Harvard Health Experts and Contributors

Rebecca Gaffney, MD

Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing

Dr. Rebecca Gaffney is an instructor in dermatology at Harvard Medical School, and director of the Bullous Disease and Connective Tissue Disease clinics at Brigham and Women's Hospital. She graduated from Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and completed dual training in internal medicine and dermatology at the Harvard Combined Residency Program. Her clinical and research interests include inflammatory skin diseases, rheumatologic dermatology, and inpatient dermatology.

Hanna Gaggin, MD, MPH

Contributor

Hanna Gaggin, MD, MPH, is a general cardiologist, educator, and clinical investigator at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She is a member of the cardiovascular medicine section leadership council and the cardiovascular continuing medical education oversight committee at MGH. She is the subspecialty core educator for the internal medicine residency at MGH, and is active in peer education through her role as editor and course director for the MGH Cardiology Board Review Book and on-demand cardiology education with Harvard Medical School Graduate Medical Education.

Joshua Gagne, PharmD, ScD

Contributor

Joshua J Gagne, PharmD, ScD is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School and an Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (Harvard Chan). Josh is Co-Lead of the Methods Core of the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) Sentinel program, Co-Director of the Pharmacoepidemiology Program at Harvard Chan, and Co-Director of the Harvard-Brigham Drug Safety and Risk Management Research Center funded by the FDA. His research centers on methods for generating post-approval comparative safety and effectiveness evidence for new medical products. Josh teaches courses in pharmacoepidemiology and comparative effectiveness research at Harvard Chan and directs a course through Harvard Catalyst, the Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center. His research is supported by the FDA, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Reagan-Udall Foundation, and pharmaceutical companies. Josh is a recipient of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research Award for Excellence in Application of Pharmacoeconomics and Health Outcomes Research. He serves on the editorial boards of Drug Safety and Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety and is an Associate Editor for PCORI.

Seth Gale, MD

Contributor

Dr. Seth Gale is a behavioral neurologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), co-director of the brain health program at BWH, and assistant professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Gale’s research interest is in lifestyle and nonpharmacologic interventions, including the use of mobile health and other technologies, to promote brain health and reduce the risk of dementia and cognitive decline. He is also involved in clinical and research ethics and philosophy of medicine. Dr. Gale works as an investigator in Alzheimer disease at the Center for Alzheimer Research and Treatment at BWH.

Jeffrey Garber, MD, FACP, MACE

Contributor

Jeffrey R. Garber, MD, FACP, MACE is an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, Chief of the Division of Endocrinology at Atrius Health , and member of the endocrine divisions of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Garber is a past President of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists and the American College of Endocrinology. He is the medical editor of the Harvard Medical School Special Health report on Thyroid Disease: Understanding hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism.

John Garber, MD

Contributor

Over the past decade, John Garber, MD, has been deeply engaged in a dual program of clinical training in internal medicine and gastroenterology, while at the same time cultivating basic and translational research experience that has enabled me to focus on aspects of specific gastrointestinal diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), celiac disease and eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE)—diseases whose pathogenesis are increasingly recognized to arise at the intersection of epithelial biology, host immunology and response to pathogens and dysregulated innate immune/allergic signaling processes. My initial experience in the lab during my fellowship provided me with a fundamental framework for approaching epithelial cell biology and the role of cytoskeletal regulation in maintaining gut homeostasis and response to pathogens. This work naturally complemented a growing clinical practice focusing on patients with IBD, and helped set the stage for subsequent human immunology studies of celiac disease and EoE. In the spring of 2012, I joined the full-time faculty in the Gastrointestinal Unit at the Massachusetts General Hospital, and in 2014 I helped establish the Adult Eosinophilic Esophagitis Clinic at MGH, which brings together gastroenterologists, allergists and nutritionists, and represents the first such clinic in the U.S. that provides coordinated, multidisciplinary care to adult EoE patients while also serving as a central mechanism for organizing cutting-edge basic and translational research on the underlying biology of EoE. During this time, my own laboratory has worked toward establishing novel methods for detailed studies of tissue eosinophils, and our initial efforts have specifically focused on understanding the roles of eosinophil integrins and vascular adhesion molecules and the mechanisms of eosinophil-epithelial cross talk in the pathogenesis of EoE. Utilizing the truly special resource of a large cohort of EoE patients while taking advantage of the significant research expertise in human immunology and translational research available at MGH and across Harvard Medical School, we have a unique opportunity to advance our fundamental understanding of the pathogenesis and potential treatments of EoE.

