Harvard Health Experts and Contributors

Ilona T. Goldfarb, MD, MPH

Contributor

Ilona Goldfarb, MD, MPH, is a board-certified maternal fetal medicine specialist at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). She completed medical school and residency in California and a fellowship at MGH. Her areas of interest and expertise include public health, perinatal infectious diseases, and quality improvement in obstetrical care. She spends the majority of her time providing direct prenatal, delivery, and postpartum care to women with high-risk maternal or fetal conditions. In this capacity, she provides consultation on high-risk pregnancy patients across New England. In addition to patient care, Dr. Goldfarb is actively engaged in teaching medical students as the OB/GYN associate clerkship director for Harvard Medical School, directing clinical research projects with students, residents, and fellows, and participating on department as well as hospital-wide committees. She is also an avid theatergoer and mom to two wonderful teenagers.

Samuel Z. Goldhaber, MD

Contributor

Dr. Samuel Z. Goldhaber, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, is section head of vascular medicine in the cardiovascular medicine division at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) in Boston. He is Director of the BWH Thrombosis Research Group, and serves as principal investigator of a broad range of randomized clinical trials and observational studies related to the prevention, treatment, and epidemiology of venous thromboembolism and stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation. Dr. Goldhaber serves as chair of the steering committee of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)-sponsored ATTRACT Trial of DVT, which is testing pharmacomechanical low-dose thrombolysis against standard anticoagulation to prevent postthrombotic syndrome. For his work on prevention of venous thromboembolism, Dr. Goldhaber has received the Certificate of Appreciation from the Surgeon General of the United States. In 2015, he received the Distinguished Scientist Award from the American Heart Association. Dr. Goldhaber is president and founding director of the nonprofit organization North American Thrombosis Forum (www.NATFonline.org). He serves as section editor of Clinician Update and the Cardiology Patient Page for Circulation. He runs a busy outpatient practice of general cardiology, venous thromboembolism, and atrial fibrillation patients, and oversees the inpatient cardiology consult service.

Corey Goldman, PT, DPT, CSCS

Contributor

Corey Goldman is a licensed doctor of physical therapy with extensive experience in orthopedic rehabilitation and sports performance. He earned his bachelor of science in exercise science from Endicott College, and his doctorate in physical therapy from MGH Institute of Health of Professions. Corey is a certified strength and conditioning specialist through NSCA. With a clinical background in musculoskeletal health and functional recovery, Corey specializes in helping patients overcome pain, restore mobility, and return to the activities they value most. He is currently a physical therapist in the Spaulding Outpatient Hospital systems, practicing out of the Framingham, MA and Westboro, MA locations. In his current role with Spaulding, he is the co-chair of the strength and conditioning special interest group.

Leslie Goldman, MPH

Health Writer

Leslie Goldman is a Chicago-based journalist specializing in women's health. Her writing regularly appears in Prevention, AARP, Good Housekeeping, Real Simple, and more.

Alexander Goldowsky, MD

Contributor

Dr. Alexander Goldowsky is an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a gastroenterologist at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC). Dr. Goldowsky completed his internal medicine residency at BIDMC, and his gastroenterology fellowship at Boston Medical Center/Boston University School of Medicine.

Jill M. Goldstein, PhD

Contributor

Jill M. Goldstein, PhD, is a professor of psychiatry and medicine at Harvard Medical School, founder and executive director of the Innovation Center on Sex Differences in Medicine (ICON) at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and the Helen T. Moerschner Endowed MGH Research Institute Chair in Women’s Health. She is a clinical neuroscientist and expert in understanding sex differences in disorders of the brain and their co-occurrence with general medicine, such as cardiovascular disease. Her program of research (funded by the National Institutes of Health for more than 30 years), called Clinical Neuroscience Laboratory of Sex Differences in the Brain, consists of an interdisciplinary clinical investigative team integrating brain imaging, physiology, neuroendocrinology, genetics, immunology, and collaborations with basic scientists. She has received numerous awards to support this work, served on scientific advisory boards, and participated in strategic planning for the National Institute of Mental Health, the Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH), and the Institute of Medicine. She has spent her career at Harvard training the next generation in women’s health and sex differences in medicine, including leading an ORWH/Harvard-wide junior faculty training program on building interdisciplinary careers in women’s health. In 2018, she launched ICON at MGH (a collaboration of psychiatry, neurology, cardiology, OB/GYN, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health), whose mission is to enhance discoveries about sex differences in medicine and incorporate them into developing novel therapies and prevention strategies that are sex-selective.

