Harvard Health Experts and Contributors

George King, MD

Contributor

George L. King, M.D., is the Senior Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer at Joslin Diabetes Center, as well as a Professor of Medicine and Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School. He received his medical degree from Duke University School of Medicine and residency at the University of Washington Affiliated Hospitals in Seattle and the National Institutes of Health. Dr. King has published over 300 papers and multiple books. Dr. King’s work focuses on finding the causes of diabetic complications, founder of The Medalist Study to discover new treatments for diabetic complications, and understanding the reasons for the high rate of diabetes in Asian Americans. His laboratory discovered that VEGF, protein most responsible for causing the severe form of diabetic eye disease. Dr. King has received numerous awards, Cogan Award from the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Alcon Award for Vision Research, Harold Amos Diversity Award from Harvard Medical School, the Chinese American Medical Society Scientific Award, the 2015 Edwin Bierman Award from the American Diabetes Association, with several others, the Champalimaud Award for Vision, the largest award in the vison research field and Mary Tyler Moore and Robert Levine Award from the JDRF 2016.

Daniel Kirshenbaum, MD

Contributor

Daniel Kirshenbaum, MD, is a general cardiologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He completed his internal medicine residency at Boston Medical Center (BMC), also serving as Chief Medical Resident, where he then went on to also complete his clinical cardiology fellowship. He has academic interests in digital health, as well as the use of technology to enhance medical education.

Sarah Klein

Health Writer

Sarah Klein is a Boston-based health journalist with more than 15 years of experience in lifestyle media. Most recently, she was editor in chief and senior director of content at LIVESTRONG.com. She previously held positions at Health.com, Prevention, and HuffPost. She's worked as a freelancer with a range of publications and clients, including TIME Health, SELF.com, Peloton, Everyday Health, Exos, Stride, and Felix Creative. Sarah is a graduate of the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University, a National Academy of Sports Medicine–certified personal trainer, and a member of the Association of Health Care Journalists. She completed the National Press Foundation 2020 Vaccine Boot Camp and the 2019 Mayo Clinic Journalist Residency.

Lauren Ko, MD, MEd

Contributor

Lauren Ko, MD, M.Ed, is a dermatology resident physician at the Harvard Combined Dermatology Program. She received her undergraduate education at Columbia University, and thereafter received her Masters in Education in New York City where she taught elementary school for four years. She received her medical degree from Harvard Medical School. Her clinical and research interests include inpatient and complex medical dermatology, medical education, and cutaneous manifestations of systemic disease.

Anthony L. Komaroff, MD

Editor in Chief, Harvard Health Letter; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing

Dr. Anthony L. Komaroff is the Steven P. SimcoxPatrick A. Clifford/James H. Higby Distinguished Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, senior physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and editor in chief of the Harvard Health Letter. He was director of the division of general medicine and primary care at Brigham and Women’s Hospital for 15 years, and is the founding editor of Journal Watch, a summary medical information newsletter for physicians published by the Massachusetts Medical Society/New England Journal of Medicine.

Megan A. Koster, MD, PharmD

Contributor; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing

Megan A. Koster, MD, PharmD, is the interim chief of pulmonary & critical care medicine at Mount Auburn Hospital (MAH), and an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS). Dr. Koster started her journey in health care with a doctor of pharmacy degree from Northeastern University. She worked as a clinical pharmacist with a special focus in organ transplant and surgical intensive care at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) before matriculating at HMS. Following medical school, Dr. Koster pursued internal medicine residency at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and continued her training with a MGH/BIDMC fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine. She received advanced training in medical education leadership through a BIDMC clinician educator fellowship. In addition to her practice in general pulmonology and critical care medicine at MAH, Dr. Koster has continued her work as an educational leader, serving as co-director for undergraduate medical education, clerkship director for several HMS electives, and the pulmonary subspecialty education chair for the internal medicine residency program at MAH. Her professional interests include interprofessional health care education, clinical leadership, and supporting women and parents in medicine.

Parul Kothari, MD

Contributor

Parul Kothari, MD, is an Associate Physician of Allergy and Clinical Immunology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She completed medical school at New Jersey medical school followed by an Internal Medicine residency at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and an Allergy and Immunology fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Kothari’s clinical interests include drug allergy, allergies and asthma, and chronic urticaria.

