December 2023 Faculty Appointments and Promotions to Associate Professor
Congratulations to the following Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine faculty on their recent appointment or promotion to associate professor.
Associate Professor
Michael Cassidy, MD, Surgery, is a surgical oncologist whose scholarship focuses on quality improvement, clinical outcomes and cancer disparities. His work on ICOUGH, a standardized postoperative intervention to reduce pulmonary complications, led to implementation of the program at more than 40 institutions internationally. He is site PI of a breast cancer clinical trial for the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology and co-investigator on a grant from the NIH. In 2020, he designed a multidisciplinary breast cancer elective for fourth-year medical students and continues to serve as course director. Dr. Cassidy directs the Belkin Breast Health Center at Boston Medical Center (BMC) and co-directs the breast cancer subcommittee at BU/BMC. He serves on the school’s Medical Education Committee and Student Evaluation and Promotions Committee, and the Clinical Competency Committee for the General Surgery Residency Program, in addition to the American College of Surgeons’ Cancer Surgery Standards Program, which disseminates standardized best practices for cancer operations, and on the Society of Surgical Oncology’s Training Committee, which oversees and accredits US breast surgical oncology fellowships.
Gemmae Fix, PhD, Medicine/GIM, is an applied medical anthropologist with postdoctoral training in health services research. An investigator at the Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research (CHOIR), a VA Health Services Research and Development Center of Innovation, based at the Bedford VA Medical Center, Dr. Fix’s research uses ethnographic, qualitative methods to advance the delivery of patient-centered care, particularly for marginalized or populations stigmatized for their behaviors, such as people living with HIV or patients who are at risk for lung cancer. She has led AHRQ, VA and DoD-funded studies examining patients’ experiences of care, patient-centered HIV care and the use of co-design methods to engage patients in the research process. Additionally, Dr. Fix is interested in the professional development of social scientists. She led the formation of the Medical Anthropologists and Social Scientists in Health (MASSH) interest group, which brings together anthropologists and allied social scientists working in applied health settings to promote professional development, research collaboration and educational opportunities. She serves as secretary to the Board of the Society for Applied Anthropology.
Lucy Marcil, MD, MPH, Pediatrics, focuses on creating innovative solutions to create financial and health equity. She is the co-founder and executive director of Boston Medical Center’s (BMC) StreetCred program, which provides a bundle of economic resources (free tax and other financial services) to families while they are visiting the pediatrician’s office. Her work has helped spark a national movement to create Medical Financial Partnerships (MFPs); she leads the Health by Wealth Collective as an open-source tool for others interested in adopting this model and has spoken about her work for TED, the Aspen Institute, and the White House. In addition, Dr. Marcil is associate director for economic mobility at BMC’s Center for the Urban Child and Healthy Family. She previously served as interim director for the Leadership in Equity and ADvocacy (LEAD) Track of the Boston Combined Pediatric Residency Program. She currently is a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow with the National Academy of Medicine and is working on family health and economic policy issues with the United States House of Representative’s Minority Whip, Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA).
Yael Nillni, PhD, Psychiatry, is a clinical psychologist at the National Center for PTSD’s Women’s Health Division at VA Boston Healthcare System and Boston Medical Center. Her research focuses on the intersection of trauma, PTSD and other comorbid mental health conditions, and women’s reproductive health, particularly during the perinatal period, among both Veteran and civilian populations. Specifically, her research has examined how trauma and PTSD impact perinatal outcomes for women Veterans and how hormonal changes during the menstrual cycle and pregnancy influence mental and reproductive health. Her research also focuses on improving access to PTSD treatment for pregnant individuals, particularly from underserved communities. To this end, she is currently conducting a large NIH-funded randomized controlled trial to examine: a) the effectiveness of an evidence-based treatment for PTSD (i.e., Written Exposure Therapy) for pregnant individuals, and b) how unique delivery strategies may promote the scalability of perinatal PTSD treatment in underserved communities. This research will also examine if treatment of PTSD during pregnancy can prevent adverse perinatal outcomes during delivery and the postpartum period.
R. Jarrett Rushmore, PhD, Anatomy & Neurobiology, studies neuroanatomy and brain function using electrophysiology, non-invasive brain stimulation and neuroimaging. His research in brain plasticity after injury has contributed significantly to our understanding of cortical pathways and their reorganization, particularly in the visual and limbic systems. Dr. Rushmore is an archivist of neuroanatomical material and is responsible for maintaining and preserving neuroanatomical collections such as the Pandya Connectional Neuroanatomical Archive and the H.M. Brain Tissue Archive. He also has an outstanding record of teaching and leadership in the medical and graduate school curriculum. He has taught and directed courses in histology, neuroanatomy and neuroscience, and has received five teaching awards, including the Stanley L. Robbins Award for Excellence in Teaching, the school’s highest teaching award.
Noelle Saillant, MD, Surgery, specializes in trauma, acute care surgery and surgical critical care. Her clinical interests include chest and abdominal wall reconstruction, and rib fixation. She and her colleagues have made Boston Medical Center (BMC) a Chest Wall Injury Society Center of Excellence, currently the only site in New England. Dr. Saillant is chief of surgical critical care, director of BMC’s surgical intensive care unit, and director of the Surgical Critical Care Fellowship. Her research interests are traumatic coagulopathy and Deep Neural Networks. She has partnered with MIT Lincoln Laboratory and Combat Casualty Care Research to create novel artificial intelligence to help with the triage and treatment of the traumatically injured.
Carl Streed, MD, MPH, Medicine/GIM, is a clinician-investigator who specializes in sexual and gender minority (SGM) health care. His work has influenced the health care management of LGBTQ+ communities both in Boston and nationally. His work validates methods of identifying transgender cohorts within administrative claims data, explores strengths and opportunities for improvements of current cardiovascular risk estimation tools as they relate to gender-affirming care and identifies gaps in current clinical practice knowledge of primary care clinicians and cardiologists as it relates to transgender and gender diverse populations. His research portfolio effectively bridges research methods, population health research, clinical practice and clinician education. Dr. Streed is the recipient of the Excellence in LGBTQ Health Award from the American Medical Association Foundation for his personal and professional pursuit of a more equitable and inclusive society, focused on elevating voices and redistributing power. He serves as President of the US Professional Association for Transgender Health.