Harvard Health Experts and Contributors

Charlotte S. Yeh, MD

Chief Medical Officer, AARP Services, Inc., Guest Contributor

Dr. Charlotte Yeh is the Chief Medical Officer for AARP Services, Inc. In her role, Dr. Yeh works with the independent carriers that make health-related products and services available to AARP members, to identify programs and initiatives that will lead to enhanced care for older adults Dr. Yeh has more than 30 years of healthcare experience – as a practitioner and Chief of Emergency Medicine at Newton-Wellesley Hospital and Tufts Medical Center, as the Medical Director for the National Heritage Insurance Company, a Medicare Part B claims contractor, and as the Regional Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in Boston. Dr. Yeh is widely recognized for her commitment to and passion for the healthcare consumer and has received numerous honors for her efforts on behalf of patients. As a health care leader, she has served on numerous boards and committees throughout her career, and currently sits on the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation Board, the Optum Labs Scientific Advisory Board, and the HX360 Advisory Board. Dr. Yeh received a BA from Northwestern University and her medical degree from Northwestern University Medical School. She completed her internship in General Surgery at the University of Washington and her residency in Emergency Medicine at UCLA.

James Yeh, MD, MPH

Contributor

James Song-Jeng Yeh, MD, MPH, practices internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and is an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School, where he actively teaches medical students and residents. His clinical interests and expertise are evidence-based medicine, cardiopulmonary diseases, cardiovascular risk reduction, critical illness, care transition, medication adherence, polypharmacy, health communication, and medical education. Dr. Yeh completed his medical training at Harvard Medical School teaching hospitals with internal medicine residency and fellowship at Cambridge Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. During fellowship, he conducted research in the field of pharmacoepidemiology with focus on evidence-based medicine, conflict of interest, academic detailing/educational outreach, and medication safety/boxed warning. Dr. Yeh also completed an editorial fellowship at the New England Journal of Medicine. He has published in various academic journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA Internal Medicine, and the Journal of Graduate Medical Education. Dr. Yeh’s clinical work involves both ambulatory and in-patient medicine with focuses on providing care to patients with general primary care issues to those with complex medical illness including chronic critically ill patients on chronic ventilation, ventricular assist devices, recent lung, liver, and heart transplant patients, oncology and bone marrow transplant patients, and patients with disorder of consciousness/stroke patients. He is also a team physician for the New England Revolution.

Soo Youn, PhD

Contributor

Dr. Soo Jeong Youn is the Director of Evaluation at Community Psychiatry Program for Research in Implementation and Dissemination of Evidence-Based Treatments (PRIDE) at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and an Assistant Professor in Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. She completed her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the Pennsylvania State University, and her clinical internship at Massachusetts Mental Health Center/Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School.

Soo Jeong Youn, PhD

Contributor

Dr. Soo Jeong Youn is the Director of Evaluation at Community Psychiatry Program for Research in Implementation and Dissemination of Evidence-Based Treatments (PRIDE) at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and an Assistant Professor in Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. She completed her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the Pennsylvania State University, and her clinical internship at Massachusetts Mental Health Center/Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School.

Elaine W. Yu, MD, MMSc

Contributor

Elaine W. Yu, MD, MMSc, is associate professor in medicine at Harvard Medical School, a board-certified endocrinologist in the endocrine unit of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and director of the MGH bone density center. She is an NIH-funded academic clinical investigator with research focusing on osteoporosis and metabolic bone disease, and she has been named as Chen Institute MGH Research Scholar 2023–2028. Dr. Yu has been honored as a Fellow of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR), serves as chair of the ASBMR professional practice committee, and has held multiple roles within the Endocrine Society. Dr. Yu’s passion is to advance a bone and metabolism research program focused on rigorous scientific principles and team science, and to promote clinical excellence in osteoporosis care.

Marc Gregory Yu, MD

Contributor

Marc Gregory Y. Yu, MD is an American Diabetes Association (ADA) research fellow in the Section of Vascular Cell Biology at Joslin Diabetes Center. He finished medical school at the top of his class at the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital, and completed residency in internal medicine and fellowship in endocrinology at the same institution thereafter. He is the first Filipino endocrinologist to receive the Endocrine Society Early Investigator Award in 2017. His main research interests include studying risk and protective factors for cardiovascular disease in patients with long-standing Type 1 diabetes, as well as looking at the interplay of autoimmunity, rare diabetes genes, and pancreatic beta-cell function. He is also co-author of I.M. Platinum, a bestselling Philippine handbook on Internal Medicine.

Lisa Zakhary, MD, PhD

Contributor

Lisa Zakhary, MD, PhD, serves as Co-Director of Psychopharmacology in the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) OCD and Related Disorders Program and Director of Psychopharmacology in the MGH Excoriation Clinic and Research Unit. She received her undergraduate degree from Columbia University and her medical degree from Harvard Medical School. Additionally, she earned a PhD in molecular neurobiology during her medical training. Following medical school, she completed the MGH/McLean Adult Psychiatry Residency and the Boston Psychoanalytic Society & Institute Fellowship before going on to join the MGH faculty. As Assistant in Psychiatry at MGH, she splits her time between MGH Primary Care Psychiatry and the MGH OCD and Related Disorders Program. Additionally, she is an Instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and is part of a group private practice in Arlington, Massachusetts. Dr. Zakhary has a special interest in psychodermatology and as a resident, she co-founded the MGH Comprehensive Skin Management Clinic, a psychiatry/dermatology clinic providing collaborative treatment for patients with compulsive skin picking, trichotillomania, body dysmorphic disorder, and delusions of parasitosis. As staff, she continues to explore ways to optimize psychodermatologic treatment through collaboration, education, and research.