Lilit Garibyan, MD, PhD

Contributor

Dr. Lilit Garibyan is an assistant professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School, and a physician-scientist at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. Her research focuses on innovative biomedical discoveries aimed at identifying novel treatments for dermatologic diseases and beyond. Dr. Garibyan has co-authored numerous peer-reviewed original publications. She has lectured at the national and international level, and has developed a reputation as an expert and leader in dermatology and biomedical innovation. As a humanitarian, Dr. Garibyan has pioneered and established sustainable medical laser clinics in Armenia for effective treatments of scars and vascular anomalies. Dr. Garibyan received her BS summa cum laude from the University of California Los Angeles, her MD from Harvard Medical School, and her PhD from Harvard University in experimental pathology and immunology.

Marc B. Garnick, MD

Editor in Chief, Harvard Medical School Annual Report on Prostate Diseases; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing

Dr. Marc B. Garnick is an internationally renowned expert in medical oncology and urologic cancer. A clinical professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, he also maintains an active clinical practice at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He has dedicated his career to the development of new therapies for the treatment of prostate cancer. Dr. Garnick is the Editor in Chief of HarvardProstateKnowledge.org and Harvard Medical School’s Annual Report on Prostate Diseases, both of which emerged from his keen interest in explaining issues of medical importance to patients and their families to help them make appropriate treatment choices.

Emily Stern Gatof, MD

Guest Contributor

Dr. Emily Stern Gatof is a hematology/oncology fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC). She is pursuing a career as a breast oncologist and has a special interest in hereditary cancer syndromes. After attending the University of Michigan, she graduated from Tufts University School of Medicine and completed an internal medicine residency at BIDMC. She works closely with many palliative care physicians and has a passion for practicing open, honest, and empathetic communication with her patients.

Alan Geller, MPH, RN

Contributor

Alan Geller, MPH, RN, is a senior lecturer in the department of social and behavioral sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where he teaches a course entitled “Successes and Challenges in Health Behavior Change,” which focuses on large public health challenges and interventions, often incorporating studies from education, housing, and labor. He has a long-standing academic interest in cancer prevention and cancer screening, with a particular expertise in melanoma. Additionally, he has an avid interest in tobacco cessation in low-socioeconomic-status populations.

Emily Gelsomin, MLA, RD, LDN

Contributor

Emily Gelsomin, MLA, RD, LDN, is a senior clinical nutrition specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). As a registered dietitian, she counsels on medical nutrition therapy on an outpatient basis and is the co-director of Be Fit, the hospital’s employee wellness program. She has a Bachelor of Nutritional Science from Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Liberal Arts in Gastronomy from Boston University. She has worked at MGH since 2005 and helped develop Choose Well Eat Well, a traffic-light labeling system designed to promote healthier choices in MGH’s cafeterias. Emily enjoys freelance food writing and has received the Julia Child Award in Scholarship Excellence. She is passionate about improving our societal relationship with food and is an avid home cook.

