Harvard Health Experts and Contributors

Robyn Thom, MD

Contributor

Dr. Robyn Thom is a child and adolescent psychiatry fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital and McLean Hospital. She will begin practicing at the Lurie Center for Autism as a staff psychiatrist when she completes her fellowship training in July 2020. She is a graduate of Harvard College, the University of Toronto Medical School, and the Harvard Longwood Psychiatry Residency Training Program. Her clinical and research interests include autism spectrum disorder and other neurodevelopmental disorders, the interface between medical and psychiatric co-morbidity, and psychopharmacology.

Rebecca P. Thomas, PhD

Contributor

Rebecca P. Thomas is a clinical psychology fellow in the division of developmental medicine at Harvard Medical School, and a research fellow in the laboratories of cognitive neuroscience at Boston Children's Hospital. She completed her PhD in clinical psychology at the University of Connecticut. Her clinical work focuses on complex neurodevelopmental assessments in pediatric populations. Her research addresses gaps in understanding in the trajectory of social communication profiles in young children with a range of neurodevelopmental disorders, and developing tools to categorize progress in language and communication development.

Pritesh Topiwala, MD

Contributor

Dr. Pritesh Topiwala is an Interventional Pain Management physician and Anesthesiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He is the Medical Director of the Brigham and Women’s Foxboro Pain Management clinic. His clinical interests are neuromodulation and interventional oncologic pain therapies. Dr. Topiwala finished his Anesthesiology residency and Pain Medicine fellowship training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

David R. Topor, PhD, MS-HPEd

Contributor

Dr. David Topor is a clinical psychologist, and the associate director for healthcare professional education at the VA Boston Healthcare System. He is an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

Elena Toschi, MD

Contributor

Elena Toschi, MD, is an Italian physician who has worked in Italy with Ele Ferrannini on insulin action and glucose metabolism in the late 1990’s. She then moved to Boston, USA to join Susan Bonner-Weir’s lab as a post-doctoral fellow working on the biology of islets of Langerhans and their regeneration. After obtaining her American medical license and specialization in Endocrinology at the joined Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/ Joslin program she has joined the Joslin adult clinic to work with Dr Howard Wolpert. Her clinical work has focused on use of technology in T1D to improve outcome. She has been involved in several multicenter trial on use of technology for the management of diabetes: REPLACE-BG and DIAMOND study among others. These studies have evaluated the benefit of CGM use by patients on multiple daily injections of insulin, have changed healthcare policy, with CGM now recommended to all patients with Type 1 Diabetes and CGM are now covered by Medicare. She is currently working on the use of technology to improve diabetes management and reduce the risk of hypoglycemia in the eldery with T1D (NIDDK DP3-Tango Study) in collaboration with Dr Munshi, and on restoration of hypoglycemia awareness in people with T1D and problematic hypoglycemia in collaboration with Dr Amiel. (JDRF – HARP.doc). She has been recently appointed Director of the Young Adult Clinic in the Adult Diabetes Section at Joslin Diabetes Center.

Sara Moradi Tuchayi, MD, MPH

Contributor

Dr. Sara Moradi Tuchayi is a dermatology research fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital. Her research at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at MGH is focused on the development of novel therapies for skin disorders.

J. Kevin Tucker, MD

Contributor

Dr. John Kevin Tucker is chief of renal medicine at Brigham and Women's/Faulkner Hospital, former director of the BWH/MGH joint nephrology fellowship program, and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Tucker has received recognition as an outstanding teacher during his tenure at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, and from the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Renal Division. He earned an MD from Cornell University and a bachelor’s degree from Birmingham-Southern College.

Karen Turner, OTR/L

Contributor

Karen Turner is an advanced practice occupational therapy patient navigator for individuals with autism and intellectual/developmental disorders at Massachusetts General Hospital. In this unique role, she provides care planning and coordination services, as well as individualized OT-based interventions for the patient, their caregiver(s), and their healthcare team. As a result, she reduces barriers to care, optimizes patient safety, improves satisfaction, and increases provider knowledge and comfort in the delivery of health services. Outside of patient encounters, Ms. Turner educates practitioners on caring for individuals with ASD/IDD, and works with departments across the continuum of care to implement systems to make individualized accommodations standard procedure. Ms. Turner received a BS from Boston University’s College of Communication in communication studies, and an MS from Boston University’s Sargent College in occupational therapy.

