 2017.

Dr. Joseph R. Betancourt is the vice president and chief equity and inclusion officer of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH); the founder, senior advisor, and faculty of the Disparities Solutions Center at MGH; faculty at the Mongan Institute; an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School; and a practicing internal medicine physician. Dr. Betancourt is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in health policy, health care disparities, diversity, and cross-cultural medicine.

Irun Bhan, MD, is a transplant hepatologist and physician scientist at Massachusetts General Hospital and an instructor at Harvard Medical School. He earned his bachelor’s degree in biophysics from Johns Hopkins University and his MD degree from the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology program at Harvard Medical School, where he worked as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute fellow. He subsequently completed his residency training in internal medicine at Columbia University, where he served as Chief Resident. He further trained as a clinical fellow in gastroenterology and advanced/transplant hepatology at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Bhan specializes in the full spectrum of acute and chronic liver diseases with a particular interest in transplant for oncologic indications. His research interests include the development of blood-based biomarkers in chronic liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma.

Ami B. Bhatt, MD, FACC is the Director of the Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program at the Massachusetts General Hospital and an active clinical cardiologist, investigator, and educator. She graduated from Harvard College, obtained her doctoral degree from Yale School of Medicine, and trained at Massachusetts General Hospital, Children’s Hospital of Boston, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in internal medicine, pediatrics, adult cardiology, and adult congenital heart disease (ACHD). Dr. Bhatt’s team has transformed adult congenital heart disease care at the MGH into an internationally renowned program. At the MGH Corrigan Minehan Heart Center, the program has established a multidisciplinary infrastructure with heart failure, cardiac transplantation, electrophysiology, structural heart & valve specialists, as well as obstetrics, maternal fetal medicine, genetics, and pediatrics. Importantly, the program’s multidisciplinary approach extends to social work, financial counselors, network development, and international patient care teams. The infrastructure and support provided by the MGH Corrigan Minehan Heart Center have been essential to promoting the program’s growth. The MGH Adult Congenital Heart Disease Health & Wellness program underscores that one individual with heart diseae in a family can promote healthy behaviors in all. Through the MGH ACHD Health & Wellness program at Mass General Waltham, patients receive education about congenital heart disease, exercise assessment and prescription, and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease primary prevention education. Dr. Bhatt was nationally recognized as an educator by the American College of Cardiology in 2015 and by the American Heart Association in 2016 for ACHD program building and design efforts. She is internationally recognized for authoring statements and training guidelines, and for her research and care redesign efforts to better target resource utilization in complex tertiary ACHD care. She has developed a robust multidisciplinary curriculum at Mass General to provide formal congenital heart disease education to cardiovascular fellows from programs without an established CHD program. She has individually mentored hundreds of trainees and actively advocates to establish congenital heart centers nationally and internationally, all with a goal of empowering individuals with CHD to lead full and productive lives. Dr. Bhatt’s educational and outreach activities are fueled by her belief that individuals with complex disease deserve collaborative care between tertiary centers and community caregivers. She innovates at the MGH Corrigan Minehan Heart Center in the domains of telemedicine for ACHD patient visits, provider consultation, multimodality teleconferences, and adoption of mobile health technologies for caregivers and patients. Her interest in digital health strategy stems from her beliefs that state of the art, high quality, personalized care can be delivered to individuals in the community and that concierge medicine is possible for everyone. As Director of Outpatient Services for the MGH Cardiology Division, Dr. Bhatt is working with patient & family advocates, administration, and process improvement & workflow design teams on enhancing the outpatient care delivery model. Her work centers on applying process improvement and systems design thinking to enhance multidisciplinary care and create transparent systems for coordinating and achieving patient centered outcomes, alleviating physician burn-out, and emphasizing that the two are not mutually exclusive. The MGH Healthcare Transformation Lab is home to her creative side, and allows her the space to innovate with partners from different professional disciplines. When she’s not busy innovating, Dr. Bhatt spends time with her husband and two daughters, having dance parties and traveling.

Dr. Deepak Bhatt is a cardiologist and lecturer at Harvard Medical School. He is now director of Mount Sinai Heart at the Icahn School of Medicine in New York City. Dr. Bhatt formerly served as the chief of cardiology at VA Boston Healthcare, and is the director of the Integrated Interventional Cardiovascular Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and VA Boston Healthcare. He is the author or coauthor of more than 500 publications. Dr. Bhatt earned his medical degree from Cornell University, and a master of public health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and was a fellow in interventional cardiology and cerebral and peripheral vascular intervention at the Cleveland Clinic.

