Harvard Health Experts and Contributors

Howard D. Sesso, ScD, MPH, FAHA

Contributor

Dr. Howard D. Sesso is an associate epidemiologist in the division of preventive medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and associate professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He designs and conducts randomized clinical trials and epidemiologic studies, focusing on dietary supplements, nutrition, and lifestyle factors to prevent cardiovascular disease (CVD), hypertension, and other aging-related outcomes. Dr. Sesso is the associate director of the division of preventive medicine and director of nutrition and supplement research at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine. Dr. Sesso helps lead the Physicians’ Health Study, consisting of two trials testing aspirin, beta-carotene, vitamin E, vitamin C, and a multivitamin on aging-related outcomes in 29,000 men. Dr. Sesso is also examining vitamin D and fish oil supplements on blood pressure, hypertension, and other outcomes in the VITamin D and OmegA-3 TriaL (VITAL). Finally, Dr. Sesso is co-principal investigator of the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study (COSMOS), a recently completed trial testing cocoa extract and multivitamin supplements in the prevention of CVD and cancer in 21,442 older women and men. He has published more than 350 papers, teaches courses on clinical trials and epidemiology, and enjoys mentoring students and junior faculty.

Catherine Ullman Shade, PhD, MEd

Contributor

Catherine Ullman Shade, Ph.D. M.Ed. is the Director of Education at Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH)’s Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Program, where she coordinates educational and outreach services for children with complex congenital heart disease. Prior to her current position, Dr. Ullman Shade worked in BCH’s Developmental Medicine Center, and as a teacher, instructional coach, professional development trainer, educational researcher, and curriculum designer, in settings including K-12 schools and nonprofit organizations.

Howard J. Shaffer, PhD, CAS

Contributor

Dr. Howard Jeffrey Shaffer is the Morris E. Chafetz Associate Professor of Psychiatry in the Field of Behavioral Sciences at Harvard Medical School; in addition, he is the Director of the Division on Addiction at the Cambridge Health Alliance, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital. Dr. Shaffer has served as principal or co-principal investigator on many government, foundation, and industry sponsored research projects around the world. Dr. Shaffer is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association. He served on the National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, Committee on the Social and Economic Impacts of Pathological Gambling. His professional appointments have included consultation to many national and international organizations, including consultation to the National Institutes of Health, The National Cancer Institute, The National Council on Marijuana and Health, The Icelandic Ministry of Health and Social Security, The Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling, the Tung Wah Hospital Group in Hong Kong, and The Massachusetts Departments of Mental and Public Health. Dr. Shaffer is the author/editor of approximately 275 peer-reviewed journal articles and more than 20 books or monographs, including the 2012 Choice Award for the APA Addiction Syndrome Handbook, with Drs. LaPlante and Nelson, and the 2012 Change Your Gambling, Change Your Life, with co-authors Ryan Martin, John Kleschinsky, and Liz Neporent. Dr. Shaffer is the past editor of The Psychology of Addictive Behaviors and The Journal of Gambling Studies. Also, he is a founder and past associate editor of The Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. Dr. Shaffer serves as a member of many editorial boards and is as an ad hoc reviewer for many other scholarly journals. Dr. Shaffer has received many awards, including the 2010 American Psychological Association, Division 50, award for “Outstanding Contributions to Advancing the Understanding of Addictions.” During 2015, he received the Lifetime Research Award from the National Council on Problem Gambling. Dr. Shaffer’s research, writing, and teaching have influenced how the health care field conceptualizes and treats the full range of addictive behaviors. His Syndrome Model of Addiction has gained broad acceptance, influencing how we think about both behavioral and substance-related addiction.

Neel Shah, MD, MPP, FACOG

Contributor

Dr. Shah, MD, MPP, FACOG, is an assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology at Harvard Medical School, and director of the Delivery Decisions Initiative at Harvard’s Ariadne Labs. As an obstetrician-gynecologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Dr. Shah cares for patients at critical life moments that range from childbirth to primary care to surgery. As a scientist and social entrepreneur, he is a globally recognized expert in designing, testing, and spreading solutions that improve healthcare. Dr. Shah is listed among the “40 smartest people in health care” by the Becker’s Hospital Review, and has been profiled by the New York Times, CNN, and other outlets. He is senior author of the book Understanding Value-Based Healthcare (McGraw-Hill), which Don Berwick has called “an instant classic” and Atul Gawande called “a masterful primer for all clinicians.” Prior to joining the Harvard faculty, Dr. Shah founded Costs of Care, a global NGO that curates insights from clinicians to help delivery systems provide better care. In 2017, Dr. Shah co-founded the March for Moms Association, a coalition of 20 leading organizations, to increase public and private investment in the wellbeing of mothers.

Pinak B. Shah, MD

Contributor

Pinak B. Shah, MD is the Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and Director of the Interventional Cardiology Training Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. His clinical interests include catheter based therapies for the treatment of valvular and structural heart disease. He directs the interventional arm of the Brigham and Women’s Structural Heart Team and is a high volume operator in the areas of trans-catheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), Mitra-Clip, and a variety of other procedures. He is the site principal investigator for numerous clinical trials evaluating novel devices for the treatment of structural heart conditions and he has authored and co-authored numerous publications in this area.