Claire Twark, MD

Contributor

Dr. Twark is an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, a board member of the International Society for Sports Psychiatry, and a psychiatrist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital where she directs the Athlete Mind Program. Her interests include addiction psychiatry and sports psychiatry. Dr. Twark ran track and field and cross country for Harvard College, and is now a member of the Boston Triathlon Team. She qualified for and completed the 2014 Ironman World Championship in Hawaii. Based on Ironman results in 2014, she was ranked 18th in the U.S. and 38th in the world (top 1%) in her age group. She is a four-time Ironman triathlon finisher and was awarded All-American Honors from USA Triathlon in 2015. Her own experience as an athlete has inspired her to promote exercise as a component of psychiatric treatment and help other athletes.

Preeti Upadhyay, MBBS, MPH

Contributor

Dr. Upadhyay works as a research fellow under the supervision of Dr. Subramaniam Balachundhar. She graduated from The University of Sydney, Australia, with a master’s degree in public health. She earned her medical degree from Kathmandu University, Nepal, and was practicing medicine in her native country prior to changing bases to a nonclinical workspace. She has a keen interest in meditation and its effects on physician burnout and sleep quality.

Eve Valera, PhD

Contributor

Dr. Eve Valera is an associate professor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and a research scientist at Massachusetts General Hospital. She has been working in the field of domestic violence for nearly 25 years, and is recognized internationally for her work in understanding the effects of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) sustained from intimate partner violence (IPV). Her current work uses a range of methodologies to understand the neural, cognitive, and psychological consequences of such TBIs. She published one of the first studies examining the prevalence of IPV-related TBI and its relationship to cognitive and psychological functioning, and has more recently provided the first neural mechanistic evidence of IPV-related TBI. To support her IPV-TBI work, Dr. Valera has received funding from the National Institutes of Health, Harvard Medical School Center of Excellence in Women’s Health, and more recently the Rappaport Research Fellowship in Neurology. Dr. Valera’s dissemination efforts include lectures for academics, judges, and other justice-involved personnel, police departments, front-line staff for IPV support and shelter, and women with lived experience. Her research is ongoing and expanding to address other potential neural consequences of TBIs from partner violence.

Christopher D. Vélez, MD

Contributor

Dr. Christopher Vélez is an attending gastroenterologist in the Center for Neurointestinal Health of Massachusetts General Hospital's division of gastroenterology and the MGH department of medicine. He focuses on neurogastroenterology and motility disorders of the esophagus, stomach, small bowel, colon, and rectum.

David M. Vernick, MD

Contributor

David M. Vernick, MD is a graduate of Johns Hopkins Medical School. He completed his postgraduate surgical training at George Washington Hospital in Washington, D.C. In 1979 Dr. Vernick continued his training as a resident in Otolaryngology at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. Subsequently, he became a fellow in Otology, Neurotology skull base surgery at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Upon completion, he returned to the Boston area and has worked as a surgeon in Otolaryngology at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Children’s Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Alessandro Villa, DDS, PhD, MPH

Contributor

Alessandro Villa, DDS, PhD, MPH, obtained a DDS degree and PhD from Italy, and completed his MPH at A.T. Still University, MO. He served as a postdoctoral fellow at the National Cancer Institute (USA) where he studied the epidemiology of oral HPV infections. Dr. Villa obtained his Certificate in Oral Medicine from Harvard and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He is board certified in Oral Medicine. His clinical interests include the treatment of oral mucosal diseases, salivary gland disorders and oral complications from cancer therapy. Dr. Villa’s research interests are focused primarily on potentially malignant disorders of the oral cavity and oral toxicities from cancer treatment.

Kathleen Viveiros, MD

Contributor

Dr. Kathleen Viveiros is a clinical hepatologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital who sees patients in Boston and in Foxborough and Westwood, MA. She is an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School. Her professional interests include fatty liver disease with a focus on lifestyle strategies for weight loss. She is a board-certified transplant hepatologist who treats patients with all forms of chronic liver disease including cirrhosis, NASH, autoimmune liver disease, alcohol-related liver disease, and viral hepatitis.

