Harvard Health Experts and Contributors

Maureen Leonard, MD, MMSc

Contributor

Dr. Maureen Leonard is the clinical director of the Center For Celiac Research And Treatment at Massachusetts General Hospital for Children (MGHfC) and an assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School (HMS). She sees adult and pediatric patients with celiac disease, non-celiac gluten sensitivity, and other gluten-related disorders. Dr. Leonard obtained her medical degree from New York Medical College, completed her residency in general pediatrics at Tufts Medical Center and her fellowship in pediatric gastroenterology at MGHfC. Dr. Leonard received a master’s degree in clinical and translational investigation from HMS. Dr. Leonard’s research is focused on predicting and preventing celiac disease through the NIH-funded Celiac Disease; Genomic, Environment, Microbiome and Metabolomic Study. Dr. Leonard’s other work includes identifying biomarkers that can predict intestinal healing in pediatric patients with celiac disease; building translational models capable of predicting autoimmune disease in high risk individuals; and working with industry collaborators to create and perform clinical trials aimed at treating celiac disease. Dr. Leonard currently holds funding from the NIH, and has previously been funded by the NIH, the Nutrition Obesity Research Center at Harvard, and the Thrasher Research Foundation.

Hallie Levine

Health Writer

Hallie Levine is an award-winning health and medical journalist whose work has been published in The New York Times, Consumer Reports, Oprah, and WebMD, among others. She lives with her three children and gregarious yellow labrador in Fairfield, CT.

Sharon Levy, MD, MPH

Contributor

Sharon Levy, MD, MPH is a board certified Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrician and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. She is the Director of the Adolescent Substance use and Addiction Program (ASAP) in the Division of Developmental Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital, which is comprised of clinical, research, training and policy arms. Dr. Levy has evaluated and treated thousands of adolescents with substance use disorders, and has taught national curricula and published extensively on the outpatient management of substance use disorders in adolescents, including screening and brief advice in primary care, the use of drug testing and the outpatient management of opioid dependent adolescents. She is the past chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Substance Use and Prevention, the President of the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse (AMERSA) and serves on the board of directors of the Addiction Medicine Fellowship Director’s Association.

Howard E. LeWine, MD

Chief Medical Editor, Harvard Health Publishing; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing

Dr. Howard LeWine 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.

Richard Lewis, MD

Contributor

Dr. Richard Lewis is an associate professor of otolaryngology–head and neck surgery, and associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School. A board-certified neurologist who specializes in vestibular and balance disorders as well as otoneurology, he also directs the Jenks Vestibular Diagnostic Laboratory at Massachusetts Eye and Ear. He received his medical degree from Yale University prior to completing an internal medicine internship at Northwestern University. He then completed his residency in neurology and a four-year combined research and clinical fellowship in otoneurology at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Peter Libby, MD

Contributor

Dr. Peter Libby is the Mallinckrodt Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and a cardiovascular medicine specialist at Mass General Brigham (MGB). The author of more than 570 peer-reviewed original publications, Dr. Libby also serves as an editor of the leading textbook of cardiovascular medicine. He received his medical degree from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. He completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in cardiovascular disease at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital (now MGB). He also completed a research fellowship in cellular physiology at HMS.

Elizabeth Liebson, MD

Contributor

Elizabeth Liebson, MD, is a staff psychiatrist on the Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorders Unit at Mclean Hospital and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. She divides her time between clinical work and teaching residents and medical students. Dr. Liebson’s clinical focus is assessment of first psychotic episodes and exploring patients’ subjective experiences. Dr. Liebson has been on staff at McLean Hospital since 2006. While primarily a clinician, Dr. Liebson has experience as an investigator in several disciplines relevant to clinical neuroscience research, including nosology and clinical pharmacology.

John Sanford Limouze, MD

Contributor

Dr. John Limouze is associate chief of the Division of Hospitalist Medicine at Cambridge Health Alliance, a lecturer in Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a Master’s Student at Harvard’s Center for Bioethics. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and completed residency training in internal medicine at the University of Michigan. His academic interests include medical professionalism, conscience, and providing care to vulnerable populations.

Jennifer Lin, MD

Contributor

Jennifer Lin, MD, co-directs the Melanoma Risk and Prevention Clinic, and the Multicultural Dermatology clinic at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She also is the Dermatology Lead of the Melanoma Program at Dana Farber Cancer Institute. She has authored several papers related to melanoma as well as on lasers and light-based therapies. Dr. Lin received her medical degree from Harvard Medical School. She completed her residency at the Harvard Residency Program, and completed her fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Margaret Lippincott, MD

Contributor

Dr. Margaret Lippincott is a clinician and physician investigator in the reproductive endocrine unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, and serves as an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. She earned her medical degree from Duke University School of Medicine, completed her residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and pursued fellowship training at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Lippincott holds board certifications in internal medicine, endocrine, diabetes and metabolism, and obesity medicine. She directs the Multidisciplinary Care Center for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), and treats patients with various reproductive disorders, including hypogonadism, infertility, and menopause. She researches how genes necessary for reproduction influence human health at every stage of life.

