Faculty Affairs

May 2026 Faculty Promotions

Congratulations to the following Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine faculty on their May 2026 appointment or promotion.

Professor

Michael Alosco, PhD, Neurology, is a clinical neuropsychologist who serves as co-director of clinical research at the BU CTE Center and leader of the clinical core at the BU Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC). His research focus surrounds three areas: the development of in vivo biomarkers for AD and AD related dementias (ADRD) including CTE; the contribution of cerebrovascular disease to the clinical and neuropathological expression of CTE and AD/ADRD; and the relationship between repetitive traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) with cognitive and neuropsychiatric decline, and neurodegenerative disease(s). His research has set the stage for biomarker discovery of CTE, including identification of structural brain MRI signatures of autopsy-confirmed CTE and novel insights into the usefulness of tau PET and fluid biomarkers for the detection of CTE during life. He has extended the infrastructure to provide care, research and resources to people concerned for CTE to sites across the U.S. In 2020, he co-founded a Memory and Aging Clinic at Boston Medical Center, which provides clinical care to older individuals who are part of the BU ADRC and BU CTE Center in addition to people from the community.

Weining Lu, MD, MS, Medicine/Nephrology, is a physician-scientist focused on studies of kidney and urinary tract development, disease and novel therapeutics. He has served as the lead academic PI in a highly productive collaboration with Pfizer to develop therapies targeting the SLIT/ROBO pathway. This academic–industry collaboration led to an international multicenter Phase 2 clinical trial and the first licensing agreement between Pfizer and BU/BMC. In recognition of this work, Dr. Lu was named the University’s 2019 Innovator of the Year, an award honoring faculty who translate world-class research into inventions and innovations that benefit humankind. Dr. Lu is chair of the Core Oversight Advisory Committee in the department of medicine, co-director of the BU Clinical & Translational Science Institute R01 Proposal Writing Workshop, lead director of the BU Biomedical Innovation Technologies Affinity Research Collaboratives and the B4D-ARC program, and a voting member of the BU Institutional Biosafety Committee. He is a fellow of the American Society of Nephrology and the International Society of Nephrology, a professional member of the American Heart Association, an academic editor for PLOS ONE, and a member of NIH grant review study sections.

Associate Professor

Nicholas Livingston, PhD, Psychiatry, is a PI within the VA’s Behavioral Science Division of the National Center for PTSD and a staff psychologist at VA Boston Healthcare System’s Alcohol and Drug Treatment Program. His research focuses on complementary areas of substance use disorder (SUD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) comorbidity, treatment access and outcomes, and predicting and preventing adverse events (e.g., overdose death, suicide). Dr. Livingston also studies the disproportionate risk of suicide, overdose and alcohol-attributable death among vulnerable veteran populations. He is a thought leader on the subject of mental health disparities among LGBTQ+ individuals and veterans, in particular.

Clinical Associate Professor

Natalija Bogdanovic, MD, Psychiatry, is a child, adolescent and adult psychiatrist who serves as medical director of child and adolescent psychiatry. She treats childhood psychiatric disorders and is passionate about providing care for the underserved while teaching the next generation of psychiatrists. She is the child psychiatry clerkship site director and pediatric neurology site director for the child and adolescent psychiatry rotation. In addition, she supervises clinicians from various Boston HealthNet Community Health Centers, BU Danielsen Institute and provides clinical coverage for BEST (Boston Emergency Service Team).

Elizabeth Levey, MD, Psychiatry, joined BU/Boston Medical Center (BMC) in September 2025 as director of BMC’s SEED Program for Early Childhood Mental Health. She specializes in trauma care and provides care to children, adolescents and adults. A trained psychoanalyst, Dr. Levey sought additional training in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and infant parent mental health, which has provided her with a uniquely specialized training base to treat children and families with a wide range of mental health-related diagnoses. She provides on-call coverage for child & adolescent psychiatry and participates in the education and training of BU medical students and LMHC students. She has also taken on the role of director of psychotherapy training for BMC psychiatry residents.

Amber Moore, MD, MPH, Medicine/GIM, has been named vice chair of clinical operations for the department of medicine. She joins BU/BMC from Massachusetts General Hospital, where she was director of inpatient medicine for the department of medicine, and assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. As director, she led major operational, capacity and throughput initiatives, partnering closely with hospital and departmental leadership to implement innovative care models that enhanced both patient care and clinician experiences. Her leadership led to measurable improvements in length of stay, strengthened resident education, and fostered greater interdepartmental collaboration. Throughout her tenure at MGH, Dr. Moore also provided exceptional clinical care as a physician in the Hospital Medicine Unit.

Ivania Rizo, MD, Medicine/Endocrinology, Diabetes, Nutrition & Weight Management, specializes in obesity medicine, diabetes, and cardiometabolic health equity. Her research focuses on obesity medicine, post-bariatric weight regain, cardiometabolic health equity and the social determinants of health. Following a national search, Dr. Rizo was appointed director of obesity medicine at Boston Medical Center (BMC) in 2021. In 2025, she was named co-medical director of the Endocrinology, Diabetes, Nutrition & Weight Management Clinic. She also serves as diabetes clinical co-lead for BMC’s Health Equity Accelerator, where she develops programs to improve equity in diabetes care in high-risk populations at BMC. In addition, Dr. Rizo is the endocrinology lead for Heart of Communities, a collaboration among BMC, Mass General Brigham and Mattapan Community Health Center focused on improving cardiovascular, kidney and metabolic health in the Mattapan community.