Arianne Shadi Kourosh, MD, MPH

Contributor

Arianne Shadi Kourosh, MD, MPH, is a board certified dermatologist and associate professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School. She is a graduate of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, where she received the institution's awards in leadership, outstanding professionalism, and humanism as a physician. Dr. Kourosh is committed to patient advocacy and solving public health problems for patients with skin disease. She developed the Skin Advocate iPhone app, a free iPhone application that connects patients with patient advocacy organizations for their skin conditions. She has published and been recognized in the news and many publications, and served as editor in chief of Dialogues in Dermatology, the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD)’s official podcast and internationally subscribed educational program for physicians. Dr. Kourosh serves as the dermatology department’s director of community health, providing access to dermatologic care for underserved communities. She is the founding director of the Clinic for Pigmentary Disorders at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and the founder and director of the Radiance Clinic, MGH’s pro-bono tattoo removal program, assisting those seeking to escape gangs and human trafficking to be safe and reintegrate into society, which has won national awards for its impact. She also advocates for patients at the national level in the AAD’s delegation to Congress to protect medical research and affordable care for patients with skin disease. Dr. Kourosh’s research at the intersection of dermatology and public health — including her pioneering work on Zoom dysmorphia, climate justice in the impacts of pollution on skin diseases and aging (especially in vulnerable populations), and on the skin signs of human trafficking — has reached national and international impact, and has been featured on Today, The Daily Show, PBS, Fox News, and Boston Globe Media, and in Oprah magazine, Reader’s Digest, Good Housekeeping, Consumer Reports, Allure, Harvard Magazine, The Huffington Post, and Wired magazine, among numerous others, and for which she has been a featured speaker at the Aspen Ideas Festival. Dr. Kourosh has won numerous awards, including Massachusetts General Hospital's Clinician-Teacher Award, Harvard Medical School's Dean's Community Service Award, the Ernesto Gonzalez Award for outstanding service to the Latino Community, and Boston's Top Doctors. In 2020 she received the AAD's Presidential Citation for outstanding service during the COVID-19 crisis. In 2022 and 2023, she received Presidential Citations from both the American Academy of Dermatology and the American Society for Medicine and Surgery, for her leadership of a national task force and multiple initiatives in the medical community to aid those affected by human trafficking, and she has been named one of Medscape's 25 Rising Stars in Medicine.

Suzanne Koven, MD, MFA

Contributor

Suzanne Koven, MD, MFA, is a primary care physician and the inaugural writer-in-residence at Massachusetts General Hospital. She is also an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Her writing has appeared in The New England Journal of Medicine, The Boston Globe, The Lancet, The Los Angeles Review of Books, and other publications, and has been featured on National Public Radio. Her book Letter to a Young Female Physician: Notes From a Medical Life was published by W.W. Norton & Co. in May 2021. (Photo credit: Patrick B. Duffy)

Rebecca Kranz

Health Writer

Rebecca Kranz is an award-winning freelance medical writer who specializes in breaking down complex medical and scientific concepts into understandable language for health care providers, patients, and the general public. She is also a trilingual medical interpreter working in American Sign Language, Spanish, and English.

Lorrie Kubicek, MT-BC

Contributor

Lorrie Kubicek is a board-certified music therapist at Massachusetts General Hospital, co-director of The Katherine A. Gallagher Integrative Therapies Program, and program manager of expressive therapies at MGH Cancer Center and Mass General Hospital for Children. She is a clinical supervisor for the music therapy program at Berklee College of Music, and has authored a chapter on the use of music technology in music therapy interventions with adult cancer patients.

Daniel Kuritzkes, MD

Contributor

Daniel R. Kuritzkes, MD received his BS and MS degrees in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University, and his MD from Harvard Medical School. He completed his clinical and research training in internal medicine and infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital and was a visiting scientist at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research before joining the faculty at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Dr. Kuritzkes returned to Harvard Medical School in 2002, where he is now the Harriet Ryan Albee Professor of Medicine and Chief, Division of Infectious Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Kuritzkes has published extensively on antiretroviral therapy and drug resistance in HIV-1 infection. He has chaired several multicenter studies of HIV therapy and previously chaired the AIDS Clinical Trials Group. He has served on numerous NIH committees, including as a member of the NIH Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council. He is a former member of the Department of Health and Human Services panel on guidelines for antiretroviral therapy and a past Chair of the HIV Medicine Association Board of Directors. He has been a member of several editorial boards, and serves as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Infectious Diseases. His research interests focus on HIV therapeutics, antiretroviral drug resistance, and HIV eradication.