Robert Goldstein, MD, PhD

Contributor

Dr. Robert Goldstein (he/him/his) is an instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School and serves as the medical director of the Transgender Health Program at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Goldstein received his undergraduate degree, MD, and PhD at Tufts University before coming to MGH for internship, residency, and chief residency. He completed the combined MGH/BWH infectious disease fellowship in the HIV clinician educator track, and joined the faculty in 2018 as an infectious disease physician and primary care provider in the Transgender Health Program. His clinical practice is focused on caring for the LGBTQ community, those living with HIV, and those at risk for HIV.

Toni Golen, MD

Editor in Chief, Harvard Women's Health Watch; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing; Contributor

Dr. Toni Golen is a physician specializing in obstetrics and gynecology, practicing in Boston. Dr. Golen completed her residency training at George Washington University Medical Center in 1995, and is an associate professor at Harvard Medical School. She has a special interest in health care quality and patient safety, and serves as the interim chair of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Dr. Golen is also co-director of labor and delivery, as well as vice chair of quality, safety, and performance Improvement. In these roles she is responsible for the development and implementation of quality improvement projects that advance the equity, safety, accessibility, and patient-centered focus of care that is provided to patients and their families. Dr. Golen is a past member of the board of directors of Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, and lives in Wellesley with her husband and children.

Lais Lopes Almeida Gomes

Contributor

Dr. Lais Lopes Almeida Gomes is a dermatology research fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital, and a pediatric dermatologist in Brazil. Her clinical and research interests include atopic dermatitis and global health. She is part of the Manstein lab at the Cutaneous Biology Research Center.

Joyce Gomes-Osman, PhD, PT

Contributor

Dr. Joyce Gomes-Osman is a physical therapist and a neuroscientist. After completing her physical therapy degree in her native country of Brazil, she obtained her PhD at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Gomes-Osman is an Assistant Professor at the Departments of Physical Therapy and Neurology at University of Miami and maintains her affiliation with the Berenson-Allen Center for Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School. She divides her time between working in the Laboratory, and teaching neurophysiology and non-invasive brain stimulation. As a rehabilitation neuroscientist, Dr. Gomes-Osman is driven to answer questions that can impact people’s ability to live more functional and independent lives. She has published many research studies focused on figuring out ways to make rehabilitation therapies more effective for instance, by combining it with nerve stimulation and non-invasive brain stimulation. In addition to her interest in physical health, her work in recent years has focused on better understanding how we can promote brain health for individuals who are aging. This interest in brain health has stemmed both from scientific curiosity, and from experiencing the reality behind the statistics, witnessing memory deficits as a family member. She finds great joy in mentoring the next generation of physical therapy clinicians and clinician-scientists, whether it be in the classroom, or carrying out studies to disentangle the complex relationships between physical exercise, brain health and postural control in older adults and individuals with various neurological conditions. On her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and is passionate about cooking and growing tropical plants, including exotic orchids.

Peter Gonzalez, MD

Contributor

Peter Gonzalez, MD, is a clinician and educator in the Division of General Internal Medicine and Primary Care at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Rachael Moeller Gorman

Health Writer

Rachael Moeller Gorman is a science and health writer with more than 20 years of experience. She loves telling the stories behind the science, and her work has appeared in Smithsonian magazine, The Scientist, and Men’s Health; four of her EatingWell magazine features won James Beard Journalism Awards. She earned her bachelor’s degree in biology and neuroscience from Williams College, and a master’s degree in environmental studies from Brown University.

David C. Grabowski, PhD

Contributor

David C. Grabowski, PhD, is a professor in the department of health care policy at Harvard Medical School. His research focuses on long-term care financing, organization, and delivery of services. He is a member of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, and he was on the recent CMS Coronavirus Nursing Home Commission.

