Harvard Heart Letter Editorial Board
Thomas H. Lee, MD: editor in chief
Thomas Lee is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Professor of Healthy Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health, and Chair of the Editorial Boards of the Harvard Heart Letter., a publication that he helped to found. He is CEO of the Partners Community HealthCare, Inc., the integrated healthcare delivery system established by Brigham and Women's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and their parent company, Partners HealthCare System, Inc.
In addition to his administrative responsibilities, Dr. Lee is a practicing internist and cardiologist. His research career has focused on clinical epidemiology. He is the recipient of a Clinical Investigator Award from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and an Established Investigator Award from the American Heart Association. He was a National Councilor for the American Federation for Clinical Research and was elected in 1995 to the American Society for Clinical Investigation. Dr. Lee is the chairman of the Cardiovascular Measurement Assessment Panel of the National Committee for Quality Assurance. Dr. Lee also is Associate Editor of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Eugene Braunwald, MD:
Dr. Braunwald is the Hersey Distinguished Professor of Theory and Practice of Medicine and Chairman of the TIMI Study Group at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
William P. Castelli, MD:
Dr. Castelli is currently the Medical Director of the Framingham Cardiovascular Institute in Massachusetts and serves as Adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine. In 1970, the Offspring-Spouse Study was organized and, in 1979, Dr. Castelli became the third director of the Framingham Heart Study which now includes four generations of Framingham people.
Dr. Castelli has taught epidemiology and prevention of atherosclerotic disease for over 20 years at the Harvard Medical School, Boston University School of Medicine, and The University of Massachusetts Medical Schools. Dr. Castelli is a member of professional societies both in the United States and Europe and has been awarded several prestigious awards throughout his career.
Lawrence H. Cohn, MD:
Dr. Lawrence H. Cohn was born in San Francisco, CA. He received his baccalaureate from the University of California, Berkeley and his M.D. from Stanford School of Medicine. He received his graduate training at the Boston City Hospital, National Heart Institute, University of California, San Francisco and Stanford University. Since 1971 he has been on the staff of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where he is now the Chief of the Division of Cardiac Surgery. Dr. Cohn has been a Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School since 1980 and in 2000 was awarded the first endowed Chair in Cardiac Surgery at Harvard Medical School, the Virginia and James Hubbard Chair in Cardiac Surgery. He is the past Chair of the Brigham and Women’s Physicians Organization. Dr. Cohn was awarded a Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Paris in 1992 and an honorary Masters of Medicine from Harvard in 1989.
Dr. Cohn has performed almost 10,000 cardiac surgical operations and is a world renowned expert in the field of valve repair and replacement surgery and minimally invasive heart valve surgery. He has published over 400 original scientific articles, 100 book chapters and 10 books, including Cardiac Surgery in the Adult, 2nd Edition the most referenced text book in adult cardiac surgery today. He has given more than 600 lectures worldwide. Dr. Cohn has held or holds office in The American Board of Thoracic Surgery, the American College of Cardiology, and the American Association for Thoracic Surgery of which he was President. He has also been the President of the American College of Chest Physicians and Chairman of the Board of the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, MD. He is a member of 20 other professional organizations, including honorary membership in four international organizations. He serves on the Editorial Board of 14 prestigious journals and is the editor of Operative Techniques in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.
Dr. Cohn has trained more than 125 residents and fellows at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Children’s Hospital Medical Center Cardiothoracic Residency Program. Graduates of this program occupy responsible positions at major medical centers worldwide, including approximately 25 surgeons who are division chiefs or department chairs.
Dr. Cohn’s clinical and research interest span the entirety of adult cardiac surgery including reconstructive valve surgery, minimally invasive technology, adult congenital heart surgery and thoracic aortic pathology. He has also directed the Cardiac Surgery Laboratory, which has a long interest in myocardial protection, cardiac transplantation and angiogenesis.
Roman W. DeSanctis, MD:
Dr. DeSanctis is the Evelyn and James Jenks/Paul Dudley White Professor of Medicine and Physician and Director of Clinical Cardiology Emeritus at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Stephen E. Goldfinger, MD:
Dr. Goldfinger is Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and is a member of the Gastroenterology Unit of the Massachusetts General Hospital. He served as Harvard Medical School's Faculty Dean for Continuing Education between 1973 and 2000. Until 1999, Dr. Goldfinger also served as director of the Harvard Health Publishing Group and editor-in-chief of the Harvard Health Letter. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Dr. Goldfinger majored in philosophy at Princeton University and then received his medical degree from the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. He completed his residency and chief residency in medicine, as well as a fellowship in gastroenterology at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Goldfinger also spent two years at the National Institute for Arthritis and Metabolic Disease. He has served as a Director of the American Board of Internal Medicine, and was also Massachusetts Governor for the American College of Physicians.
