Neurologist
Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center
I have worked since graduating my dual fellowships (in Behavioral Neurology and Brain Injury Medicine) in
2016 to create a career in traumatic brain injury and neuro-rehabilitation.
I am a locally recognized expert in Brain Injury Medicine and have been invited to many regional hospitals to
educate their staff through speaking commitments.
I aim to provide excellent patient care to all of the diverse and often complicated patients in the BIDMC
Concussion Clinic. I work closely with the Neurosurgical Department to provide ongoing neurological care to
severe brain injury patients. I am also a staff physician at Spaulding Cambridge, doing neurological
consultations and neurological education of the staff. There, I also am the neurological lead for the Disorders
of Consciousness Program. I have successfully set up a Concussion Clinic at Braintree Rehabilitation Hospital.
I am also a staff physician at Braintree Rehabilitation Hospital, performing neurological consultation and staff
education.
I have created a Concussion “Line of Care” that helps provide optimum, multi-disciplinary care for TBI patients
in a timely and efficient manner, aiming to get them back to work/school sooner. This involves social work,
neuropsychology, neuropsychiatry and neurology coordinating care on TBI patients. In addition, I have created
a Bowdoin Street Health Center to the Cognitive Neurology Unit alliance to help ensure that there is equitable
access to Cognitive Neurology care.
For research, now that COVID is improving and I have secured the needed funding, I am spearheading a
project to investigate the validity of various neuro-biomarkers in saliva and serum in comparison to their levels
in the cerebrospinal fluid. This is being done in conjunction with the neurosurgical department at BWH and the
Mannix/Meehan lab at CHB and will hopefully help revolutionize non-invasive biomarkers ultimately in more
mild traumatic brain injuries. In addition, I am the PI on the NFL Players Dementia Study investigating the risks
of former NFL Players getting Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy or dementia. I am also the site PI on another
NFL Players project to investigate interventions for Post-Traumatic Headaches. In addition, I am the PI on a
project investigating the use of exercise to improve outcomes after concussion.
I am also involved in a currently unfunded project to attempt to create a portable tool to diagnose concussions
on the sideline in athletes. This uses a tau biomarker, portable EEG and portable neuropsychological testing
in an attempt to better define brain injury as it occurs, and allow for safer return-to-play decisions. I am also
involved in another unfunded study, the Harvard Athlete Study that will use numerous markers (fMRI, EEG,
cerebral blood flow) to determine concussions in athletes.
I am the Director of Clinical Education for Cognitive Neurology and through this role am heavily involved in
teaching Cognitive Neurology fellows as well as Neurology residents. In addition, I teach the neurology
residents about neuro-rehabilitation at Spaulding Cambridge during their rehabilitation/CNU rotations. Through
this role I also supervise the didactics courses in teaching Cognitive Neurology to fellows. I have been a
mentor to numerous Cognitive Neurology fellows since assuming the role and all have gone on to leadership
positions either at BIDMC or external institutions.
Additionally, more recently I have taken on the Diversity Director role for the Department of Neurology.
Through this role I am working with the faculty and residents both in neurology and other departments to
improve our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion activities and education. The goal is to ensure that the Neurology
Department is a welcoming place for all.
Overall, I am a passionate and dedicated clinician, teacher and researcher. I think that I can be the point-
person to expand the Concussion Clinic into a multi-disciplinary and multi-site project. In addition, through my
research projects, I will be able to integrate cutting edge research findings into clinical practice. I also am the
point-person helping to coordinate numerous clinical and athletic entities (Northeastern University, Harvard
athletics, Simmons athletics, Orthopedics at multiple institutions, PM&R etc.) in order to obtain the best data
possible for our concussion studies. Therefore, with the numerous resources available to me, I expect that my
clinical and research aspirations will end up yielding meaningful gains, both for my department and for Harvard
Medical School.
Overall, I am a passionate and dedicated clinician and teacher. In addition, through my research projects, I will
be able to integrate cutting edge research findings into clinical practice. I also am the point-person helping to
coordinate numerous clinical and athletic entities (Harvard athletics, Simmons athletics, Orthopedics at multiple
institutions, PM&R etc.) in order to obtain the best data possible for our concussion/TBI studies.
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