Alina von Korff, MD

Contributor

Dr. Alina von Korff is a board-certified pediatrician and clinical fellow in developmental behavioral pediatrics at the Developmental Medicine Center at Boston Children’s Hospital. After graduating from Vassar College, she earned her medical degree from Jagiellonian University College of Medicine, and completed her internship and residency in pediatrics at the University of Rochester.

Daniel M. Vu, MD

Contributor

Dr. Daniel Vu is an adult and pediatric glaucoma specialist at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Boston Children’s Hospital, and an instructor in ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School. In his clinical practice, he treats patients who have glaucoma, cataracts, and general eye diseases. His hobbies include tennis and travel.

May Wakamatsu, MD

Contributor

May Wakamatsu, MD, joined Mass General Hospital in 1990. She trained in Urogynecology (now called Female Pelvic Medicine & Reconstructive Surgery) under the guidance of the late David Nichols, MD. She is board certified in Female Pelvic Medicine & Reconstructive Surgery. Dr. Wakamatsu evaluates and treat patients with complex pelvic floor disorders including urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, which can include uterine prolapse, vaginal vault prolapse, anterior vaginal wall prolapse (cystocele) and posterior vaginal wall prolapse (rectocele). She also sees patients with mesh-related complications (mesh erosion, mesh exposure), urogenital fistula and other pelvic floor issues. Dr. Wakamatsu is a member of the Mass General Pelvic Floor Disorders Service, a multidisciplinary group comprised of pelvic reconstructive surgeons, colorectal surgeons, urologists, gastroenterologists and physical therapists. The service provides surgical and nonsurgical treatment options, including minimally-invasive surgeries such as vaginal, laparoscopic and/or robotic assisted surgeries. She holds regular conferences to discuss patients with complex and combined pelvic floor disorders.

Sarah Wakeman, MD, FASAM

Contributor

Dr. Sarah Wakeman is the Medical Director for the Mass General Hospital Substance Use Disorder Initiative and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She is also the Medical Director of the Mass General Hospital Addiction Consult Team and a clinical lead of the Partners Healthcare Substance Use Disorder Initiative. She received her A.B. from Brown University and her M.D. from Brown Medical School. She completed residency training in internal medicine and served as Chief Medical Resident at Mass General Hospital. She is a diplomate of the American Board of Addiction Medicine. She is secretary for the Massachusetts Society of Addiction Medicine and chair of the policy committee. She previously served on Governor Baker’s Opioid Addiction Working Group. Clinically she provides specialty addiction and general medical care in the inpatient and outpatient setting at Mass General Hospital and the Mass General Charlestown Health Center. Her active research projects include a study evaluating the impact of addiction consultation on hospitalized medical patients with substance use disorder; a qualitative study exploring the role of recovery coaches for patients with substance use disorder; the healthcare cost and utilization impact of increased addiction treatment services across a health system; and the impact of a hospital-wide substance use disorder initiative on physician attitudes, preparedness, and clinical practice related to substance use disorder.

Robert John Waldinger, MD

Contributor

Robert Waldinger is a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and Zen priest. He is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and directs the Harvard Study of Adult Development, one of the longest-running studies of adult life ever done. The Study tracked the lives of two groups of men for over 78 years and now follows their Baby Boomer children to understand how childhood experience reaches across decades to affect health and wellbeing in middle age. He writes about what science can teach us about healthy human development. Dr. Waldinger is the author of numerous scientific papers as well as two books, and he directs a teaching program in psychotherapy at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He has won awards for teaching and research from the American Psychiatric Association, Harvard Medical School, and Massachusetts Psychiatric Society, and he is consistently named as one of the Best Doctors in America. He is also a transmitted teacher in Boundless Way Zen and teaches Zen throughout New England. His TED talk on lessons from the longest study of happiness has had over 13 million views and is the fastest spreading talk in the history of TEDx events. Research updates and Dr. Waldinger’s writing can be found at www.robertwaldinger.com.

