DoM Top Docs 2025

We are excited to announce this year's DoM top docs! Learn more here.

Cardiology
Gary J. Balady, MD
Sheilah A. Bernard, MD
Robert T. Eberhardt, MD
Omar K. Siddiqi, MD
Claudia P. Hochberg, MD
Anthony D. Litvak, MD
Ashvin N. Pande, MD

Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism
Sara M. Alexanian, MD
Sonia Ananthakrishnan, MD
Beth M. Cohen, MD
Alan P. Farwell, MD
Shirin Haddady, MD, MPH
Stephanie L. Lee, MD, PhD
Elizabeth N. Pearce, MD

Gastroenterology
Christopher S. Huang, MD
David R. Lichtenstein, MD
Robert C. Lowe, MD
David P. Nunes, MD

Geriatrics
Heidi P. Auerbach, MD
Lisa B. Caruso, MD
Hollis D. Day, MD, MS, MHPE
Won M. Lee, MD

Hematology & Medical Oncology
Gretchen A. Gignac, MD
Matthew Kulke, MD
Adam Lerner, MD
Vaishali Sanchorawala, MD
J. Mark Sloan, MD

Infectious Disease
Carlos J. Acuna-Villaorduna, MD
Sabrina A. Assoumou, MD, MPH

General Internal Medicine
Melissa D. DiPetrillo, MD
Warren Y. Hershman, MD, MPH
Angela H. Jackson, MD
Susan L. Phillips, MD
Jeffrey H. Samet, MD, MA, MPH
Carl G. Streed, MD, MPH, FACP
Charles P. Tifft, MD

Nephrology
Laurence H. Beck, MD
Jasvinder S. Bhatia, MD
Jean M. Francis, MD
Lauren D. Stern, MD

Pulmonary
John Bernardo, MD
Nicholas A. Bosch, MD
Christine L. Campbell-Reardon, MD
Finn J. Hawkins, MB, BCh
Elizabeth S. Klings, MD
Frederic F. Little, MD
George T. O'Connor, MD

Rheumatology
Andreea M. Bujor, MD, PhD
Monica P. Crespo-Bosque, MD
David T. Felson, MD, MPH
Eugene Y. Kissin, MD
Tuhina Neogi, MD, PhD
Michael R. York, MD

DEIA Week: Poster Submissions and Contribute to DEIA Week Celebration!

The Department of Medicine will hold its second annual Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) Week March 10 - March 14, 2025. In the DoM, we are dedicated to fostering a workplace that values and celebrates diversity, promotes equity, ensures inclusion, and prioritizes accessibility. We firmly believe that our collective differences make us stronger, and we are committed to creating an environment where all individuals, regardless of their background, feel valued, respected, and empowered.

Monday, March 10th

Poster Showcase | Hiebert Lounge (Lunch will be served) | 11:30AM-1:30PM

Posters created by DoM faculty, staff, and trainees to illustrate the ongoing DEIA work in the areas of research, education, programming, patient care, and beyond.

Learn how to submit a poster to this year’s Poster Showcase here!!

Tuesday, March 11th

Panel + Discussion | Hiebert Lounge (Breakfast will be served) | 8AM-10AM

Wednesday, March 12th

Mindfulness Event | Location and time TBD

Thursday, March 13th

DEIA Week Celebration | Hiebert Lounge | 4:30PM-6:30PM

Contribute to the celebration here!

Friday, March 14th

Grand Rounds | Keefer Auditorium | 12:00PM-1:00PM

DOM DEIA Week Schedule Announced!

Learn more about DEIA Week here!

Monday, March 10th

Poster Showcase | Hiebert Lounge (Lunch will be served) | 11:30AM-1:30PM

Posters created by DoM faculty, staff, and trainees to illustrate the ongoing DEIA work in the areas of research, education, programming, patient care, and beyond.

Tuesday, March 11th

Panel + Discussion | Hiebert Lounge (Breakfast will be served) | 8AM-10AM

Wednesday, March 12th

Mindfulness Event | Location and time TBD

Thursday, March 13th

DEIA Week Celebration | Hiebert Lounge | 4:00PM-6:00PM

Friday, March 14th

Grand Rounds | Keefer Auditorium | 12:00PM-1:00PM

Congratulations to the 2024 Evans Days Awardees!!

Join us in congratulating all 2024 Evans Days Awardees!

