Harvard Health Experts and Contributors

Neelam V. Desai, MD

Contributor

Dr. Neelam Desai is a breast medical oncologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She is also a member of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, and is an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School. Her research interests are in cancer genetics and HER2-positive breast cancer.

Nisa Desai, MD

Contributor

Dr. Nisa Desai is a practicing hospitalist physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School. She completed undergraduate education at Northwestern University, followed by medical school at the University of Illinois at Chicago and internal medicine residency at the University of Virginia. She enjoys working with patients with complex medical histories, and is interested in gastrointestinal disorders. For fun, she enjoys traveling, fitness classes, and trying new recipes.

Catherine M. DesRoches, DrPH, MSc

Contributor

Dr. Catherine M. DesRoches is an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School who specializes in health policy and emerging trends in health care delivery. She is the principal investigator of the OpenNotes Lab, which designs, evaluates, and guides innovations in clinical documentation, medical records, and patient engagement. She is also the program director for the Keane OpenNotes Fellowship in patient engagement and transparency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Dr. DesRoches completed her doctorate in public health at Columbia University, and was a senior survey researcher and senior fellow at the Mathematica Policy Research. She has held faculty and research positions at Harvard Medical School, Simmons College, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Jorg Dietrich, MD, PhD

Contributor

Dr. Jorg Dietrich (MD, PhD, MMSc, FANA, FAAN) is the director of the Cancer & Neurotoxicity Clinic and Brain Repair Research Program at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer Center, associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, and attending physician at MGH. His clinical interests are management of patients with benign and malignant brain tumors, and neurologic complications of cancer therapy, including toxicity from radiation, chemotherapy, and immunotherapies. His research activities include clinical, translational, and basic research in the fields of brain tumor biology, biomarkers of cancer, neurotoxicity from cancer therapies, and brain repair mechanisms. Dr. Dietrich is the author of over 150 publications, including original research articles, review papers, book chapters, and other scientific contributions. His work has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the American Cancer Society, the American Academy of Neurology, and other foundations.

Amy Desrochers DiVasta, MD, MMSc

Contributor

Amy Desrochers DiVasta MD, MMSc, is chief of the division of adolescent medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital. She is the co-director of the adolescent long-acting reversible contraception program, and co-director of the reproductive endocrinology and PCOS program. Dr. DiVasta's research interests include the bone health of young women with low-estrogen states, such as girls with eating disorders, as well as reproductive health issues including long-acting contraception, PCOS, and endometriosis. Dr. DiVasta is also the co-scientific director for the Boston Center for Endometriosis, a joint project between Boston Children’s Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Jake Dockterman, MD, PhD

Contributor

Dr. Jake Dockterman is from Carlisle, MA and earned his bachelor’s degree in molecular and cellular biology from Harvard College. He completed his MD and PhD in immunology at Duke University, studying host-microbe interactions and mucosal immunology. He is now an internal medicine resident at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and plans on pursuing a career as an academic gastroenterologist specializing in inflammatory bowel disease.

Thomas Dohlman, MD

Contributor

Dr. Thomas Dohlman is an assistant professor of ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School and a full-time member of the Cornea and Refractive Surgery Service at Massachusetts Eye and Ear. He completed his BS from MIT and MD from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, followed by residency training at New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical College and subspecialty training in cornea, refractive surgery, and external disease at Mass Eye and Ear. A clinician-scientist, Dr. Dohlman specializes in the medical and surgical management of corneal and external diseases and is the medical director of the Boston Keratoprosthesis Program at Mass Eye and Ear.

Amy Donabedian, OT, OTD, OTR/L, CDRS

Contributor

Amy Donabedian is an occupational therapist and certified driving rehabilitation specialist focused on advancing independence, safety, and community mobility. She practices at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Charlestown, MA, where she directs a comprehensive driving rehabilitation program that includes clinical pre-driving assessments and on-road assessments. Amy earned her Post-Professional Doctor of Occupational Therapy (PP-OTD) from the MGH Institute of Health Professions in 2025, with a focus on driving rehabilitation curriculum development. She is an adjunct lecturer in the occupational therapy department at Tufts University, and is actively involved in professional mentorship and advocacy related to community mobility and driver rehabilitation.

Sara W. Dong, MD

Contributor

Dr. Sara W. Dong is a combined adult and pediatric infectious diseases fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Boston Children’s Hospital. She earned her MD from the Medical University of South Carolina. She completed her internal medicine and pediatrics residency and chief residency at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Her academic interests include transplant and global health.

Darshan Doshi, MD, MS

Contributor

Darshan Doshi, MD, is an interventional cardiologist who specializes in complex and high-risk coronary interventions. Dr. Doshi received his BA from Columbia University’s Columbia College and his MD from Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons. He completed his internal medicine residency, and his cardiovascular medicine and interventional cardiology fellowships at the Columbia University Medical Center. Dr. Doshi also underwent additional dedicated training at Columbia in complex and high-risk interventional procedures. He was then recruited to the faculty in the Division of Cardiology at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in 2018. Dr. Doshi also holds a MS in patient-oriented research from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health with a research interest focused on clinical trials evaluating novel cardiovascular devices and therapeutics in interventional cardiology. He has authored several original manuscripts in translational and clinical cardiovascular medicine, and has published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, and Circulation, among many others.

