RESUSCITATION SCIENCE - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Center for Resuscitation Science As a Clinical Research Assistant
- Clinical Research Assistant
Alan joined the Center for Resuscitation Science as a clinical research assistant in 2023. He graduated with honors from Boston University in 2020 with a BS in Human Physiology. While in school, he served his community as an emergency medical technician, later using his experiences to become an emergency medical services Instructor to train the next classes of EMTs. Additionally, he was employed by the school to teach classes in both General Chemistry and Biochemistry. Through the pandemic, he has worked as a frontline healthcare worker in the Mount Auburn Hospital Emergency Department in Cambridge, MA, treating patients experiencing COVID-19 and other emergencies. He feels strongly about providing empathetic and understanding care to patients in marginalized communities going through crisis situations.
Alex comes from California where he spent 2 years as the clinical research coordinator for a pediatric pulmonary specialty group focusing on cystic fibrosis, asthma, and bronchopulmonary dysplasia. After leaving California he obtained his Masters in Medical Science from Boston University School of Medicine where he published his thesis on genetic variability in fracture healing assessed through callus composition and strength. After graduation he followed his desire to do research in emergency medicine. He currently is the point research assistant on the Phase II clinical trial studying the effects of esmolol in septic shock, funded by the American Heart Association, with Dr. Cocchi. Alex is also involved with a project looking into septic bundle criteria and adherence of the bundle in the emergency and intensive care units with Dr. Cocchi.
Chris is originally from Abington, Massachusetts. He completed his undergraduate degree in Chemistry at Boston College in 2014. During this time, Chris worked in the Center for Resuscitation Science Internship program for two and half years. Following graduation, Chris joined the team full time as a research assistant, for which he has continued for the last two years. Now, as senior RA, Chris has taken on multiple responsibilities in the day to day operations of Center including Internship Coordinator. He is also the point research assistant on two Phase II clinical trials, one studying the effects of atorvastatin treatment on influenza with Dr. Chase and the other studying the treatment of thiamine for intubated populations with Dr. Berg. Chris has also been involved with many abstract publications in the last two years including a study of Cytochrome c levels in Septic Shock patients as well as a study looking at the association of severity of illness to Pyruvate dehydrogenase activity in patients with diabetic ketoacidosis. Finally, Chris has contributed to a multitude of different Quality Assurance initiatives happening at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center specifically in areas relating to rapid in hospital first aid and code blue response. This fall, Chris will be heading to Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health to purse a Master Degree in Healthcare Administration to be completed in May 2018.
Dr. Amin Coker is a product of the University of Ghana Medical School and trained as an Emergency Medicine resident under the Michigan - Ghana Emergency Medicine Collaborative Training Program. He is a member of the systematic review team of Global Emergency Medicine Literature Review (GEMLR). He is a member of Cochrane Anesthesia, Critical and Emergency Care, and a contributor to Cochrane. He joined the Center for Resuscitation Science to improve his research skills, collaborate on his passion for low cost resuscitative methods in low-resource settings, and to perform guideline reviews.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Director, Center
Dr. Ari Moskowitz is a Pulmonary and Critical Care attending at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and an Instructor of Medicine in Harvard Medical School. Ari is originally from New York and completed medical school at the Mount Sinai (Icahn) School of Medicine. He trained in internal medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center before starting his fellowship in the Harvard Combined Pulmonary and Critical fellowship program. Ari is interested in organ injury during sepsis and is currently funded by the National Institutes of Health to explore the role of thiamine in mitigating renal injury during septic shock.
Dr. Brandon Giberson, D.O., is a former research coordinator for the Center for Resuscitation Science at BIDMC from the years of 2010- 2012. During his time at BIDMC, Brandon was involved in multiple projects in the areas of cardiac arrest, septic shock, medical education, and therapeutic hypothermia, leading to multiple co-author publications, abstracts, and poster presentations. Brandon, along with Dr. Michael Donnino and his twin brother Tyler Giberson, was awarded the American Heart Associations "Heart of Our Mission" award in 2013 for his contributions to the field of resuscitation science and his volunteer engagements with the AHA. Following leaving BIDMC, Brandon enrolled at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in his home state of Maine, and was awarded a doctorate in Osteopathic Medicine in May of 2016. At commencement, Brandon was given his medical schools highest graduate level award, the Salter award, which is given to a distinguished graduate for their academic success and clinical excellence. He is currently a resident physician in Emergency Medicine at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
Job Titles:
- Director of Pediatric Resuscitation Research, Center
Job Titles:
- Physician
- Research Fellow
Dr. Vine is a physician who specializes in critical care medicine. He received his MD from Hadassah Medical School at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, completed a residency in internal medicine at Sheba Medical Center Tel Hashomer hospital, and a fellowship in critical care at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center Ichilov hospital. His research interests include mechanical ventilation in ARDS, septic shock, and personalized critical care medicine.