James S. Gessner, MD

President Massachusetts Medical Society, Guest Contributor

James S. Gessner, M.D. is a physician with Anaesthesia Associates of Massachusetts, one of New England’s largest private practice anesthesiology groups serving major academic and medical centers throughout the Northeast. Board-certified in anesthesiology and pediatrics, he holds appointments in anesthesiology at the New England Baptist Hospital, Boston Medical Center, and Mount Auburn Hospital. A member of the Massachusetts Medical Society since 1982, he has served the organization in a variety of capacities, most recently as President-Elect and Vice President, respectively, over the last two years. He has been a member of the Board of Trustees since 2006 and the Society’s governing body, its House of Delegates, since 2003. He chaired the Committee on Finance for nine years, from 2005-2014 and has been a member of the Committees on Administration and Management, Strategic Planning, Legislation, Bylaws, and Member Services. From 2001-2003, he was president of the Norfolk District Medical Society. Dr. Gessner has long been active with anesthesia specialty societies, holding several leadership positions. He is a past president of the New England Society of Anesthesiologists and currently serves as its Secretary-Treasurer. From 1994-1995, he was president of the Massachusetts Society of Anesthesiologists, and he continues his service with that organization as a Government Officer and member of its Judicial Committee. On the national level, he was a Massachusetts delegate to the American Society of Anesthesiologists from 1984-2009. A cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Bowdoin College with an A.B., Dr. Gessner received a B.M.S. from Dartmouth Medical School in 1970 and his M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1972. He completed residencies in pediatrics at Duke University Medical Center and Boston Children’s Hospital and in anesthesiology at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston. He was named a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics in 1981. Dr. Gessner has also served long tenures on several key hospital committees. From 1986-1996, he was a member of the Risk Management Committee in the Department of Anesthesia at Harvard Medical School; from 1986-1995, he was Chairman of the Bioethics Committee at New England Deaconess Hospital; and from 1993-2013, he was a member of the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee at Faulkner Hospital. Since 2000, he has been an Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology at Boston Medical Center, and was a Clinical Instructor in Anesthesia at Harvard Medical School from 1979-1998.

Ellen S. Glazer, LICSW

Guest Contributor

Ellen S. Glazer, LICSW, is a clinical social worker whose practice focuses on infertility. pregnancy loss, third-party reproduction, and adoption. She is the author or co-author of six books in the field, most recently Having Your Baby Through Egg Donation, which she wrote with Dr. Evelina Sterling.

Heidi Godman

Executive Editor, Harvard Health Letter

Heidi Godman is the executive editor of the Harvard Health Letter. Before coming to the Health Letter, she was an award-winning television news anchor and medical reporter for 25 years. Heidi was named a journalism fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, and has been honored by the Associated Press, the American Heart Association, the Wellness Community, and other organizations for outstanding medical reporting. Heidi holds a bachelor of science degree in journalism from West Virginia University.

Ilona T. Goldfarb, MD, MPH

Contributor

Ilona Goldfarb, MD, MPH, is a board-certified maternal fetal medicine specialist at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). She completed medical school and residency in California and a fellowship at MGH. Her areas of interest and expertise include public health, perinatal infectious diseases, and quality improvement in obstetrical care. She spends the majority of her time providing direct prenatal, delivery, and postpartum care to women with high-risk maternal or fetal conditions. In this capacity, she provides consultation on high-risk pregnancy patients across New England. In addition to patient care, Dr. Goldfarb is actively engaged in teaching medical students as the OB/GYN associate clerkship director for Harvard Medical School, directing clinical research projects with students, residents, and fellows, and participating on department as well as hospital-wide committees. She is also an avid theatergoer and mom to two wonderful teenagers.

Samuel Z. Goldhaber, MD

Contibuting Editor

Samuel Z. Goldhaber, MD, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, is Section Head of Vascular Medicine in the Cardiovascular Medicine Division at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH). He is Director of the BWH Thrombosis Research Group and serves as Principal Investigator of a broad range of randomized clinical trials and observational studies related to the prevention, treatment, and epidemiology of venous thromboembolism and stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation. Dr. Goldhaber serves as Chair of the Steering Committee of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)-sponsored ATTRACT Trial of DVT, which is testing pharmacomechanical low-dose thrombolysis against standard anticoagulation to prevent postthrombotic syndrome. For his work on prevention of venous thromboembolism, Dr. Goldhaber has received the Certificate of Appreciation from the Surgeon General of the United States. In 2015, he received the Distinguished Scientist Award from the American Heart Association. Dr. Goldhaber is President and Founding Director of the nonprofit organization, North American Thrombosis Forum (www.NATFonline.org). He serves as Section Editor of Clinician Update and the Cardiology Patient Page for Circulation. He runs a busy outpatient practice of general cardiology, venous thromboembolism, and atrial fibrillation patients, and oversees the inpatient Cardiology Consult Service.