Outstanding Citizenship Award
Laura Lowery, PhD – Hematology & Medical Oncology
Adam Lerner, MD – Hematology & Medical Oncology

Clinical Quality Improvement Award
Hospital reAdmission Reduction Program (HARP) Team

Clinical Innovation Award
Andrew Wilson, MD – Pulmonary, Allergy, Sleep & Critical Care Medicine

Junior Faculty Mentoring Award
Jean Liew, MD, MS – Rheumatology

Research Mentoring Award
Alan Fine, MD – Pulmonary, Allergy, Sleep & Critical Care Medicine

Special Recognition Teaching Award
Craig Noronha, MD – General Internal Medicine

Clinical Excellence Award
Nana Addo-Tabiri, MD, PhD – Hematology & Medical Oncology

Faculty Diversity Award
Natalia Morone, MD, MS – General Internal Medicine

Evans Clinician
Claudia Hochberg, MD – Cardiovascular Medicine
Elizabeth Klings, MD – Pulmonary, Allergy, Sleep & Critical Care Medicine
Naomi Ko, MD, MPH – Hematology & Medical Oncology
Susan L. Phillips, MD – General Internal Medicine
Catherine A. Rich, MD – General Internal Medicine
Vaishali Sanchorawala, MD – Hematology & Medical Oncology
Omar Siddiqi, MD – Cardiovascular Medicine

David Coleman, MD Junior Faculty Prize
Jean Liew, MD, MS – Rheumatology

APP Excellence in Education and Mentoring
Teri Linardos, MPA, MSN, FNP-BC – General Internal Medicine

APP Clinical Care Excellence
Dylan Clemens, PA-C – Infectious Diseases
Meg Perkins Ames, FNP-BC – General Internal Medicine
Kelly Wulff, FNP-C – Cardiovascular Medicine

APP Patient Care Innovation & Quality Improvement
Ludwine Paul, MSN, ACNP-BC, AACC – Cardiovascular Medicine
Kathleen Neimann, MSN, AGPC-NP – General Internal Medicine

Maria Antoinette Evans Award
Jen Murphy, MBA – Department of Medicine

David “Aaron” Freed Award
Casaundra Knight – Hematology & Medical Oncology

Evans Center/IBRO Outstanding Research Collaborator Award
Ioannis Ch. Paschalidis – Electrical and Computer Engineering

Research Awards:

2024 Clinical Oral Presentation Winners
1st Place: Augusta  Alwang
2nd Place: Amulya Shastry
3rd Place: Wissam Ghusn

2024 Basic Science Oral Presentation Winners
1st Place: Elise Armstrong
2nd Place: Adam Lazowski
2nd Place: Hirofumi Kiyokawa
2nd Place: Jeffrey Sheridan

2024 Clinical Poster Winners
1st Place: Sophia Rosan
2nd Place: Aditya Chowdhri
3rd Place: Lingyi Xu

2024 Basic Science Poster Winners
1st Place: Zhan Xi
2nd Place: Harshita Pattam
3rd Place: Andrea Alber
3rd Place: James Decker

 

Shoumita Dasgupta, PhD’s Book Release! “Where Biology Ends and Bias Begins: Lessons on Belonging from Our DNA”

A geneticist and internationally recognized anti-racism educator provides a powerful, science-based rebuttal to common fallacies about human difference.

Well-meaning physicians, parents, and even scientists today often spread misinformation about what biology can and can’t tell us about our bodies, minds, and identities. In this accessible, myth-busting book, geneticist Shoumita Dasgupta draws on the latest science to correct common misconceptions about how much of our social identities are actually based in genetics.

Dasgupta weaves together history, current affairs, and cutting-edge science to break down how genetic concepts are misused and how we can approach scientific evidence in a socially responsible way. With a unifying and intersectional approach disentangling biology from bigotry, the book moves beyond race and gender to incorporate categories like sexual orientation, disability, and class. Where Biology Ends and Bias Begins is an invaluable, empowering resource for biologists, geneticists, science educators, and anyone working against bias in their community.

Pre-order the book today!

Emelia Benjamin, MD, ScM, Named Jay and Louise Coffman Professor of Vascular Medicine

We are delighted to announce that Emelia J. Benjamin, MD, ScM, will be named the Jay and Louise Coffman Professor of Vascular Medicine effective Oct. 1. A professor of medicine at the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and professor of epidemiology at BU School of Public Health, Dr. Benjamin has been a Framingham Study investigator since 1988 and a Boston Medical Center attending cardiologist since 1990.

Dr. Benjamin is an international leader in cardiovascular medicine. Her research has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health since 1998 for studies of atrial fibrillation, vascular function, inflammation and chronic pain. She has more than 850 publications and an H-index of 215. Her citation ranking internationally is #98 in medicine and #7 for women scientists; nationally her ranking is #71 in medicine and #5 for women scientists.

Dr. Benjamin has held many leadership roles for the American Heart Association since the 1990s and was the recipient of the 2022 American Heart Association Distinguished Scientist Award. She has devoted substantial effort to mentoring, faculty development and coaching of diverse individuals in health sciences and medicine. Her many accolades include the 2020 Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine Diversity and Inclusion Award and the 2024 American Heart Association Louis B. Russell, Jr. Memorial Award for Diversity. Dr. Benjamin is the department of medicine’s inaugural vice chair for faculty development and diversity and the inaugural Medical Campus associate provost for faculty development.