Since getting his MD at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Michael Bierer has been at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston for over 30 years. Along the way he got an MPH in Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health and a participated in a Fellowship in Addiction Medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine and the Boston VA. Dr. Bierer is currently a physician on staff in Internal Medicine at MGH and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He has busy primary care and addictions practices. Dr. Bierer has been teaching staff and residents about the management of addictions for many years. He is currently part of the new hospital-wide effort to address substance use disorders in a comprehensive and innovative, multidisciplinary program. He is also one of the “voices” of the New England Journal of Medicine.”

Kelly Bilodeau is the former executive editor of Harvard Women’s Health Watch. She began her career as a newspaper reporter and later went on to become a managing editor at HCPro, a Boston-area healthcare publishing company, where she covered healthcare industry trends and topics such as patient safety, medical billing, radiology, and breast imaging. Her work has also appeared in The Washington Post, Boston Magazine, as well as numerous healthcare trade publications.

Dr. Randie Black-Schaffer is a physiatrist specializing in stroke rehabilitation. She founded the first young adult stroke rehabilitation program in the country, and started the young adult stroke service at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, as well as directing the Spaulding inpatient stroke program. Dr. Black-Schaffer has authored numerous journal articles and book chapters on stroke in young adults and stroke rehabilitation, and is invited regionally and nationally to speak on these topics. As a national stroke rehabilitation expert she chaired the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation’s stroke care strategic planning committee in 2015. Dr. Black-Schaffer has been named a Castle Connolly Top Doctor each year since 2011, a Distinguished Woman in Medicine since 2018, and a Boston Magazine Top Doctor since 2016, and has received numerous Partners in Excellence Awards for clinical quality improvement initiatives. She has mentored trainees at all medical levels and twice received Teacher of the Year swards from PM&R resident physicians.

Dr. Rachel A. Blake is an obstetrician-gynecologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts, and a clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School. She also spends time each year working at Princess Marina Hospital in Gabarone, Botswana. She attended the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, and serves on the Brown Medical Alumni Association board of directors.

Sara N. Bleich is a professor of public health policy at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Sara served as a White House Fellow (2015–2016), where she was a senior policy advisor to the US Department of Agriculture and the first lady’s Let’s Move initiative.

Dr. Susan D. Block received her AB from Stanford University, her MD from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and completed residencies in internal medicine and psychiatry at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston; she is board certified in both fields. She has been a national leader in the development of the field of palliative medicine. She is known as an expert in medical education, communication, psychosocial oncology, faculty development, and health system change. Dr. Block was the founding chair of the department of psychosocial oncology and palliative care at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital; a founding director of the Harvard Medical School Center for Palliative Care, a national center of excellence for palliative care education; and the founder and director of the serious illness care program at Ariadne Labs. She is the author of over 200 publications and has won numerous awards for education, research, and leadership in both palliative medicine and psychiatry.

Kimberly Blumenthal, MD, MSc is an Allergist/Immunologist and drug allergy researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.  She is also the Director of Allergy/Immunology Clinical Epidemiology Research within the Division of Rheumatology Allergy and Immunology, the Quality and Safety Officer for Allergy at the Edward P. Lawrence Center for Quality and Safety, and the Quality Director for Allergy/Immunology.  Dr. Blumenthal performs drug allergy research that uses methods of epidemiology, informatics, economics, and decision science.  Her research is funded by the NIH and foundations, including the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology Foundation and CRICO, the risk management foundation.  Dr. Blumenthal is recognized nationally for having created innovative approaches to the evaluation of penicillin and cephalosporin antibiotic allergies in the hospital that have since been adopted by other hospitals throughout the US and internationally, broadly referenced, and incorporated into expert recommendations. Dr. Blumenthal graduated from Columbia University with a BA in Economics.  She studied medicine at Yale University School of Medicine, which she completed in 2009, before training at the Massachusetts General Hospital for Internal Medicine and Allergy and Immunology. She completed a Master of Science in Clinical Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 2017.