Caitlin Hosmer Kirby, MS, RD:
A graduate of Cornell University, Caitlin received her Masters in Nutrition and Registered Dietitian certification from Tufts University in 1995. She then served as Director for Reversing Heart Disease: The Dean Ornish Program at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. In addition, she has served as Clinical Director for InnerWorkout.com, an online program for groups of women interested in healthy weight loss.
She is currently the Manager of the Nutrition Consultation Service at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. In this capacity she coordinates a staff of 10 dietitians and the operations in multiple outpatient clinics. She also led the redesign and implementation of the curriculum for M.D. and Ph.D. students at Harvard and MIT that exposed them to the role and function of nutrition in medicine.
Hosmer is a contributing writer for Intelihealth.com and serves on the editorial board of the Harvard Heart Letter. She has appeared on ABC and NBC News and been interviewed by print media regarding current nutrition-related issues.
Beverly Lorell, MD:
Dr. Lorell is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the director of the Beth Israel/Deaconess Center Program in Heart Failure.
Jane W. Newburger, MD:
Dr. Newburger is a Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Associate Cardiologist-in-Chief at Children’s Hospital. She has served on regional and national cardiology committees, as well as editorial and review boards for scientific journals. She has been involved in many research programs with pediatric cardiology. She has been invited as a lecturer/visiting professor at over 35 conferences/medical schools. She has published over 70 articles or scholarly works.
Patrick O’ Gara, MD:
Patrick O’Gara is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Director of Clinical Cardiology and Vice-Chairman of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He spends the majority of his time in the practice of cardiology and the teaching of students, residents, and advanced fellows. He is the author or co-author of over 100 articles, chapters, and learning aids. He also serves as co-editor of one textbook and one cardiology journal. He has received several awards for teaching and mentoring. In recognition of his contributions to national organizations, he has served as the Chair of the Council on Clinical Cardiology of the American Heart Association and is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of the American College of Cardiology. He is actively involved in several writing committees for the development of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines.
Paul M. Ridker, MD:
Dr. Ridker is the Eugene Braunwald Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School and directs the Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. A graduate of Brown University, the Harvard Medical School, and the Harvard School of Public Health, Dr. Ridker’s research program is supported by grants from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Leducq Foundation, and the Donald W Reynolds Foundation. Dr. Ridker has been the recipient of both a Clinician Scientist Award (1992-1997) and an Established Investigator Award (1997-2002) from the American Heart Association and is an elected member in the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), the American Epidemiological Society (AES), and the American Association of Physicians (AAP).
Dr. Ridker is the author of over 230 original reports, 100 reviews and book chapters, and 3 textbooks related to cardiovascular medicine. Dr. Ridker is listed as a co-inventor on several patents filed by the Brigham and Women’s Hospital that relate to the use of inflammatory biomarkers in cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
Harvey B. Simon, MD:
Harvey Simon is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Founding Editor of the Harvard Men's Health Watch. A graduate of Yale College and Harvard Medical School, Dr. Simon completed his post-graduate training at Massachusetts General Hospital and the National Institutes of Health. As author of more than 100 scientific articles and medical textbook chapters, he has been an active contributor to medical research. A member of the faculties of both Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. Simon is also committed to medical education. He was honored to receive the London Prize for Excellence in Teaching from Harvard and MIT in 1993. As a practicing internist for over 35 years, he has provided primary medical care to thousands of patients.
The author of many consumer health publications, Dr. Simon is dedicated to informing the general public about health and medicine. He has written scores of articles for popular magazines and newspapers, and contributed several articles to a cover story on men’s health in Newsweek magazine, in 2003. Dr. Simon also has authored several books for the general public, including The Harvard Medical School Guide to Men’s Health, The Athlete Within, Staying Well, and Conquering Heart Disease. Another book, The No Sweat Exercise Plan is due for publication by McGraw-Hill in late 2005.
George E. Thibault, MD:
Dr. Thibault is a Professor of Medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Vice President for Clinical Affairs at Partners Healthcare System.
Walter C. Willett, MD, DrPH:
Dr. Walter Willett is Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition and Chairman of theDepartment of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School as well as Associate Physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Willett has focused much of his work overt the last 25 years on the development of methods, using both questionnaire and biochemical approaches, to study the effects of diet on the occurrence of major diseases. He has applied these methods starting in 1980 in the Nurses’ Health Studies I and II and the Health Professionals’ Follow-up Study. Together, these cohorts that include nearly 300,000 men and women with repeated dietary assessments are providing the most detailed information on the long-term health consequences of food choices.
Dr. Willett has published over 900 articles, primarily on lifestyle risk factors for heart disease and cancer, and has written the textbook, Nutritional Epidemiology, published by Oxford University Press. His recent book for the general public, Eat, Drink and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating, has appeared on most major bestseller lists. Dr. Willett is the most cited nutritionist internationally, and is among the 25 most cited persons in all fields of science. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and the recipient of many national and international awards for his research.