Michelle Dossett, MD, PhD, MPH

Contributor

Michelle Dossett, MD, PhD, MPH is an assistant physician and clinical researcher at the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She board-certified in both internal medicine and integrative medicine. She received her MD and PhD in immunology from the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. She completed her internship and residency in internal medicine and research fellowship in complementary and integrative medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. During her fellowship she received a MPH degree from the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Dossett is also a certified Ananda Yoga (RYT 200), restorative yoga, and meditation teacher. Dr. Dossett’s research interests include mind body medicine, the patient-clinician relationship, and clinician well-being.

Caleb Dresser, MD, MPH

Contributor

Dr. Caleb Dresser is an emergency physician and assistant director of the Climate and Human Health Fellowship, cohosted by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, the Harvard FXB Center, and Harvard C-CHANGE. His research focuses on understanding the health implications of climate-related disasters, and he is actively involved in efforts to educate health care workers, policymakers, and the general public about the value of action to protect human health in the context of the climate crisis.

Anahita Dua, MD, MS, MBA

Contributor

Dr. Anahita Dua is an associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School and director of the vascular lab at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). She also co-directs the peripheral artery disease center and limb evaluation and perseveration program and is associate director of the wound care center at MGH. She specializes in peripheral artery disease, limb salvage procedures, and complex aortic conditions. Dr. Dua received her medical degree at the Aberdeen University School of Medicine in the United Kingdom, followed by a general surgery residency at the Medical College of Wisconsin and residency in vascular surgery at Stanford Hospital & Clinics.

Kristina Dunlea, PT, DPT, NCS

Contributor

Kristina Dunlea is a clinical supervisor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital Rehabilitation Services in Foxborough, MA, and a board-certified neurologic clinical specialist (NCS). She specializes in the evaluation and treatment of individuals with neurologic and vestibular disorders, including concussion and mild traumatic brain injury, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), vestibular hypofunction, and cervicogenic dizziness. Dunlea earned her bachelor of science in physical therapy from Northeastern University and her doctor of physical therapy degree from Simmons University. She also holds certifications in vestibular rehabilitation, cervicogenic dizziness, myofascial trigger point therapy, and concussion management.

Valeria Duque, Au.D., CCC-A

Contributor

Valeria Duque graduated with her doctor of audiology degree from Northeastern University in 2016. She has been a part of the Beth Israel otolaryngology team since February 2019, working with patients diagnosing hearing loss, fitting hearing aids, and conducting vestibular evaluations.

Sarah Eby, MD, PhD

Contributor

Dr. Sarah Eby is an assistant professor in physical medicine and rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School and a physician-scientist with Mass General Brigham and the Spaulding Rehabilitation Network. Dr. Eby earned her MD from Mayo Clinic School of Medicine and her PhD in biomedical engineering and physiology from Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. She completed a physical medicine and rehabilitation residency at the University of Utah, as well as a multidisciplinary primary care sports medicine fellowship at the University of Utah Orthopaedic Center. Dr. Eby has experience caring for athletes in a variety of sports, skill levels, and abilities, including University of Utah Athletics, Snowbird Ski Clinic, Boston Renegades, USA Para Climbing, and the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. She is currently the team physician for the United States Para Alpine Ski Team. Her research interests include predicting and preventing tendon injury.

Jeffrey Ecker, MD

Contributing Editor

is a maternal-fetal medicine physician at Massachusetts General Hospital where he leads his department’s efforts in quality and safety and is a professor at Harvard Medical School. He is the current chair of the Committee on Obstetric Practice for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

Nolan Edwards, DPT, CSCS

Contributor

Nolan Edwards is an outpatient physical therapist with Mass General Brigham Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and a group fitness coach at Life Time. With a clinical focus in orthopedics, Nolan is passionate about helping individuals move and exercise safely to build strength, prevent injury, and maintain active, healthy lifestyles. He combines evidence-based rehabilitation techniques with practical fitness coaching to support clients at every stage of their wellness journey. Outside of work, Nolan enjoys spending time with his family, golfing with friends, and cheering on all the Boston sports teams.

Robert R. Edwards, Ph.D.

