Harvard Health Publishing Staff

Nancy Ferrari is Editor in Chief at Harvard Health Publishing and a former editor of the Harvard Heart Letter. Before joining Harvard Health, Nancy was Manager of the Clinical Publications Program at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. She began her work at HPHC as a women’s health writer creating patient education materials for ob/gyn and primary care practices. Nancy’s writing and editing experience includes work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she worked at the Journal of Science, Technology, and Human Values, the MIT Communications Office, and where she edited a conference proceeding on energy and the environment.

Howard LeWine, M.D., is a practicing internist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Chief Medical Editor at Harvard Health Publishing, and editor in chief of Harvard Men’s Health Watch.

Dr. Robert H. Shmerling is the former clinical chief of the division of rheumatology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), and is a current member of the corresponding faculty in medicine at Harvard Medical School. As a practicing rheumatologist for over 30 years, Dr. Shmerling engaged in a mix of patient care, teaching, and research. His research interests center on diagnostic studies in patients with musculoskeletal symptoms, and rheumatic and autoimmune diseases. He has published research regarding infectious arthritis, medical ethics, and diagnostic test performance in rheumatic disease. Having retired from patient care in 2019, Dr. Shmerling now works as a senior faculty editor for Harvard Health Publishing.

Claire McCarthy, MD, is a primary care pediatrician at Boston Children’s Hospital, and an assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. In addition to being a senior faculty editor for Harvard Health Publishing, Dr. McCarthy writes about health and parenting for Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston.com, and the Huffington Post.

Urmila Parlikar is Director, Editorial Operations at Harvard Health Publishing. Urmila first joined HHP in 1998 as a staff writer for HHP’s newsletters and Special Health Reports. After serving as managing editor at HealthGate Data Corporation, she returned to HHP in 2014. In her current role she creates, implements, and manages processes and relationships that support HHP’s digital initiatives. Urmila earned her bachelor’s degree in biology and English from Barnard College, and a master’s degree in science journalism from Boston University.

Francesca Coltrera is editor of the Harvard Health Blog, and a senior content writer and editor for Harvard Health Publishing. She is an award-winning medical writer and co-author of Living Through Breast Cancer and The Breast Cancer Survivor’s Fitness Plan. Her work has appeared in Newsweek, O Magazine, Good Housekeeping, SELF, and the Boston Herald, among other venues. She is interested in many health topics, including coronavirus and COVID-19, emotional and physical wellness, parenting and children’s health, women’s health, exercise, longevity, cancer, caregiving, and end-of-life issues.

Dean Ricciardi is the Senior Digital Publishing Coordinator at Harvard Health Publishing, supporting the work of the editors and staff, copyediting, managing content, and working with HHP’s outside tech partners. He received a BA from Boston University and has over 20 years of experience in online publishing.

Jennifer Crystal is the Senior Writer and Patient Experience Representative for the Lyme Wellness Initiative. She holds a BA from Middlebury College and an MFA from Emerson College, and has completed a summer of study at the Bread Loaf School of English and a workshop in narrative medicine at Columbia University.

Andrea Davies is a project coordinator for Harvard Health Publishing. Previously, she worked as an administrative coordinator with the Committee on Ethnicity, Migration, Rights, as well as the Harvard Mellon Urban Initiative at Harvard University. Before coming to Harvard, Andrea worked in therapeutic arts-based programs as a program manager and creative writing and visual arts teaching artist. She worked with organization such as A Reason to Survive, Inc., The AjA Project, San Diego Art Institute, Tel-Hi Neighborhood Center, and Streetside Stories. Andrea holds an MFA in creative writing and a BA in English and art; she is an essayist and dabbler in poems and visual art. Through the years she has discovered that it is the healing and transformative qualities of writing and art making that interest her most. Andrea is building a career as a wellness professional, intentionally and intuitively taking the process one step at a time while living and working authentically and deepening her own contemplative and somatic practices.

Rebecca Bailey is an Editorial and Editorial Operations Assistant at Harvard Health Publishing through the Northeastern University co-op program. She is a second-year honors undergraduate student at Northeastern University, and a candidate for a bachelor of science in behavioral neuroscience and a bachelor of arts in English with a minor in writing. A member of the Nu Rho Psi Honor society in neuroscience, she is dedicated to furthering her immersion into neuroscience and science writing. Rebecca is a member of the editorial board for Northeastern’s NU Writing journal. She enjoys reading fiction, writing poetry, practicing Vinyasa yoga, and discovering new music.

Sarah Campbell is the Senior Research Coordinator for the Harvard Medical School TEAMS (Targeted Education for Autism across Medical Specialties) Working Group. An experienced writer and editor, Sarah is also an advocate for families with developmental disorders and a parent of an adult with autism spectrum disorder. She is the TEAMS patient experience and advocacy expert, and serves the project in several capacities, including the recruitment of patients with ASD and their family members and caregivers to serve on a patient advisory board, developing a family education web portal, reviewing content for the clinician course, and creating content for the web portal. Sarah previously worked as an associate in analytical studies and planning in the Office of the President at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and contributed to a Harvard Health Publishing book, The Autism Revolution: Whole-Body Strategies for Making Life All It Can Be.

Jenette Restivo is a Health Content Writer at Harvard Health Publishing. Jenette is a media professional with a 20-year-career creating strategic content for broadcast, nonprofits, and websites. Jenette started her career in health editing at About.com. She reported for the medical unit of ABC News, and then became a producer/writer of health, science and other documentaries for television channels such as PBS, the Discovery Channel, and National Geographic. Jenette has also led communications efforts for a healthcare nonprofit called Primary Care Progress, as well as headed up content strategy for the Children and Nature Network.