Allan Walker, MD

Contributor

Dr. Allan Walker is a professor of pediatrics and the Conrad Taff Professor of Nutrition Emeritus at Harvard Medical School (HMS), and professor of nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He is the chairman of the division of nutrition and an investigator in the mucosal immunology and biology laboratory at the Massachusetts General Hospital for Children (MGHfC). He re-established nutrition as a discipline at Harvard Medical School, and now coordinates clinical and basic research projects in nutrition at HMS and its teaching hospitals. His research interests include defining the role of initial bacterial colonization in the development of intestinal host defense, and determining the protective effects of breastfeeding in the prevention of disease in neonates.

Molly Wanner, MD

Contributor

Dr.Molly A. Wanner is a board-certified dermatologist and an Instructor in dermatology at Harvard Medical School. She practices at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)’s Dermatology Laser and Cosmetic Center, one of the leading laser and cosmetic centers in the world. Dr. Wanner received her medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, where she was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. She completed her dermatology residency at New York Presbyterian Hospital, where she served as chief resident in her last year. Afterward, she completed a clinical and research fellowship at the Wellman Center of Photomedicine at MGH. Professionally, she is a member of several associations including the American Academy of Dermatology, American Society of Dermatologic Surgery, Women’s Dermatologic Society, and American Society of Laser Surgery and Medicine. She has co-authored several medical publications, is an invited guest speaker, and is frequently used a clinical expert source for news articles on lasers and light therapy such as cellulite and removal. Her expertise includes acne treatments, general dermatology, chemical peels. dermatologic surgery, cosmetic dermatology, fillers, facial rejuvenation, laser hair removal, lasering of brown spots, blood vessels (red spots), and removal of spider veins.

Janice Ware, PhD

Contributor

Janice Ware, PhD, is Director of the Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Program; Director of the Child & Parent Program; and Senior Psychologist in the Developmental Medicine Center at Boston Children’s Hospital. She is also an Assistant Professor of Psychology and Developmental Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Ware specializes in the neurodevelopmental assessment and follow-up of young children with complex medical histories. She is known for her work in the fields of autism, cognitive and learning disabilities, congenital heart disease, early detection of severe mental health conditions, extreme prematurity, parent-infant mental health, school placement for children with special education needs, and velo-cardiofacial syndrome.

Jon Warner, MD

Contributor

Dr. Jon “J.P.” Warner is co-chief of the shoulder service at Massachusetts General Hospital, vice chair for quality and safety, professor of orthopedic surgery at Harvard Medical School, and founder of the Boston Shoulder Institute. He is past president of the American Shoulder and Elbow Society, and current president of the San Diego Shoulder Institute. He founded the Codman Shoulder Society, a value-based health care group. He is a serial entrepreneur and graduate of Harvard Business School.

Lindsay Warner

Content Licensing Editor, Harvard Health Publishing

Lindsay Warner is the content licensing editor for Harvard Health Publishing. She’s been a journalist for close to 20 years, with bylines in publications including Wirecutter, Forbes, The Washington Post, National Geographic, EatingWell, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Dwell, and Outside magazine. Lindsay has spent more than a decade as a health and wellness editor and writer in the content licensing space, and has served as editorial director for various health and wellness publications.

Harvard Health Experts and Contributors

List of Experts

Robyn Thom, MD

Rebecca P. Thomas, PhD

Pritesh Topiwala, MD

David R. Topor, PhD, MS-HPEd

Elena Toschi, MD

Sara Moradi Tuchayi, MD, MPH

J. Kevin Tucker, MD

Karen Turner, OTR/L

Claire Twark, MD

Preeti Upadhyay, MBBS, MPH

Eve Valera, PhD

Christopher D. Vélez, MD

David M. Vernick, MD

Alessandro Villa, DDS, PhD, MPH

Kathleen Viveiros, MD

Alina von Korff, MD

Daniel M. Vu, MD

May Wakamatsu, MD

Sarah Wakeman, MD, FASAM

Robert John Waldinger, MD

Allan Walker, MD

Molly Wanner, MD

Janice Ware, PhD

Jon Warner, MD

Lindsay Warner