Jill M. Goldstein, PhD

Contributor

Jill M. Goldstein, PhD, is a professor of psychiatry and medicine at Harvard Medical School, founder and executive director of the Innovation Center on Sex Differences in Medicine (ICON) at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and the Helen T. Moerschner Endowed MGH Research Institute Chair in Women’s Health. She is a clinical neuroscientist and expert in understanding sex differences in disorders of the brain and their co-occurrence with general medicine, such as cardiovascular disease. Her program of research (funded by the National Institutes of Health for more than 30 years), called Clinical Neuroscience Laboratory of Sex Differences in the Brain, consists of an interdisciplinary clinical investigative team integrating brain imaging, physiology, neuroendocrinology, genetics, immunology, and collaborations with basic scientists. She has received numerous awards to support this work, served on scientific advisory boards, and participated in strategic planning for the National Institute of Mental Health, the Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH), and the Institute of Medicine. She has spent her career at Harvard training the next generation in women’s health and sex differences in medicine, including leading an ORWH/Harvard-wide junior faculty training program on building interdisciplinary careers in women’s health. In 2018, she launched ICON at MGH (a collaboration of psychiatry, neurology, cardiology, OB/GYN, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health), whose mission is to enhance discoveries about sex differences in medicine and incorporate them into developing novel therapies and prevention strategies that are sex-selective.

Robert Goldstein, MD, PhD

Contributor

Dr. Robert Goldstein (he/him/his) is an instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School and serves as the medical director of the Transgender Health Program at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Goldstein received his undergraduate degree, MD, and PhD at Tufts University before coming to MGH for internship, residency, and chief residency. He completed the combined MGH/BWH infectious disease fellowship in the HIV clinician educator track, and joined the faculty in 2018 as an infectious disease physician and primary care provider in the Transgender Health Program. His clinical practice is focused on caring for the LGBTQ community, those living with HIV, and those at risk for HIV.

Toni Golen, MD

Editor in Chief, Harvard Women's Health Watch; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing; Contributor

Dr. Toni Golen is a physician specializing in obstetrics and gynecology, practicing in Boston. Dr. Golen completed her residency training at George Washington University Medical Center in 1995, and is an associate professor at Harvard Medical School. She has a special interest in health care quality and patient safety, and serves as the interim chair of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Dr. Golen is also co-director of labor and delivery, as well as vice chair of quality, safety, and performance Improvement. In these roles she is responsible for the development and implementation of quality improvement projects that advance the equity, safety, accessibility, and patient-centered focus of care that is provided to patients and their families. Dr. Golen is a past member of the board of directors of Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, and lives in Wellesley with her husband and children.

Lais Lopes Almeida Gomes

Contributor

Dr. Lais Lopes Almeida Gomes is a dermatology research fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital, and a pediatric dermatologist in Brazil. Her clinical and research interests include atopic dermatitis and global health. She is part of the Manstein lab at the Cutaneous Biology Research Center.

Joyce Gomes-Osman, PhD, PT

Contributor

Dr. Joyce Gomes-Osman is a physical therapist and a neuroscientist. After completing her physical therapy degree in her native country of Brazil, she obtained her PhD at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Gomes-Osman is an Assistant Professor at the Departments of Physical Therapy and Neurology at University of Miami and maintains her affiliation with the Berenson-Allen Center for Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School. She divides her time between working in the Laboratory, and teaching neurophysiology and non-invasive brain stimulation. As a rehabilitation neuroscientist, Dr. Gomes-Osman is driven to answer questions that can impact people’s ability to live more functional and independent lives. She has published many research studies focused on figuring out ways to make rehabilitation therapies more effective for instance, by combining it with nerve stimulation and non-invasive brain stimulation. In addition to her interest in physical health, her work in recent years has focused on better understanding how we can promote brain health for individuals who are aging. This interest in brain health has stemmed both from scientific curiosity, and from experiencing the reality behind the statistics, witnessing memory deficits as a family member. She finds great joy in mentoring the next generation of physical therapy clinicians and clinician-scientists, whether it be in the classroom, or carrying out studies to disentangle the complex relationships between physical exercise, brain health and postural control in older adults and individuals with various neurological conditions. On her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and is passionate about cooking and growing tropical plants, including exotic orchids.