Daniela J. Lamas, MD

Contributor

Daniela Lamas is a pulmonary and critical care doctor at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital and faculty at Harvard Medical School. Following graduation from Harvard College, she went on to earn her MD at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, where she also completed internship and residency. She then returned to Boston for her subspecialty fellowship. She has worked as a medical reporter at the Miami Herald and is frequently published in the New York Times. This is her first book.

Adam Landman, MD, MS, MIS, MHS

Contributor

Adam Landman, MD, MS, MIS, MHS is Chief Information Officer at Brigham Health, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and an attending emergency physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He is board certified in Emergency Medicine and Clinical Informatics and an expert in health information technology and digital health design, development, and implementation. In his current role, he is responsible for developing strategic IT initiatives, with the goal of evolving the next generation of information systems and digital health solutions across the Brigham Health enterprise, while maintaining a focus on excellence.

Adaira I. Landry, MD, MEd

Contributor

Dr. Adaira Landry is an emergency medicine physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. She is a Harvard Medical School Society advisor, where she advises a cohort of medical students, and a co-chair for the diversity and inclusion committee for the department of emergency medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She is also a mother to three young children.

Gayle Lang, OTR/L, CHT, MS

Contributor

Gayle Lang is an occupational therapist with a specialty certification in hand therapy. She graduated with a master's degree in occupational therapy from Boston University’s Sargent College of Health and Rehab Sciences. She has been working primarily at Brigham & Women’s Hospital (BWH) since 1996, in both the inpatient acute care and outpatient hand therapy settings. She became a Certified Hand Therapist in 2007, and currently works at BWH's hand therapy clinic in Foxborough, MA.

Helene Langevin, MD

Contributor

Dr. Langevin received an MD degree from McGill University, completed a post doctoral research fellowship in Neurochemistry at the MRC Neurochemical Pharmacology Unit in Cambridge, England, residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Endocrinology and Metabolism at Johns Hopkins Hospital. She is a Professor in Residence of Medicine and Director of the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She is also a Visiting Professor of Neurological Sciences at the University of Vermont College of Medicine. Dr. Langevin has been the Principal Investigator of several NIH-funded studies investigating the role of connective tissue in low back pain and the mechanisms of acupuncture, manual and movement-based therapies. Her previous studies in humans and animal models have shown that mechanical tissue stimulation during both tissue stretch and acupuncture causes dynamic cellular responses in connective tissue. Her current work focuses on the effects of stretching on inflammation resolution mechanisms within connective tissue, and their relevance to chronic musculoskeletal pain and cancer.

Debi LaPlante, PhD

Contributor

Dr. Debi LaPlante is director of the division on addiction at the Cambridge Health Alliance, and an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. She joined the division in 2001 and is involved with its diverse research, education, training, and outreach activities. With her colleagues, she developed the syndrome model of addiction, and co-edited the two volume APA Addiction Syndrome Handbook. She has authored dozens of book chapters, journal articles, and reports. Dr. LaPlante authored the Harvard Health Publishing ebook Responsible Drinking for Women. Dr. LaPlante’s current research involves assessments of public health treatment and intervention systems, studies of actual gambling and daily fantasy sports behavior, and tribal participatory research to develop a culturally grounded, mental health first-response training program, xaʔtu̓s (Salish for First Face) for Mental Health. In addition to these activities, Dr. LaPlante is a member of the editorial team for the division’s The Brief Addiction Science Information Source. She also has been a course director for online and live continuing education courses for addiction, and for gambling-related problems specifically. Dr. LaPlante is a regular reviewer for research grants and academic journal submissions. She spearheaded the division’s Cambridge Health Alliance Readiness for Gambling Expansion initiative, which features Gambling Disorder Screening Day on the second Tuesday of March annually.

Nicole J. LeBlanc, MA

Contributor

Nicole J. LeBlanc is a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at Harvard University, where she conducts research on the association between social factors and the development and maintenance of emotional disorders. She is also a clinical fellow in the department of psychology at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she is completing clinical and research training with the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Program and the Center for Anxiety and Traumatic Stress Disorders. Her clinical interests include empirically-supported treatments for anxiety and traumatic stress disorders. She is a member of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) and the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA).

Erica H. Lee, PhD

Contributor

Erica H. Lee, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and associate training director of the psychology internship program at Boston Children’s Hospital, as well as an instructor in psychology at Harvard Medical School. She specializes in evidence-based and culturally responsive care for youth with depression, anxiety, disruptive behavior, and traumatic stress. Dr. Lee also teaches on these topics nationally and internationally, and engages in research on increasing access to mental health care.