Shelly Greenfield, MD, MPH

Contributor

Shelly F. Greenfield, MD, MPH, is a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and the Kristine M. Trustey Endowed Chair of Psychiatry at McLean Hospital, where she also serves as the chief academic officer. She is the chief of the division of women’s mental health, and the director of clinical and health services research and education in the alcohol, drug, and addiction treatment program at McLean Hospital. Dr. Greenfield is an addiction psychiatrist, clinician, and researcher. Dr. Greenfield has served as principal investigator and co-investigator on federally funded research focusing on treatment for substance use disorders, gender differences in substance disorders, and health services for substance disorders. She received a National Institute on Drug Abuse–funded career award in substance use disorder patient-oriented research (2005–2016). Funded by grants from NIH/NIDA, she developed and tested a new manual-based group therapy for women with substance use disorders, the Women’s Recovery Group (WRG). The WRG is an evidence-based treatment, and the manual for dissemination was published in 2016, Treating Women with Substance Use Disorders: The Women’s Recovery Group Manual. She is immediate past president of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, and current member and past chair of the American Psychiatric Association’s Council on Addiction Psychiatry. She is immediate past editor in chief of the Harvard Review of Psychiatry, a position in which she served for 16 years (2002–2018). Dr. Greenfield was a member of the advisory committee on services for women for the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2011–2017). She has been elected to the American College of Psychiatrists and the College on Problems of Drug Dependence, and is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. She received the R. Brinkley Smithers Distinguished Scientist Award from the American Society of Addiction Medicine, and the A. Clifford Barger Award for Excellence in Mentoring from Harvard Medical School.

Peter Grinspoon, MD

Contributor; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing

Dr. Peter Grinspoon is a primary care physician, educator, and cannabis specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital; an instructor at Harvard Medical School; and a certified health and wellness coach. He is the author of Seeing Through the Smoke: A Cannabis Specialist Untangles the Truth About Marijuana, as well as the groundbreaking memoir Free Refills: A Doctor Confronts His Addiction. He is a board member of the advocacy group Doctors for Cannabis Regulation. He is also a TedX speaker and commonly lectures on the topics of cannabis, psychedelics, addiction, opioids, and physician health.

Staci Gruber, PhD

Contributor

Dr. Staci Gruber received her PhD from Tufts University, and is currently an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the director of the Cognitive and Clinical Neuroimaging Core at McLean Hospital. Over the last several decades, her research has focused on the application of neurocognitive models and brain imaging to characterize risk factors for substance abuse and psychiatric conditions. Specifically, she has extensively researched the impact of recreational cannabis use on the brain using neurocognitive measures, clinical assessments, and brain imaging techniques. Given inherent differences between recreational and medical cannabis use, Dr. Gruber founded the Marijuana Investigations for Neuroscientific Discovery (MIND) program, designed to clarify the specific effects of medical cannabis use through observational, longitudinal, and survey studies, as well as innovative clinical trials. Recently, Dr. Gruber launched the Women’s Health Initiative at MIND (WHIM), the first cannabis-focused program designed specifically to address women’s health and disorders that disproportionately affect women as well as some transgender and nonbinary individuals.

James Sawalla Guseh, MD

Contributor

Dr. James Sawalla Guseh is director of the Cardiovascular Performance Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. He trained at Harvard College and Harvard Medical School and completed his internal medicine residency at Mass General, where he also served as chief resident. His research focuses on human performance, aerobic fitness, and cardiovascular health; he is a recipient of the AHA Laennec Young Clinician Award, the Roman DeSanctis Clinical Scholar Award, and the Macomber Family Endowed Scholar in Cardiovascular Performance Innovation. He is a primary author of the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology Scientific Statement on sports participation in athletes with cardiovascular abnormalities, and served as a lead author on the task force addressing myocarditis, pericardial disease, and other acquired cardiovascular conditions.

