Harvard Health Publishing Staff

Nancy Ferrari is Managing Director and Executive Editor at Harvard Health Publishing and a former editor of the Harvard Heart Letter. Before joining Harvard Health, Nancy was Manager of the Clinical Publications Program at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. She began her work at HPHC as a women’s health writer creating patient education materials for ob/gyn and primary care practices. Nancy’s writing and editing experience includes work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she worked at the Journal of Science, Technology, and Human Values, the MIT Communications Office, and where she edited a conference proceeding on energy and the environment.

Howard LeWine, M.D., is a practicing internist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Chief Medical Editor at Harvard Health Publishing, and editor in chief of Harvard Men’s Health Watch.

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.

Claire McCarthy, MD, is a primary care pediatrician at Boston Children’s Hospital, and an assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. In addition to being a senior faculty editor for Harvard Health Publishing, Dr. McCarthy writes about health and parenting for Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston.com, and the Huffington Post.

Urmila Parlikar is a Associate Director, Digital Health Products at Harvard Health Publishing. She first joined Harvard as a staff writer in 1998. She wrote articles for the Harvard Health newsletters, revised and updated Special Health Reports including Stroke and The Aging Eye, and served as the editor of the Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide Online. More recently, Urmila has worked closely with Dr. Anthony Komaroff on the Ask Doctor K newspaper column. She also develops patient education materials for other HHP projects. She was also Managing Editor at HealthGate Data Corporation where she supervised the creation and updating of online patient education resources. Urmila began her career in the Office of Public Affairs at The Rockefeller University in New York City after earning a master’s degree in science journalism at Boston University.

Catherine Finn, MSW, LCSW is the Associate Director of Strategic Initiatives and the Deputy Editor at Harvard Health Publishing. Catherine leads strategic initiatives, digital productions, webinars, and continuing education courses. She is an editor for the Harvard Health blog, specializing in addiction, mental health, neurology, nutrition, and weight loss.    Catherine is currently the Lead Producer for TEAMS, a national donor-funded educational initiative to improve healthcare experiences for adults with autism.  Catherine was previously the Executive Producer for Opioid X: The Opioid Crisis in America, and she was the course director for Treating and Preventing Addiction in Community-Based Settings.   

Francesca Coltrera is editor of the Harvard Health Blog and a senior content writer and editor for Harvard Health Publishing. She is an award-winning medical writer and co-author of Living Through Breast Cancer and The Breast Cancer Survivor’s Fitness Plan. Her work has appeared in Newsweek, O Magazine, Good Housekeeping, SELF, and the Boston Herald, among other venues. She is interested in many health topics, including coronavirus and COVID-19, emotional and physical wellness, parenting and children’s health, women’s health, exercise, longevity, cancer, caregiving, and end-of-life issues.

Dean Ricciardi is the Senior Digital Publishing Coordinator at Harvard Health Publishing, supporting the work of the editors and staff, copyediting, managing content, and working with HHP’s outside tech partners. He received a BA from Boston University and has over 20 years of experience in online publishing.

Christina Ramey is the Senior Project Coordinator. In this role she works with the editorial team to deliver and execute content and special programs. Christina holds an MBA from Babson College and a BA in Communication from Northeastern University. Prior to business school, she began her career managing operations and fundraising initiatives for large scale events for not for profit organizations.