Faculty Fellowships
Harvard Catalyst Program for Diversity Inclusion (PFDI) Faculty Fellowship
Harvard Catalyst Program for Diversity Inclusion (PFDI) Faculty Fellowship (formerly Harvard Catalyst Program for Faculty Development and Diversity Inclusion (PFDD) Faculty Fellowship) is a two-year, non-degree Faculty Fellowship Program for Harvard junior faculty designed to address faculty need for additional support to conduct clinical and/or translational research and to free junior faculty from clinical and teaching demands at a key point in their career development. Each Faculty Fellow will receive $100,000 over a two-year period to support their scholarly efforts. Faculty Fellows are required to devote appropriate time toward the development of their academic career, to meet regularly with their mentors, and to present at the annual Minority Health Policy Meeting. For more information about Catalyst see: http://catalyst.harvard.edu
Eligibility
Doctoral degree (e.g. MD, PhD, DO, DMD, DDS). Harvard appointment at the level of instructor or assistant professor. Applications will also be considered from clinical or research fellows who are in the process of appointment/promotion to instructor and/or assistant professor at Harvard. U.S. Citizenship or Permanent Residency.
PFDI Faculty Fellows
2024 HARVARD CATALYST PROGRAM FOR DIVERSITY INCLUSION (PFDI) FACULTY FELLOWSHIP RECIPIENTS
Simmie Foster, MD, PhD
Instructor in Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital
Mentor: David Mischoulon, MD, PhD, Director, Depression Clinical and Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital; Joyce R. Tedlow Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical Center
Division Chief: Maurizio Fava, MD, Chair of Psychiatry, Vice Chair, the MGH Executive Committee on Research, Executive Director, Clinical Trials Network & Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital; Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Research, Slater Family Professor of Psychiatry
Project Title: “Molecular Mechanisms of Whole-Body Hyperthermia for Depression”
Project Description: Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a serious mental illness affecting over 200 million people worldwide, and new treatment options are urgently needed. Whole-body hyperthermia (WBH), or elevating the body temperature, is emerging as an effective, rapid-acting, non-pharmacological antidepressant therapy. However, the precise molecular mechanisms are not understood. In this project, we aim to better understand how WBH relieves depression at a molecular level.
Specifically, we are interested in inflammatory mechanisms, as depression is associated with inflammation, and exposing the body to elevated temperature is thought to be anti-inflammatory. Heat may also enhance the body’s ability to adapt to stress through affecting proteostasis (the balance between building and breaking down proteins). Therefore, in this project, we aim to better understand the impact of WBH on inflammation and proteostasis in patients with depression, and how these responses might contribute to WBH’s antidepressant effect.
To accomplish this goal, we will analyze samples from a clinical trial of WBH vs. a sham control for patients with depression, asking: 1) what impact does WBH vs. Sham have on molecular markers of inflammation and proteostasis? 2) How do these markers relate to depressive symptoms?
This project lies at this intersection of psychiatry, immunology, physiology, and molecular biology, thus demonstrating multidisciplinary integration. The outcomes promise a deeper understanding of how WBH contributes to improved mood. Moreover, our findings might help guide further development of this promising intervention for depression.
Biography: Dr. Simmie Foster is a practicing psychiatrist at the Depression Clinical and Research Program (DCRP) and director of the Lab for Hot and Cool Research at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). Dr. Foster completed her MD and PhD at Yale School of Medicine, medical internship at MGH, psychiatry residency at the University of Pennsylvania, and a postdoctoral research fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital. She has received multiple awards including a position as a scholar in the Harvard-wide K12 Building Interdisciplinary Careers in Women’s Health program, a Burroughs Wellcome Fund postdoctoral fellowship, a K23 career development award from the NIH, and the Jerome and Celia Reich Award in Depression Research. She has given a TEDx talk on “Pain and Immunity: What’s Sex got to do with it?” Her research aims to understand the impact of temperature and heat flows on inflammatory responses that contribute to disorders such as Long COVID and depression. The ultimate goal is to develop safe, accessible, temperature therapeutics for the growing problem of inflammatory disease.