Kristina Liu, MD, MHS

Contributor

Kristina Liu, MD, MHS, is a dermatologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she serves as the director of the vitiligo clinic and director of dermatology simulation education. She received her medical degree and masters in health science from Yale School of Medicine, and completed her residency at the Harvard Combined Dermatology Program, where she served as chief resident. Her clinical and research interests include laser and cosmetic dermatology, pigmentary disorders of the skin, and medical education.

Julia Loewenthal, MD

Contributor

Dr. Julia Loewenthal is a primary care physician at Lutanen Health, and assistant professor of medicine (part-time) at Harvard Medical School. She has a strong interest in longevity and healthy aging, with a focus on providing holistic, integrative medical care. Dr. Loewenthal received her medical degree at the University of Virginia. She completed her residency in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, followed by geriatric medicine and integrative medicine fellowships.

Victor A. Lopez-Carmen, MPH

Guest Contributor

Victor A. Lopez-Carmen, MPH, is a Dakota and Yaqui writer, health advocate, and student at Harvard Medical School. He is currently a member of Boston’s COVID-19 Health Inequities Task Force, and cochair of the UN Global Indigenous Youth Caucus. His commentary on minority health has been featured in the BBC, The Boston Globe, Teen Vogue, and the UN News Centre.

Kevin R. Loughlin, MD, MBA

Contributor

Kevin R. Loughlin, MD, MBA, received an AB from Princeton University, MD from New York Medical College, MBA from Boston University, and MA (honorary) from Harvard University. He practiced urology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital for 35 years, receiving an AUA research award while in training. He received the Alumni Medal of Honor from New York Medical College, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the New England Section of the AUA, and the Distinguished Service Award from the American Urological Association. He received the faculty teaching award on three occasions. He was a trustee of the American Board of Urology and a member of the board of directors of the American Urological Association. He has published over 250 articles in the medical literature, has been an author or editor of 12 books, and has served on multiple medical journal editorial boards.

Michael Lu, MD, MPH

Contributor

Dr. Michael T. Lu is an associate professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School, director of AI and co-director of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cardiovascular Imaging Research Center, and director of the MGH Imaging Trials Center. His research focuses on clinical trials of cardiac computed tomography to improve health and machine learning to predict healthy outcomes from multimodal imaging. He earned his MD degree from Harvard Medical School and MPH from the Havard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He completed his residency in diagnostic radiology at the University of California, San Francisco, followed by fellowships in thoracic and cardiac imaging at MGH.

David S. Ludwig, MD, PhD

Contributor

Dr. David Ludwig is an endocrinologist and researcher at Boston Children’s Hospital, professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, and professor of nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. For more than 25 years, Dr. Ludwig has studied the effects of dietary composition on metabolism, body weight, and risk for chronic disease, with a special focus on low-carbohydrate and ketogenic diets. He has made seminal contributions to development of the “carbohydrate-insulin model,” an alternative perspective on the cause and treatment of obesity. Described as an “obesity warrior” by TIME, Dr. Ludwig has fought for fundamental policy changes to improve the food environment. He has authored more than 250 scientific articles, and presently serves as an editor at The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Dr. Ludwig is author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Always Hungry? Conquer Cravings, Retrain Your Fat Cells, and Lose Weight Permanently.

Jeanne Luongo, RD, MPH

Contributor

Jeanne Luongo is a registered dietitian at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She specializes in the management of weight loss, prediabetes, and cholesterol. Luongo is passionate about helping people improve their health and quality of life through behavior change, education, and support.

Jay Luthar, MD

Contributor

Dr. Jay Luthar is a Harvard-trained internist and part-time instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Luthar is triple board-certified in internal medicine, integrative medicine, and lifestyle medicine.

Tien Ly, MD

Contributor

Dr. Tien Ly attended Tufts University School of Medicine, then completed a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the Tufts/New England Medical Center in Boston, MA. She has been a member of the faculty of MGH for more than 20 years. Her clinical interests include abnormal Pap smears, abnormal vaginal bleeding, and obstetrics ultrasound.