Kathryn D. Boger, PhD, ABPP, is board certified in clinical child and adolescent psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology, and specializes in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety and mood disorders. She has extensive training and experience in the delivery of evidence-based treatments, in both outpatient and residential levels of care. Dr. Boger co-founded the McLean Anxiety Mastery Program (MAMP) in 2013 and has served as program director since the program’s inception. In 2021, she transitioned to senior clinical consultant to MAMP so that she could co-found a new company with the mission to provide accessible, effective, and efficient anxiety and OCD interventions for children, teens, and families.

Emeric F. Bojarski, M.D. is a child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital and an Instructor at Harvard Medical School. He founded Equilibrium Behavioral Health, a telepsychiatry private practice, to harness the power of telemedicine in addressing the prominent shortage of psychiatrists nationwide.   Dr. Bojarski graduated from Harvard Medical School and completed his residency in adult psychiatry at Yale-New Haven Hospital. He did his fellowship in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and McLean Hospital, where he continued to teach students about child development and psychodynamic aspects of suicide in LGBTQ youth. Dr. Bojarski specializes in identity formation across the lifespan and ameliorating treatment-resistant depression.

Elizabeth Boskey, PhD, is the social worker and research lead for the Center for Gender Surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital. Her background is in women’s reproductive biology and public health, and her research interests focus on the sexual and reproductive health of sexual and gender minority populations. In addition to her work at the Center, she runs the New England Gender C.A.R.E. Consortium, and has a small private therapy practice where she focuses on working with sexual, gender, and relationship minority clients.

Athos Bousvaros MD, MPH is a pediatric gastroenterologist who has worked at Boston Children’s Hospital for over 25 years. He completed his undergraduate degree at Williams College, his medical degree and residency at Duke University, and his gastroenterology fellowship at Children’s Hospital Boston, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. As Associate Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease program at Children’s Hospital Boston, he spends much of his time treating complex cases of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis referred from across the country. His research interests include identifying the cause of IBD by studying the intestinal microbiome, developing new therapies for IBD, and examining the immune response of IBD patients to immunizations. He has over 100 original and review publications in the medical literature. He has served as chair of Chapter Medical Advisory Committee of the New England Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America, chair of the CCFA Pediatric Affairs committee. He has also served as president of the North American Society for Pediatric GI and Nutrition (NASPGHAN), where he helped lead a campaign to promote child safety by getting high powered magnets out of the hands of toddlers. When not busy caring for patients or doing research, he enjoys developing patient education materials for children with chronic illness. These include the medical comics: “Pete Learns All About Crohn’s and Colitis” (with the CCFA), “Amy Goes Gluten Free”, “JD Shapes Up”, and Sophie’s Science Project”. He also has co-authored the NASPGHAN book “Your Child with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Dr. Boyaji earned his medical degree from University of Aleppo, Syria. He completed an Internal Medicine residency at Michigan State University and an Anesthesiology residency at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Currently he is in fellowship for Interventional Pain Management. He has a special interest in non-opioid pain management modalities, including neuromodulation for pain.

Dr. David Boyce is board-certified in general anesthesiology and pain medicine. After graduating from Tufts University School of Medicine, he completed his residency and a pain medicine fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. He is currently an Instructor in Anesthesiology at HMS and the anesthesiologist-in-charge of the main operating room at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where he also attends on the in-patient Chronic Pain Service. Dr. Boyce provides care for patients in an outpatient pain clinic and he has given regional and national talks on back pain, including hands-on ultrasound workshops for the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP). His clinical interests include safer surgery and non-opioid alternatives to managing chronic pain.

Dr. Ellen Braaten is associate director of The Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), director of the Learning and Emotional Assessment Program (LEAP) at MGH, and an associate professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Braaten received her MA in clinical psychology from the University of Colorado, and her PhD in psychology from Colorado State University. Dr. Braaten is widely recognized as an expert in the field of pediatric neuropsychological and psychological assessment, particularly in the areas of assessing learning disabilities and attentional disorders. She has been the recipient of funding to conduct research studies on children with nonverbal learning disabilities and attentional disorders, and has published numerous papers, chapters and reviews on ADHD, learning disabilities, gender and psychopathology, intelligence and neuropsychology, and psychological assessment of children. Dr. Braaten is the co-author of Straight Talk about Psychological Testing for Kids, a book that has become a classic for parents and professionals. She also wrote The Child Clinician’s Report Writing Handbook, which has been called “the most comprehensive child assessment handbook available.” In 2010 she published How to Find Mental Health Care for Your Child, and most recently co-authored Bright Kids Who Can’t Keep Up (published in August 2014), a book for parents that addresses slow processing speed in children.