2023-2025 HARVARD CATALYST PROGRAM FOR DIVERSITY INCLUSION (PFDI) FACULTY FELLOWSHIP RECIPIENTS
Diana Lopez, MD
Clinical Fellow (Starting at Instructor July 1, 2023), Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Mentor: Ron Blankstein, MD, FACC, FASNC, MSCCT, FASPC, Associate Director, Cardiovascular Imaging Program, Director, Cardiac Computed Tomography, Co-Director, Cardiovascular Imaging Training Program, Senior Physician, Preventive Cardiology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Professor of Medicine and Radiology, Harvard Medical School
Mentor: Marcelo F. Di Carli, MD, Chief, Division of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Department of Radiology, Executive Director, Cardiovascular Imaging Program, Departments of Radiology and Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Seltzer Family Professor of Radiology and Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Department Chair: John Keaney Jr, MD, Chief, Cardiovascular Medicine, Co-Executive Director, Heart and Vascular Center, Victor J. Dzau Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Project Title: “The Impact of PCSK9-Inhibition on Myocardial Flow Reserve (EMPOWER Study)”
Project Description: Diffuse non-obstructive atherosclerosis and coronary microcirculatory dysfunction (CMD) are prevalent in patients with cardiovascular disease and consistently identify patients at increased risk for adverse outcomes, even in the absence of obstructive CAD. These abnormalities throughout the coronary vasculature are closely inter-related manifestations of atherosclerosis that have been linked to systemic inflammation. Positron Emission Tomography (PET) myocardial flow reserve (MFR) is a robust and reproducible imaging biomarker that integrates the hemodynamic effects of atherosclerosis across the entire coronary circulation and has been shown to predict outcomes, including higher rates of cardiovascular (CV) death. PCSK9 inhibitors are powerful agents that promote epicardial plaque regression and reduce the risk of CV events, but studies are needed to evaluate their effect on the coronary microvasculature and their potential anti-inflammatory effect on atherosclerosis. The investigator-initiated mechanistic clinical trial, “The Impact of PCSK-9 Inhibition on Myocardial Flow Reserve (EMPOWER study)” will enroll 50 participants to assess whether PCSK-9 inhibition for 12 months with Evolocumab improves PET MFR, and if so whether this effect is independent of changes in epicardial plaque and partially mediated by a reduction in inflammation. The findings of this study will provide novel and important insights into the comprehensive effects of Evolocumab on tissue perfusion, endothelial function, and microvascular function in a high-risk population. As such, these data would serve to address a critical gap in the identification of medical therapies that improve microvascular function and can thus target the residual risk of future cardiac events in patients with stable CAD.
Biography: Diana M. Lopez, MD, MSc, is a Cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) and an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS). She completed her undergraduate studies at Dartmouth College, medical school training at HMS, and post graduate internal medicine residency and cardiovascular medicine fellowship at BWH. She subsequently completed a postdoctoral NIH-T32 research fellowship in the BWH Cardiovascular Imaging Research Program and received her Master of Science in Epidemiology from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. As a clinical general cardiologist, she sees Spanish-speaking patients at BWH and Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital. In addition, she is currently the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Officer for the BWH Cardiovascular Medicine Fellowship program. Her research focuses on integrating cardiovascular imaging/testing to better phenotype, risk-stratify, and manage the full spectrum of ischemic heart diseases, with a specific interest nonobstructive coronary artery disease and coronary microvascular dysfunction.
Matthew Yuyun, MD, MPhil, PhD
Assistant Professor, VA Boston Healthcare System; Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Mentor: Scott Kinlay, MBBS, PhD, Chief of Cardiology, VA Boston Healthcare System; Associate Professor of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Mentor: Jacob Joseph, MBBS, MD, Chief of Cardiology, VA Providence Healthcare System; Professor, Brown University
Mentor: Jagmeet Singh, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Department Chair: Paul Conlin, MD, Chief, Medical Service, VA Boston Healthcare System; Professor of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Project Title: “Cardiac Arrhythmias in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction: The Burden and Impact on Cardiovascular Morbidity and Mortality.”
Project Description: The worldwide burden of heart failure continues to grow with a global prevalence estimated at 64.3 million. Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) represents approximately 50% of all heart failure patients, with a very poor median survival of 2 years and 5-year mortality of ~75%. The burden and impact of cardiac arrhythmias in HFpEF remains unknown but probably high. It is known that sudden cardiac death (SCD) accounts for 25-30% of total deaths in HFpEF patients, but the mechanism of SCD remains undetermined (?arrhythmic). Death and hospitalizations resulting from arrhythmias is a promising target for therapeutic interventions once the specific arrhythmic mechanisms are known. The overall objective of the proposed project is to determine the burden and impact of arrhythmias in HFpEF. The specific aims of the study project will be as follows: Aim 1: To determine the burden of arrhythmias in patients with HFpEF in comparison to patients without heart failure. I will compare prevalence and incidence of arrhythmias in veterans with HFpEF with a control group of veterans without heart failure. Aim 2: To determine the impact of cardiac arrhythmias on morbidity and mortality in HFpEF. I will determine the hazard ratios of these outcomes in HFpEF patients with arrhythmias compared to those without. Methods: This study will be conducted using a cohort study design in veterans ≥ 18 years of age with HFpEF (exposed group) and a matched control group without heart failure (unexposed group), derived from national VA databases in the time period 2006-2022.
Biography: Matthew F. Yuyun, MD, M.Phil, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and an attending Cardiac Electrophysiologist & General Cardiologist at VA Boston Healthcare System. He is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine at Boston University (BU) Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. After obtaining an MD degree in Cameroon, he subsequently received the prestigious Commonwealth Scholarship Award to undertake additional training at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, where he received both MPhil (Biostatistics & Epidemiology) and PhD (Cardiovascular Epidemiology) degrees. He remained in the UK to complete residency in Internal Medicine (Cambridge University Hospitals), and Cardiology Fellowship training (University Hospitals of Leicester), after which he worked as a consultant General Cardiologist at Milton Keynes University Hospital, England. He subsequently completed a Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology Fellowship training at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center / Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, USA. In 2022, he received “The Excellence in Clinical Teaching Award” from medical trainees of HMS and BU. He is a member of the IRB committee at VA Boston Healthcare System. His earlier research work was focused on risk factors and biomarkers of cardiovascular diseases. More recently, his research interests have crystalized on cardiac arrhythmias in heart failure and cardiac implantable electronic devices, as well as epidemiology of cardiovascular diseases in the developing world, especially in the context of arrhythmias in the wider Global Health.