Vasanti Malik, ScD

Contributor

Vasanti Malik, ScD., is a Research Scientist in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She obtained a MSc. in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Toronto and a dual doctorate in Nutrition and Epidemiology from the Harvard Chan School. Her research focuses on evaluating risk factors for obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease with an emphasis on diet quality. Dr. Malik also studies nutritional drivers of the global obesity and diabetes epidemics in countries undergoing epidemiologic transition and currently directs the Global Nutrition and Epidemiologic Transition Initiative; a collaborative project with 13 low- and- middle income countries that aims to reduce diabetes risk by improving diet and lifestyle. She is an Associate Editor for BMC Obesity and a Review Editor for Frontiers in Public Health. The ultimate goal of Dr. Malik’s work is to inform future large-scale community-based interventions and policy strategies to reduce the risk of obesity and related chronic diseases nationally and globally.

Anant Mandawat, MD

Contributing Editor

Dr. Anant Mandawat has been a medical columnist for several years translating scientific papers for the public. He graduated with a MD with honors from Yale. He completed his residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, and is currently a cardiology fellow at Duke. His research interests are in clinical and economic outcomes for the elderly using large datasets. He has multiple publications in the field and has received the Marvin Moser Award and Bechtel Award for his research.

Nandini Mani, MD

Contributing Editor

Dr. Nandini Mani is a Hospitalist at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Mani is board-certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. Her clinical interests include Hospital Quality Improvement, Healthcare Disparities, and International Health. She is dedicated to teaching both medical students and resident physicians in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, and has received an Ambulatory Teaching Award from the MGH Med-Peds residents. She earned her medical degree from the Penn State College of Medicine, and completed her Med-Peds residency at the University of Rochester.

Brad Manor, PhD

Contributor

Brad Manor is an associate scientist at the Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research; the associate director of the Mobility and Falls Translational Research Center; director of the Mobility and Brain Function Lab; and assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Dr. Manor’s career goal is to alleviate the burden of balance decline that often accompanies biological aging into senescence. As the director of the Mobility and Falls Program, he works to achieve this goal by directing interdisciplinary, translational research in the fields of human balance and rehabilitative medicine. His research combines biomechanical assessments of human movement with advanced medical imaging, noninvasive brain stimulation, and nonlinear signal processing techniques to identify the link between brain function, balance and falls in older adults; and design rehabilitative interventions that improve balance via optimization of brain function and exploitation of its adaptive properties.

JoAnn Manson, MD, DrPH

Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing

JoAnn E. Manson, MD, DrPH, MACP, is professor of medicine and the Michael and Lee Bell Professor of Women’s Health at Harvard Medical School; professor in the department of epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; chief of the division of preventive medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), and scientific advisor to the BWH Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology. Dr. Manson is a physician epidemiologist, endocrinologist, and principal investigator (PI) or co-PI of several research studies, including the Women’s Health Initiative Clinical Center In Boston; the cardiovascular disease (CVD) component of the Nurses’ Health Study; the VITamin D and OmegA-3 TriaL (VITAL); the COSMOS trial; and the VItamin D for COVID-19 (VIVID) trial. Her primary research interests include randomized clinical prevention trials of nutritional and lifestyle factors related to heart disease, diabetes, and cancer; the role of endogenous and exogenous estrogens as determinants of chronic disease; life course–related risk factors for cardiometabolic outcomes in women; and biomarker predictors of CVD.

Dieter Manstein, MD, PhD

Contributor

Dieter Manstein, MD, PhD, completed his PhD in Physics, in addition to his dermatology residency training at the University of Munster in Germany. He then completed a Clinical Applications of Laser fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School with Dr. R. Rox Anderson. During this time, he co-invented both fractional photothermolysis (Fraxel) and cryolipolysis (CoolSculpting) technologies. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Dermatology at Harvard Medical School. He is also the PI of his own research lab at the Cutaneous Biology Research Center, which contributes to the development of novel solutions for important clinical problems in dermatology.

Harvard Health Experts and Contributors

List of Experts

Maureen Leonard, MD, MMSc

Hallie Levine

Sharon Levy, MD, MPH

Howard E. LeWine, MD

Richard Lewis, MD

Peter Libby, MD

Elizabeth Liebson, MD

John Sanford Limouze, MD

Jennifer Lin, MD

Margaret Lippincott, MD

Kristina Liu, MD, MHS

Julia Loewenthal, MD

Victor A. Lopez-Carmen, MPH

Kevin R. Loughlin, MD, MBA

Michael Lu, MD, MPH

David S. Ludwig, MD, PhD

Jeanne Luongo, RD, MPH

Jay Luthar, MD

Tien Ly, MD

Vasanti Malik, ScD

Anant Mandawat, MD

Nandini Mani, MD

Brad Manor, PhD

JoAnn Manson, MD, DrPH

Dieter Manstein, MD, PhD