Job Titles:
- Associate Director, Center
Job Titles:
- Board Certified Emergency Medicine Physician
- Research Fellow
Dr. Mahmoud Issa is a Board Certified Emergency Medicine Physician in Jordan. In 2017, after having completed his Higher Diploma of Emergency Medicine from the University of Jordan in Amman, Jordan, Dr. Issa moved to the United States to pursue further professional growth, including research and development. Dr. Issa's professional interests include resuscitation and shock. In September, Dr. Issa joined our team as a research fellow.
Dr. Mathias J. Holmberg received his Medical Degree from Aarhus University in Denmark and his Master of Public Health degree from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston. Mathias has been working with the Center for Resuscitation Science since 2014 and is pursuing his PhD degree since 2016 in partnership with the Center for Resuscitation Science and Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark. As part of his fellowship, Mathias is leading a randomized phase II trial and a number of epidemiological studies in the fields of resuscitation, cardiac arrest, and sepsis.
Job Titles:
- Associate Director, Center
Dr. Maureen Chase began her research career at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania with a clinical research fellowship in the risk stratification of Emergency Department patients with chest pain. After joining the faculty at BIDMC, she continued her work in the early identification of patients with critical illnesses while working towards her Master in Public Health degree at the Harvard School of Public Health, publishing her work in the identification of patients with sepsis and bacteremia. She was awarded a Harvard Catalyst Pilot grant for her prospective investigation into patients with dizziness at risk for stroke that involved collaboration between the Emergency Departments at the three Harvard teaching hospitals. Via her MPH training and work within the Center for Resuscitation Science, Dr. Chase's research focus transitioned toward early interventions for patients with critical illness. In 2013, she was awarded a K23 Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award via the NIH/ NIGMS for her project "Statin Therapy in Acute Influenza". The study is a randomized controlled trial assessing the effect of atorvastatin on the host inflammatory response to influenza with both clinical and laboratory endpoints.
Job Titles:
- Physician
- Research Fellow
Dr. Kannan is a physician specializing in Pulmonary/Critical Care medicine. She received her Bachelor's degree in Bioengineering from MIT and her MD from University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. She completed her Internal Medicine residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and her Pulmonary/Critical Care Fellowship at the Harvard Combined Fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Her research involves studying national pricing and utilization of critical care resources.
Job Titles:
- BIDMC Pancreas Center Director
Dr. Freedman is a gastroenterologist at BIDMC and a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is the director of the Pancreas Center at BIDMC, which specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic pancreatitis, as well as other pancreatic disorders, alongside extensive research activities.
Garrett graduated from the University of New Hampshire (UNH) with a bachelors of science in biochemistry. While in college he worked as an advanced emergency medical technician (AEMT) delivering emergency care to those within his community. In addition to his role as an AEMT, Garrett became passionate about improving rates of out of hospital cardiac arrest survival. He was certified as a CPR instruct and was able to get his home town designated as a Heart Safe Community by the state of New Hampshire. After graduating from the UNH, Garrett pursued a masters of public health at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom as a Fulbright Scholar. While in England he studied the implementation of evidenced based guidelines in pre-hospital emergency medicine and was heavily involved in immigrant community health outreach. Garrett is thrilled to continue working to improve patient care in emergency medicine.
Jenny Shih is an internal medicine resident at BIDMC. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Harvard College and received her medical degree from Harvard Medical School. She is planning to apply for fellowship in pulmonology and critical care and to continue her career as a clinician researcher. She has been involved in several studies as part of the research group.