Dara K. Lee Lewis, MD

Contributor; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing

Dr. Dara Lee Lewis is a full-time cardiologist, director of imaging, and co-director of the women’s program at the Lown Cardiovascular Center. Her clinical interests include cardiac physiology, echocardiography, and heart disease in women. She is an associate physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She also co-directs, teaches, and develops curriculum for the first-year Harvard Medical School cardiology, physiology, and pathophysiology course. Dr. Lee Lewis earned her medical degree from Harvard Medical School, and completed her residency in internal medicine and fellowship in cardiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Anthony Lembo, MD

Contributor

Anthony Lembo, MD, is Director of the GI Motility and Functional Bowel Disorders Program at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA. Dr. Lembo earned his medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston and completed his residency in medicine, as well as fellowships in gastroenterology and gastrointestinal motility and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), at the University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA) Medical Center. Dr. Lembo’s research interests focus on the burden of and treatment options for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and chronic constipation, and he also studies the placebo response. He has published widely on these topics, He is also an Associate Editor of the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology and Digestive Diseases and Science. He also been appointed numerous national and international leadership positions throughout his tenure.

Inga Lennes, MD, MPH, MBA

Contributor

Inga T. Lennes MD, MPH, MBA grew up in the midwest and came to the east coast for college. She attended Mount Holyoke College for her undergraduate degree and went on to attend the University of Massachusetts Medical School for her medical degree. Dr. Lennes completed her internal medicine residency training at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and also was a Chief Medical Resident at BIDMC. She trained as a Hematology and Oncology Fellow in the Dana Farber/Mass General Brigham Cancer Care Fellowship. Dr. Lennes is a medical oncologist in the Center for Thoracic Cancers and specializes in seeing all lung cancers and esophageal cancer. She is the founder and director of the Pulmonary Nodule Clinic at Massachusetts General Hospital and works closely with colleagues to study and implement lung cancer screening and improve nodule management. Dr. Lennes is the Massachusetts General Physicians Organization Senior Vice President for Service Excellence and Practice Improvement.

Maureen Leonard, MD, MMSc

Contributor

Maureen Leonard, MD, MMSc, is the Clinical Director of the Center For Celiac Research And Treatment at MassGeneral Hospital for Children (MGHfC) and an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School (HMS). She sees adult and pediatric patients with celiac disease, non-celiac gluten sensitivity, and other gluten-related disorders. Dr. Leonard obtained her medical degree from New York Medical College, completed her residency in general pediatrics at Tufts Medical Center and completed her fellowship in Pediatric Gastroenterology at MGHf C. Dr. Leonard received a Master’s Degree in Clinical and Translational Investigation from HMS. Dr. Leonard’s research is focused on predicting and preventing celiac disease through the NIH-funded Celiac Disease; Genomic, Environment, Microbiome and Metabolomic Study. Dr. Leonard’s other work include identifying biomarkers that can predict intestinal healing in pediatric patients with celiac disease, building translational models capable of predicting autoimmune disease in high risk individuals, and working with industry collaborators to create and perform clinical trials aimed at treating celiac disease. Dr. Leonard currently holds funding from the NIH (K23DK122127) and has previously been funded by the NIH (F32DK109620), Nutrition Obesity Research Center at Harvard, and the Thrasher Research Foundation.

Hallie Levine

Health Writer

Hallie Levine is an award-winning health and medical journalist whose work has been published in The New York Times, Consumer Reports, Oprah, and WebMD, among others. She lives with her three children and gregarious yellow labrador in Fairfield, CT.

Harvard Health Experts and Contributors

List of Experts

George King, MD

Daniel Kirshenbaum, MD

Sarah Klein

Lauren Ko, MD, MEd

Anthony L. Komaroff, MD

Megan A. Koster, MD, PharmD

Parul Kothari, MD

Arianne Shadi Kourosh, MD, MPH

Suzanne Koven, MD, MFA

Rebecca Kranz

Lorrie Kubicek, MT-BC

Daniel Kuritzkes, MD

Daniela J. Lamas, MD

Adam Landman, MD, MS, MIS, MHS

Adaira I. Landry, MD, MEd

Gayle Lang, OTR/L, CHT, MS

Helene Langevin, MD

Debi LaPlante, PhD

Nicole J. LeBlanc, MA

Erica H. Lee, PhD

Dara K. Lee Lewis, MD

Anthony Lembo, MD

Inga Lennes, MD, MPH, MBA

Maureen Leonard, MD, MMSc

Hallie Levine