Perihan Esra Guvenek-Cokol

Contributor

Perihan Esra Guvenek-Cokol, MD, is double board-certified as a child/adolescent and adult psychiatrist. She specializes in emerging mental illness in teens and young adults. Her expertise is in the early stages of psychotic and bipolar disorders, along with anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders. Dr. Guvenek-Cokol serves as the medical director for McLean Hospital's Child and Adolescent OCD Institute (OCDI Jr.) and the Support, Treatment, and Resilience (STAR) program, an outpatient program for teens and young adults. She is an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

Samar Hafida, MD

Contributor

Samar Hafida, MD, is an adult endocrinologist at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, MA. Her special interests include weight management and the effect of metabolic surgery in the management of type 2 diabetes. In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Hafida is passionate about medical education and delivery of diabetes care to health systems. She is assistant director of global education and is involved in several education initiatives geared to a wide variety of learners and provides consultation to health systems on reforming diabetes care and improving outcomes.

Kathleen Haley, MD

Contributor

Kathleen J. Haley, MD, is a physician in the Pulmonary and Critical Care Division at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She graduated from the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine and then completed an Internal Medicine Residency at the New England Deaconess Hospital followed by fellowships in Pulmonary Medicine at the New England Deaconess Hospital and Critical Care Medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Haley is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and an Associate Physician at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she attends in the Medical and Thoracic Intensive Care Units. Additionally, she serves as the Medical Director for the BWH Ventilator Service at Spaulding Hospital Cambridge. She is active in clinical research, where her interests include asthma and chronic critical illness.

Daniel L. Hall, PhD

Contributor

Daniel L. Hall, PhD, is a licensed clinical health psychologist, Harvard Medical School integrative medicine research fellow, and a clinical fellow in psychology in the department of psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). He works with clinical research teams at the MGH Behavioral Medicine program, the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine, the MGH Cancer Center, and the division of general medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Dr. Hall’s research examines how medical patients experience and cope with uncertainty and stress arising from cancer and other chronic illnesses. He is currently testing a multimodal mind-body intervention to help ease fear of cancer recurrence.

Florencia Halperin, MD

Contributor

Florencia Halperin, MD, is the co-founder and Co-Director of the Center for Weight Management and Metabolic Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Chief of Endocrinology at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital. Her clinical research is focused on the delivery of weight loss interventions, as well as on the metabolic effects of bariatric surgery. Her clinical research is complemented by her clinical practice focused on the management of obesity and diabetes.

Osama Hamdy, MD, PhD

Contributor

Dr. Osama Hamdy, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, is a senior endocrinologist and medical director of the Obesity Clinical Program and Inpatient Diabetes Program at Joslin Diabetes Center. His research focuses on understanding the metabolic and cardiovascular benefits of lifestyle changes and weight loss in people with diabetes. Dr. Hamdy is a co-investigator on two landmark studies of diabetes: the national Diabetes Prevention Program and the Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) study. He earned his medical degree and doctorate in endocrinology at the University of Mansoura, Egypt, and completed a fellowship in endocrinology at Harvard University.

Matthew Hamilton, MD

Contributor

Dr. Matthew Hamilton is an associate gastroenterologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. He currently serves as the director of the inflammatory bowel disease fellowship and IBD education programs.

Syed Moin Hassan, MD

Contributor

Dr. Hassan is currently a sleep medicine fellow at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, and a research fellow at Harvard Medical School. He is also the recipient of the Academic Sleep Pulmonary Integrated Research/Clinical Fellowship (ASPIRE) from the American Thoracic Society. His research interests include sleep-disordered breathing and pulmonary hypertension.

Harvard Health Experts and Contributors

List of Experts

Ilona T. Goldfarb, MD, MPH

Samuel Z. Goldhaber, MD

Corey Goldman, PT, DPT, CSCS

Leslie Goldman, MPH

Alexander Goldowsky, MD

Jill M. Goldstein, PhD

Robert Goldstein, MD, PhD

Toni Golen, MD

Lais Lopes Almeida Gomes

Joyce Gomes-Osman, PhD, PT

Peter Gonzalez, MD

Rachael Moeller Gorman

David C. Grabowski, PhD

Shelly Greenfield, MD, MPH

Peter Grinspoon, MD

Staci Gruber, PhD

James Sawalla Guseh, MD

Perihan Esra Guvenek-Cokol

Samar Hafida, MD

Kathleen Haley, MD

Daniel L. Hall, PhD

Florencia Halperin, MD

Osama Hamdy, MD, PhD

Matthew Hamilton, MD

Syed Moin Hassan, MD