Jocelyn grew up in Corinth, ME and then came a bit further south to complete her undergraduate studies at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, graduating in 2014 with a B.A. in Biological Sciences and a minor in Psychology. At Mount Holyoke College Jocelyn was a member of the basketball team for four years. After graduation, she researched viral-host interactions through functional genomics in Dr. Abraham Brass's laboratory at UMass Medical School's for two years. Jocelyn's research focused on using genetics, molecular biology, and microscopy to understand how viruses enter cells and make use of their resources. She has now transitioned from basic science research to clinical research at Beth Israel to explore the many career options of the medical field.
Job Titles:
- Director of Methodology, Center
- Physician from Denmark
Lars W. Andersen is a physician from Denmark currently in residency. He has been working with the Center for Resuscitation Science since January 2012 where he started as a research student. In 2013, he finished medical school in Aarhus, Denmark and started a 3-year Ph.D. project as a collaboration between Aarhus University and the Center for Resuscitation Science. He graduated from the Ph.D. program in October 2016 and has since worked with the group as an external collaborator. Lars received his M.P.H. from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in March 2016 and is a member of the Advanced Life Support Task Force at ILCOR since July 2016. Lars has been involved in the design and execution of multiple phase II clinical trials and has a special interest in large epidemiological studies and the statistical methods involved. He has primarily published within the fields of cardiac surgery, sepsis, and cardiac arrest. Lars is a reviewer for multiple international journals including, among others, JAMA, CHEST and Intensive Care Medicine and is an editorial board member at Resuscitation.
Mathias is a Swedish medical student starting his medical studies in Aarhus in the summer of 2010. He received his BS in February 2014. In his final year of obtaining his medical degree, he took a one year break from his studies, coming to the center for resuscitation science in an international research fellowship with Aarhus University, Denmark. The collaboration with the Danish medical universities has been in effect for several years, and their successful work captivated him to get involved in this program. During his research year here in Boston, Mathias has been leading a database project in acute respiratory compromise, a review on biomarkers in cardiac arrest, and the use of a novel biomarker in cardiac surgery, as well as being involved in several other projects. In September, Mathias will be returning to Denmark, to finish Medical School by February 2018, in hopes of returning to center for resuscitation science for a PhD degree, following in the footsteps of his supervisor Lars Andersen.
Michael completed his undergraduate degree in Biology (BS) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2016. During his time at UMass, he was captain of the Men's D1 Track and Field Program. Michael comes to the team having an extensive clinical background. He worked for two years as an Emergency Room Technician at Holy Family Hospital in Methuen, and most recently as a Medical Assistant for his University's Acute-Care Clinic. Before joining the Center for Resuscitation Science at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Michael completed a 10 week internship at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute with the Genitourinary Oncology Team to prepare him for this RA position.
Job Titles:
- Associate Director, Center
Dr. Cocchi currently practices as an attending physician in the emergency department and as an intensivist in the surgical intensive care units at BIDMC. After graduating from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, he completed his residency in Emergency Medicine at the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency at BIDMC, followed by a two-year fellowship in Critical Care Medicine. He is board certified in Emergency Medicine, Critical Care Medicine, and Neurocritical Care. His research interests have primarily focused on critical care topics, in particular cardiac arrest, sepsis, and shock. He is currently the Principal Investigator of a Phase II clinical trial studying the effects of esmolol in septic shock, funded by the American Heart Association. He is the course co-director of the biannual Harvard Shock Symposium, and has served as an evidence reviewer for the post cardiac arrest guidelines for the American Heart Association. In addition to his clinical duties and research, Dr. Cocchi's administrative responsibilities include serving as the Director of Critical Care Quality for the Silverman Institute for Health Care Quality and Safety within the Department of Health Care Quality at BIDMC. In that role, he oversees all quality assurance-related matters, as well as quality improvement endeavors, across the 9 adult ICUs at BIDMC. He also serves as an Associate Medical Director for Boston MedFlight, an air and ground critical care transport service supporting the major teaching hospitals in Boston. A unifying theme of his clinical, research, and administrative work is improving the delivery of safe and high quality care to critically ill patients in the pre-hospital, ED and the ICU settings, in order to achieve improved outcomes for these most vulnerable patients.