Scott Shainker, DO, MS

Contributor

Scott Shainker, D.O, M.S., is a maternal-fetal medicine specialist in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC). He is also a member of the faculty in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School (HMS). Dr. Shainker is the co-founder and director of the New England Center for Placental Disorders, an international referral center for women with invasive placentation and other complex placental disorders. At BIDMC, he serves as the associate medical director of Labor and Delivery. Dr. Shainker’s research focuses on process improvement and clinical outcomes in the management of invasive placentation. His clinical interests are in abnormal placentation, complex maternal disease, critical care obstetrics and medical education. Dr. Shainker has lectured around the world focusing his efforts on reducing maternal morbidity / mortality, as well as placental disorders. Dr. Shainker is a national expert in critical care obstetrics and serves as faculty at both national and regional meetings. In addition, he was awarded the prestigious Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics Faculty Teaching Prize at HMS.

Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH

Contributor

Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH, is a physician-writer with expertise in performance improvement in health care. She is the co-author of the recently published book, Preventing Physician Burnout: Curing the Chaos and Returning Joy to the Practice of Medicine, and can be reached at www.mdwriter.com.

Jo Shapiro, MD, FACS

Contributor

Jo Shapiro, MD, FACS, is an associate professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Harvard Medical School, part time. She is Principal Faculty for the Center for Medical Simulation in Boston and a Consultant for the Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Anesthesia, Pain and Critical Care. In 2008, she founded the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Center for Professionalism and Peer Support where she served as the director for over 10 years.

John Sharp, MD

Contributor

Dr. John Sharp is a board-certified psychiatrist on the faculty at Harvard Medical School and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He is renowned for clearly conveying evidenced-based messages regarding health and well-being. Dr. Sharp is a member of the American College of Psychiatrists and a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He has been voted by his peers for inclusion in Best Doctors in America for the past 10 years. His first book, The Emotional Calendar: Understanding Seasonal Influences and Milestones to Become Happier, More Fulfilled, and in Control of your Life, was published in 2011 by Times Books and translated into five languages. His second book, The Insight Cure: Change Your Story, Transform Your Life, was published in 2018 by Hay House. Website: johnsharpmd.com Twitter: @JohnSharpMD

David A. Shaye, MD, MPH

Contributor

David A. Shaye, MD, MPH, is a dual board-certified facial plastic & reconstructive surgeon at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and an instructor at Harvard Medical School. His practice includes rhinoplasty, aging face surgery, skin cancer reconstruction, and facial reconstruction after trauma. Dr. Shaye is active in the field of global surgery, which focuses on delivering surgical services to areas with limited resources. He is a volunteer with Doctors Without Borders, where he performs pediatric facial reconstruction.

Martha E. Shenton, PhD

Contributor

Dr. Martha Shenton is professor of psychiatry and radiology at Harvard Medical School, and director of the Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. She and her team have pioneered in developing neuroimaging tools to understand brain and behavior alterations in neuropsychiatric disorders, including severe mental illness, post-traumatic stress disorder, and individuals at risk for psychosis. She has extensive experience in psychology, and in applying neuroimaging techniques to better understand brain and behavior associations in clinical populations.

Amy C. Sherman, MD

Contributor

Amy Sherman, MD, is an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School, associate physician in the division of infectious diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and a clinician-scientist with the Precision Vaccines Program. Her research focuses on immune responses to vaccination, and she has been a co-investigator in Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trials for the Moderna and Janssen Biotech (Johnson & Johnson) vaccines.

Jan L Shifren, MD

Contributor

Jan L Shifren, MD, MSCP, is the Vincent Trustees Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School. She is a reproductive endocrinologist at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and director of the MGH Midlife Women’s Health Center. Dr. Shifren attained her medical degree from Harvard Medical School and completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Brigham and Women’s and Massachusetts General Hospitals. She then completed a fellowship in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Shifren currently divides her time among patient care, teaching, and research. She focuses her research on menopause, including the effects of estrogens, androgens, and alternative therapies on menopausal symptoms and sexual function. Dr. Shifren has served as principal investigator and co-investigator for several important studies related to menopause. She has published numerous articles, abstracts, and book chapters, and has delivered national and international presentations on menopausal hormone therapy, androgens for women, female sexual function, and the genitourinary syndrome of menopause. Dr. Shifren is active in numerous professional societies and is a past president of the Menopause Society.

Alison Shmerling, MD, MPH

Contributor

Alison Shmerling, MD, MPH, is a family physician practicing full-scope family medicine, including low-risk obstetrics. She completed her medical degree and master of public health at Tufts University School of Medicine. She is now affiliated with the University of Colorado Hospital, where she sees patients and teaches in the family medicine residency.

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.

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.

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.

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

Executive Editor, Harvard Men's Health Watch

Matthew Solan is the 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 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.

Harvard Health Experts and Contributors

List of Experts

Howard D. Sesso, ScD, MPH, FAHA

Catherine Ullman Shade, PhD, MEd

Howard J. Shaffer, PhD, CAS

Neel Shah, MD, MPP, FACOG

Pinak B. Shah, MD

Scott Shainker, DO, MS

Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH

Jo Shapiro, MD, FACS

John Sharp, MD

David A. Shaye, MD, MPH

Martha E. Shenton, PhD

Amy C. Sherman, MD

Jan L Shifren, MD

Alison Shmerling, MD, MPH

Robert H. Shmerling, MD

Ronald D. Siegel, PsyD

Julie Silver, MD

Harvey B. Simon, MD

Aneesh Singhal, MD

Hicham Skali, MD, MSc, FACC

David M. Slovik, MD

Caroline Sokol, MD

Matthew Solan

Jessica Solodar

Guru P. Sonpavde, MD