Yasaman Zarbafian, PT, DPT

Contributor

Yasaman (Yassi) Zarbafian, PT, DPT, is an American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties (ABPTS) Orthopaedic Certified Specialist (OCS) at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she provides advanced orthopedic and pelvic health physical therapy. She also serves as an instructor at the MGH Institute of Health Professions, teaching and mentoring doctoral students in evidence-based musculoskeletal care. Zarbafian is dedicated to improving access to health education and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration to enhance patient outcomes across orthopedic and specialty care settings.

Salim Zerriny, MD

Contributor

Salim Zerriny, MD is a 3rd-year resident, currently training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital Anesthesiology Program. He has a special interest in pain and healthcare innovation.

Eric Zhou, PhD

Contributor

Eric Zhou, PhD, is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He has been invited to speak internationally about sleep health in both pediatric and adult populations, including those with chronic illnesses. His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, American Cancer Society, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, private foundations, and the pharmaceutical industry, resulting in the publication of more than 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters. He currently serves as an associate editor for the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, and on the editorial board of Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

Peter Zimetbaum, M.D.

Contributor

Peter Zimetbaum, MD is the Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Associate Chief and Director of Clinical Cardiology at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Dr. Zimetbaum is a cardiac electrophysiologist with a particular interest in the clinical management of atrial fibrillation.

George S. Zubenko, MD, PhD

Contributor

George S. Zubenko, MD, PhD, is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and Emeritus Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, the International College of Neuropsychopharmacology, and the Royal Society of Medicine. While a tenured professor at the University of Pittsburgh and adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University, he led a clinical and preclinical research program investigating mood disorders and dementias. Dr. Zubenko was a principal investigator on 17 National Institutes of Health research grants. His contributions are described in numerous publications, book chapters, and invited lectures delivered in the US and abroad. He has served on journal editorial boards and as a consultant for research funding agencies in the US and elsewhere.

Randall M. Zusman, MD

Contributor

Dr. Randall M. Zusman is the director of the division of hypertension in the cardiology division of the Corrigan Minehan Heart Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. He is also an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Zusman has been designated a specialist in clinical hypertension by the American Society of Hypertension. Dr. Zusman has contributed to the publication of over 100 papers, abstracts, clinical studies, and book chapters, including reports in leading scientific medical journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, American Journal of Cardiology, American Journal of Hypertension, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Journal of Biological Chemistry, Circulation Research, The Lancet, and Circulation. Dr. Zusman also has served as an associate editor of Hypertension, and on the editorial board of the Journal of Hypertension and the Journal of Clinical Hypertension. Dr. Zusman received his medical degree from Yale University School of Medicine in 1973. Dr. Zusman completed his internship, junior and senior residencies, and chief residency in the department of medicine at MGH. Dr. Zusman received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from the University of Michigan, graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1969.

Sydney Reynders, ScB

Contributor

Sydney Reynders, ScB, is a clinical research coordinator in the Boston Children’s Hospital Down Syndrome Program. She assists in research investigating educational, behavioral, and medical interventions in Down syndrome and other neurodevelopmental disorders. She received her bachelor’s degree in neuroscience from Brown University in 2022. She has longstanding experience working with individuals of all ages with disabilities.

Center on Media and Child Health

Contributor

The Center on Media and Child Health (CMCH) at Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH) is an academic research center whose mission is to educate and empower children and those who care for them to create and consume media in ways that optimize children’s health and development. Founded in 2003 by pediatrician, father, and former Hollywood filmmaker Michael Rich, CMCH focuses on media as a powerful environmental health influence, like the air we breathe and the water we drink. We seek to understand the positive and negative health impacts media can have and find ways of making media the most positive possible influence in children’s lives.

Lisa Catanese, ELS

Health Writer

Lisa Catanese, ELS, has been a medical writer for more than 20 years. Through her company, Blue Blaze Communications, she has written content for hospitals, magazines, websites, pharmaceutical companies, and medical education companies, and her writing has won 18 national and international awards. She is certified as an editor in the life sciences and is a member of the American Medical Writers Association.

Harvard Health Experts and Contributors

List of Experts

Charlotte S. Yeh, MD

James Yeh, MD, MPH

Soo Youn, PhD

Soo Jeong Youn, PhD

Elaine W. Yu, MD, MMSc

Marc Gregory Yu, MD

Lisa Zakhary, MD, PhD

Yasaman Zarbafian, PT, DPT

Salim Zerriny, MD

Eric Zhou, PhD

Peter Zimetbaum, M.D.

George S. Zubenko, MD, PhD

Randall M. Zusman, MD

Sydney Reynders, ScB

Center on Media and Child Health

Lisa Catanese, ELS