Please join us in celebrating Dr. Benjamin and her achievements as a scholar, mentor, and clinician. Her many contributions to our institution and to the field of cardiovascular medicine make her a deserving recipient of the prestigious Jay and Louise Coffman Professorship of Vascular Medicine.

DoM Bridge Funding Awardees!

The talented awardees all have inspiring and innovative research areas of focus, in key areas that impact our patients’ health and well-being.

Please join us in congratulating the following people:

Dr. Karen Jacobson, Department of Medicine, Section of Infectious Disease. Dr. Jacobson’s expertise is in studying tuberculosis transmission and outcomes. Dr. Jacobson’s research, which spans national and global work, has a particular emphasis on understanding how substance use impacts on tuberculosis transmission and response to therapy.

Dr. Naomi Ko, Department of Medicine, Section of Hematology-Oncology. Dr. Ko’s research has a translational focus directed to understanding the disconnect between scientific discoveries in cancer treatment and delivery of evidence-based treatment to marginalized, racial/ethnic minority women with breast cancer. She is actively investigating how tumor biology, poverty, communication and treatment influence breast cancer outcomes in diverse breast cancer populations.

Dr. Maureen Dubreuil, Department of Medicine, Section of Rheumatology. Dr. Dubreuil’s research focuses on comorbidities and pharmacoepidemiology of spondyloarthritis. (note: Dr. Dubreuil’s bridge funding award is co-funded by BMC and the Department of Medicine)

Dr. Emily Hurstak, Department of Medicine, Section of General Internal Medicine. Dr. Hurstack’s conducts clinical research around improving outpatient systems of care for patients who have been economically and socially marginalized, with a focus on individuals with substance use disorders (SUD) and chronic pain syndromes. Dr. Hurstak participates in both clinical care and research with a focus on health communication, health literacy, and improving care for patients with SUDs in primary care settings.

Dr. Titi Ilori, Department of Medicine, Section of Nephrology. Dr. Ilori’s research includes mechanistic and interventional studies on the etiologic factors and modifiers of chronic kidney disease (CKD), with a special emphasis on the effect of diet (dietary nutrients and dietary patterns), biomarkers, and genetics on CKD progression in both low resource and high-income countries. Her current work is in gene by environment interactions in APOL1 nephropathy and her lab recently discovered that dietary potassium interacts with the APOL1 genotypes.

DoM 2024 Research Publications, New Research Grants & Foundation Awards of Note!

Research Publications: Our faculty continue to receive significant mainstream media coverage for their exceptional published research.
  • Kimberly Bertrand’s study in the journal Environmental Research reported long-term use of chemical hair relaxers by postmenopausal Black women was associated with increased risk of uterine cancer.
  • Elizabeth Pearce’s study in JAMA Network Open found hyperthyroid patients treated with surgery had a lower risk of death and a lower risk of major adverse cardiovascular events than patients treated with medication.
  • Tuhina Neogi’s study in in the journal Arthritis & Rheumatology found calcium crystal deposits in the knee contribute to joint damage.

 

New Research Grants: Here are our Academic Year 2024’s largest new/renewal grants:
PI $ millions Title (All NIH funded)
Rosenberg 14.5 Lifetime stressors and Alzheimer's Disease genetic variants and biomarkers in relation to cognitive decline among Black Women's Health Study participants.
Kotton 14.0 Developing Pluripotent Stem Cells to Model and Treat Lung Disease
Farrer & Sherva 13.7 Genetic Studies of Alzheimer's Disease in Jewish and Arab Populations
TCW 3.9 Microglia targeted interventions in prodromal Alzheimer's disease stage
Goldstein, Mez & Alosco 3.9 Validation of Lens Beta-Amyloid as a Novel Biomarker for Early Detection of Alzheimer's Disease at the Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Research
Hamburg 3.7 Endothelial Cell Health Across the Spectrum of Cardiometabolic Disease
Lenburg 3.2 Integrating imaging and biopsy-derived molecular markers for the pre-surgical detection of indolent and aggressive early-stage lung adenocarcinoma
Wilson 3.1 Mechanistic studies of the genetic contribution of desmoplakin to pulmonary fibrosis in alveolar type 2 cells
Mizgerd 3.0 Fibrin in the Infected Lung

 

Foundation awards of note:
  • The American Lung Association and LUNGevity Foundation contributed $1 million to Avrum Spira, MD, professor of medicine, pathology and bioinformatics, to intercept lung cancer through immune, imaging, and molecular evaluation.
  • The American Cancer Society awarded $792,000 to Jessica Petrick, PhD, MPH, assistant professor of medicine, to study modifiable causes of colorectal cancer in black women