Recent Articles

Forearm workouts: Strengthening grip for everyday function

Depression symptoms: Recognizing common and lesser-known symptoms

Medication side effects: What are your options?

Independent living with home care assistance: Balancing autonomy and support

Dialysis: What to expect from this life-changing — and lifesaving — treatment

The BEEP program: Keep your balance

Hoarding: What to know about this mental health disorder

21 spices for healthy holiday foods

Listeria: How to protect yourself from this common cause of food poisoning

Adult day care can benefit older adults and their caregivers

Harvard Health Experts and Contributors

Dawn Sugarman, PhD

Contributor

Dawn E. Sugarman, PhD, is an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and a research psychologist at McLean Hospital in the division of alcohol, drugs, and addiction. Dr. Sugarman received her PhD from Syracuse University, and completed predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships at Yale School of Medicine. Her research primarily focuses on the use of technology in increasing access to evidence-based treatments for substance use disorders, with an emphasis on special populations such as women and individuals with substance use and other co-occurring psychiatric disorders. Dr. Sugarman was the inaugural recipient of the Sarles Young Investigator Award for Research on Women and Addiction at McLean Hospital. She is the current recipient of a National Institute on Drug Abuse–funded career development award focused on increasing women’s engagement in medication treatment for opioid use disorder through digital intervention. Dr. Sugarman also serves as the communications editor for the Harvard Review of Psychiatry.

Carol Sullivan, MS, RD, CSO, LDN

Contributor

Carol Sullivan, MS, RD, CSO, LDN is a senior dietitian at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). She has more than 15 years of experience in the field, including more than a decade practicing as a Certified Specialist in Oncology Nutrition. At MGH she has been fortunate to work with many people and their loved ones undertaking the scary world of a cancer diagnosis, and treatment. Her pragmatic, evidenced based and individualized approach to nutrition has helped many thrive through the challenges of treatment and the often-confusing time after treatments are complete. She sees patients in survivorship through the MGH Cancer Center Oncology Lifestyle Medicine program to help people make positive nutrition and health behavior change. Carol is passionate about helping people see the good in food. At home she loves spending time in the kitchen and outside with her 2 young boys.

Siva Sundaram, BA

Contributor

Siva Sundaram is a fourth-year MD student at Harvard Medical School with interests in addiction medicine, child and adolescent psychiatry, and public health policy. Before medical school, he worked as a field guide at a wilderness therapy program in Utah for teenagers struggling with problematic substance use. As a medical student, he has spent his extracurricular time advocating for more comprehensive training in addiction medicine in medical schools and for expanded access to evidence-based addiction treatment.

Meera Sunder, MBBS, MRCOG

Contributor

Dr. Sunder is a seasoned clinician whose medical career has spanned three continents. She is a primary care physician at the Cambridge Health Alliance, Massachusetts. Her interests include reproductive health, integrative medicine, health education, teaching and public health. She is a strong advocate of a holistic approach to medicine and wellness.

Joji Suzuki, MD

Dr. Suzuki is the Director of the Division of Addiction Psychiatry and Director of Addictions Education in the Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. His areas of clinical and research interests are the assessment and management of substance use disorders and related conditions in general medical settings, motivational interviewing, office-based opioid treatment, implementation of collaborative models of care, and medical education. He is the site director for the Partners Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship, and is involved with teaching medical students, residents, and allied health professionals. He has authored over 30 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters related to addiction psychiatry.

Aswita Tan-McGrory, MBA, MSPH

Contributor

Aswita Tan-McGrory MBA, MSPH is director of the Disparities Solutions Center (DSC) and administrative director of the Mongan Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). She also is an adjunct faculty member at Northeastern University. Ms. Tan-McGrory’s interests are in providing equitable care to BIPOC and immigrant populations. She speaks nationally and internationally to organizations about how race, ethnicity, and language impact the quality of care.

Christy N. Taylor, MD, MPH

Contributor

Dr. Christy Taylor is an internal medicine resident at Massachusetts General Hospital. She completed her undergraduate and graduate studies, in biology and public health respectively, at the University of Miami. She subsequently completed her medical degree at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Monique Tello, MD, MPH

Contributor

Dr. Monique Tello is a practicing physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, director of research and academic affairs for the MGH DGM Healthy Lifestyle Program, clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School, and author of the evidence-based lifestyle change guide Healthy Habits for Your Heart. She completed a combined internal medicine and pediatrics residency training program at Yale/New Haven Hospital. After residency, she earned a master’s in public health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and fellowship in general internal medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital. She is half Latina, speaks Spanish, and maintains a close relationship with her extended family in Guatemala. She is married to local sports broadcaster Bob Socci, and they have two young children, one with autism. She writes a popular blog, www.DrMoniqueTello.com, about achieving balance, health, and wellness from the perspective of doctor and mother.

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.

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

John Kevin Tucker, MD is Chief of Renal Medicine at Brigham/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.

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.

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Recent Articles

Forearm workouts: Strengthening grip for everyday function

Depression symptoms: Recognizing common and lesser-known symptoms

Medication side effects: What are your options?

Independent living with home care assistance: Balancing autonomy and support

Dialysis: What to expect from this life-changing — and lifesaving — treatment

The BEEP program: Keep your balance

Hoarding: What to know about this mental health disorder

21 spices for healthy holiday foods

Listeria: How to protect yourself from this common cause of food poisoning

Adult day care can benefit older adults and their caregivers

Recent Articles

Harvard Health Experts and Contributors

List of Experts

Dawn Sugarman, PhD

Carol Sullivan, MS, RD, CSO, LDN

Siva Sundaram, BA

Meera Sunder, MBBS, MRCOG

Joji Suzuki, MD

Aswita Tan-McGrory, MBA, MSPH

Christy N. Taylor, MD, MPH

Monique Tello, MD, MPH

Robyn Thom, MD

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

Daniel M. Vu, MD

May Wakamatsu, MD

Sarah Wakeman, MD, FASAM

Recent Articles