Annie Brewster is an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, and a practicing internist at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. She is also a patient, diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2001. She has been collecting and sharing patient stories since 2010. In 2013 she founded Health Story Collaborative, a nonprofit organization committed to empowering patients and their loved ones, building community, strengthening patient-provider connections, and ultimately transforming healthcare through storytelling. Dr. Brewster is the author of The Healing Power of Storytelling: Using Personal Narrative to Navigate Illness, Trauma, and Loss. Twitter: @HealthStoryCo Instagram: @healthstorycollaborative Facebook: Health Story Collaborative

Dr. Ryan Brewster is a first-year pediatrics resident in the combined residency program at Boston Children's Hospital and Boston Medical Center as part of the Urban Health and Advocacy Track and Global Health Pathway. His work focuses on building and scaling low-cost technologies to address health inequities. Dr. Brewster earned his MD from the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Lori Brightman, PT, MPT, CLT, is a clinical specialist physical therapist working at MGB Spaulding Outpatient Center in Plymouth, MA. She has specialized certifications in pelvic and obstetric physical therapy through the American Physical Therapy Association, as well as Certified in Lymphedema Therapy (CLT) training. Lori enjoys working with patients to improve their functional outcomes and improve their quality of life.

Since 1985, Melissa has served as a mediator, facilitator and trainer in the field of dispute resolution. She has worked in private practice, helping clients to engage in effective communications and problem solving while navigating high impact work and family issues. She has also worked with numerous academic institutions, health care organizations, Fortune 500 companies; state and federal agencies; and non-profit groups. Melissa has served as Executive Director of the Massachusetts Association of Mediation Programs and Practitioners, Director of The Children’s Hearings Project and mediator of educational appeals for the Massachusetts Department of Education. She is the recipient of numerous awards in her field and holds an MEd from Harvard University and a BA from Amherst College.

Kemar J. Brown, MD, is a clinical and research fellow in cardiovascular medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School. He completed his undergraduate education at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, received his medical degree from Stony Brook University School of Medicine, and thereafter completed his residency training in Internal Medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in 2018. Dr. Brown has a clinical interest in heart failure and cardiac transplant. As a postdoctoral research fellow, his work focuses on understanding the fundamental molecular and cellular mechanisms of heart disease. He also studies social determinants of health and predicators of telemedicine use in ambulatory cardiovascular care. Follow Dr. Brown on Twitter @kemar_MD.

Lou Ann Bruno-Murtha, DO, is Division Chief of Infectious Diseases and Medical Director of Infection Prevention at the Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA). She chairs the Infection Prevention Committee and co-directs the Antibiotic Stewardship Team.   She has an appointment at Harvard Medical School as an Assistant Professor and teaches residents and medical students.   Dr. Bruno-Murtha received her DO degree at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-School of Osteopathic Medicine. She completed an Internal Medicine residency at St. Vincent’s Hospital and Medical Center in Manhattan and a fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Boston University Medical Center. She is board certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases.   She has conducted clinical research on antibiotic cycling, the molecular epidemiology of MRSA and complicated skin infections. Quality improvement interests have included optimizing and maintaining exceptional hand hygiene compliance, assessing and improving environmental cleanliness, evaluating the utility of UV disinfection in the OR, implementing a process for total body cleansing with chlorhexidine for selected surgical patients, improving appropriateness of urine cultures and initiating a strategy to reduce hospital-onset C. difficile infections.   Dr. Bruno-Murtha served on the Massachusetts Expert Panel on Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs), whose work culminated in guidelines for infection prevention programs in Massachusetts and formulated the basis for public reporting of selected HAIs. She is currently serving on the Massachusetts Healthcare Associated Infection/Antibiotic Resistance Technical Advisory Group, whose charge is to facilitate improving antibiotic use across the continuum of care. Dr. Bruno-Murtha is a member of the Society of Healthcare Epidemiology task force on community-based healthcare epidemiologists.   She has published original research, reviews, case reports and abstracts and has lectured both regionally and nationally. Dr. Bruno-Murtha has received awards for excellence in teaching, collaboration, and in clinical care. She is a member of the Society of Healthcare Epidemiology of America, the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the American College of Physicians.