Peter Gonzalez, MD

Contributor

Peter Gonzalez, MD, is a clinician and educator in the Division of General Internal Medicine and Primary Care at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Rachael Moeller Gorman

Health Writer

Rachael Moeller Gorman is a science and health writer with more than 20 years of experience. She loves telling the stories behind the science, and her work has appeared in Smithsonian magazine, The Scientist, and Men’s Health; four of her EatingWell magazine features won James Beard Journalism Awards. She earned her bachelor’s degree in biology and neuroscience from Williams College, and a master’s degree in environmental studies from Brown University.

David C. Grabowski, PhD

Contributor

David C. Grabowski, PhD, is a professor in the department of health care policy at Harvard Medical School. His research focuses on long-term care financing, organization, and delivery of services. He is a member of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, and he was on the recent CMS Coronavirus Nursing Home Commission.

Shelly Greenfield, MD, MPH

Contributor

Shelly F. Greenfield, MD, MPH, is a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and the Kristine M. Trustey Endowed Chair of Psychiatry at McLean Hospital, where she also serves as the chief academic officer. She is the chief of the division of women’s mental health, and the director of clinical and health services research and education in the alcohol, drug, and addiction treatment program at McLean Hospital. Dr. Greenfield is an addiction psychiatrist, clinician, and researcher. Dr. Greenfield has served as principal investigator and co-investigator on federally funded research focusing on treatment for substance use disorders, gender differences in substance disorders, and health services for substance disorders. She received a National Institute on Drug Abuse–funded career award in substance use disorder patient-oriented research (2005–2016). Funded by grants from NIH/NIDA, she developed and tested a new manual-based group therapy for women with substance use disorders, the Women’s Recovery Group (WRG). The WRG is an evidence-based treatment, and the manual for dissemination was published in 2016, Treating Women with Substance Use Disorders: The Women’s Recovery Group Manual. She is immediate past president of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, and current member and past chair of the American Psychiatric Association’s Council on Addiction Psychiatry. She is immediate past editor in chief of the Harvard Review of Psychiatry, a position in which she served for 16 years (2002–2018). Dr. Greenfield was a member of the advisory committee on services for women for the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2011–2017). She has been elected to the American College of Psychiatrists and the College on Problems of Drug Dependence, and is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. She received the R. Brinkley Smithers Distinguished Scientist Award from the American Society of Addiction Medicine, and the A. Clifford Barger Award for Excellence in Mentoring from Harvard Medical School.

Harvard Health Experts and Contributors

List of Experts

Rebecca Gaffney, MD

Hanna Gaggin, MD, MPH

Joshua Gagne, PharmD, ScD

Seth Gale, MD

Jeffrey Garber, MD, FACP, MACE

John Garber, MD

Lilit Garibyan, MD, PhD

Marc B. Garnick, MD

Emily Stern Gatof, MD

Alan Geller, MPH, RN

Emily Gelsomin, MLA, RD, LDN

James S. Gessner, MD

Ellen S. Glazer, LICSW

Heidi Godman

Ilona T. Goldfarb, MD, MPH

Samuel Z. Goldhaber, MD

Jill M. Goldstein, PhD

Robert Goldstein, MD, PhD

Toni Golen, MD

Lais Lopes Almeida Gomes

Joyce Gomes-Osman, PhD, PT

Peter Gonzalez, MD

Rachael Moeller Gorman

David C. Grabowski, PhD

Shelly Greenfield, MD, MPH