Contributing Editor

Dr. Edwards is a licensed clinical psychologist in the Pain Management Center at Brigham & Women’s Hospital / Harvard Medical School. He attended the University of Alabama at Birmingham, completing a Ph.D. in Medical Psychology and a Master’s in Public Health. He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Pain Psychology at Johns Hopkins, before joining the faculty in Psychiatry there. He moved to Brigham & Women’s Hospital in 2008. Dr. Edwards functions in a clinical capacity as a psychologist at the BWH Pain Management Center, where his responsibilities include assessment and treatment of chronic pain patients referred to the Pain Center. He screens for candidacy for opioid therapy and implantable devices and offers behavioral medicine services such as biofeedback for pain management. He mentors junior faculty members in several Departments and institutions, he has published numerous scientific articles, reviews, and book chapters on pain, and he serves on the editorial boards of several pain and psychology journals. Dr. Edwards’ research focuses on biobehavioral aspects of acute and chronic pain. Specifically, he studies individual differences in pain responses, and the neurobiological mechanisms by which psychosocial processes shape those individual differences. Some of his current NIH-funded work focuses on the impact of pain-related catastrophizing on neuroendocrine and inflammatory responses to pain, as well as individual differences in central nervous system pain processing, and their implications for long-term pain-related outcomes. He is involved in several studies that use functional neuroimaging techniques to assess the neurobiology of pain-related thoughts and emotions. In addition, his research group is working in the area of predicting and preventing misuse of opioids by patients with persistent pain.

Andrew Eidelberg, MD

Contributor

Dr. Andrew Eidelberg is a third-year internal medicine resident at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. After graduating from the University of Miami and Weill Cornell Medical College, he decided to pursue a career in gastroenterology, specifically inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). He is passionate about the intersection of LGBTQ+ sexual health and how it relates to gastrointestinal conditions to provide holistic and affirming care to all patients.

David J. Einstein, MD

Contributor

Dr. David J. Einstein is a genitourinary medical oncologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. In addition to patient care, he leads clinical/translational research in immunotherapy and targeted approaches to prostate, kidney, and bladder cancers. He is a medical advisor to the Boston Prostate Cancer Support Group and the Massachusetts Prostate Cancer Coalition.

Todd Ellerin, MD

Contributor

Dr. Todd Ellerin has been director of infectious diseases and vice chairman of the department of medicine at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, MA for 17 years. He is an associate physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School. Additionally, he serves as medical director of the Weymouth Department of Public Health, and was the medical technical specialist for SARS, H1NI, Ebola, and now 2019-nCoronavirus at South Shore Health.

Lisa Ellis

Executive Editor, Online Special Health Reports

Lisa Ellis has been Executive Editor of Harvard Health Publishing’s short-form, online-only Special Health Reports since 2018. She previously was a writer and editor with two award-winning consumer health information websites, InteliHealth (with medical review by Harvard Medical School) and Simple Steps to Better Dental Health. She began her career as a journalist, writing and editing for daily newspapers, including The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Rachel Reiff Ellis

Health Writer

Rachel Reiff Ellis has been a freelance health writer and editor for over a decade. She is a regular contributor to WebMD and Fortune Well, with additional work appearing in Medscape, Prevention, O Magazine, Good Housekeeping, Women’s Health, and Women’s Day. Previously, Ellis was a contributor to the nonprofit health organization Global Healthy Living Foundation, worked full-time in communications at Emory University, and was on the editorial staff of Pregnancy & Newborn Magazine.

Lauren Elson, MD

Contributor; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing

Dr. Lauren Elson is board certified in sports medicine and physical medicine and rehabilitation. She attended Tufts University School of Medicine, did her residency at New York Presbyterian Hospital Columbia/Cornell, and completed a fellowship in sports medicine at Stanford University. A former professional dancer and instructor of jazz, ballet, tap, hip-hop, African, swing, and salsa, she understands the goals and challenges of the physically active patient. She is a board member of the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science, the Boston Dance Alliance, and Abilities Dance Company. Dr. Elson is the chair of the Freelance Dancer/Independent Dance Committee for the Dance USA Taskforce on Dance Health, and is on the programming committee for the Performing Arts Medical Association. She has lectured nationally and internationally on dance health and injury prevention to dancers and professional organizations.

Harvard Health Experts and Contributors

List of Experts

Neelam V. Desai, MD

Nisa Desai, MD

Catherine M. DesRoches, DrPH, MSc

Jorg Dietrich, MD, PhD

Amy Desrochers DiVasta, MD, MMSc

Jake Dockterman, MD, PhD

Thomas Dohlman, MD

Amy Donabedian, OT, OTD, OTR/L, CDRS

Sara W. Dong, MD

Darshan Doshi, MD, MS

Michelle Dossett, MD, PhD, MPH

Caleb Dresser, MD, MPH

Anahita Dua, MD, MS, MBA

Kristina Dunlea, PT, DPT, NCS

Valeria Duque, Au.D., CCC-A

Sarah Eby, MD, PhD

Jeffrey Ecker, MD

Nolan Edwards, DPT, CSCS

Robert R. Edwards, Ph.D.

Andrew Eidelberg, MD

David J. Einstein, MD

Todd Ellerin, MD

Lisa Ellis

Rachel Reiff Ellis

Lauren Elson, MD