Massachusetts General Hospital

 

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

---

 

Gregory L. Fricchione, MD
Director

Gregory L. Fricchione, MD is Director of the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. He also serves as Associate Chief of Psychiatry and Director of the Division of Psychiatry and Medicine at MGH and is a Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

He is a 1978 graduate of the New York University School of Medicine and did his postgraduate training in psychiatry at NYU-Bellevue and in psychosomatic medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. From 2000 to 2002, he served as Director of the Mental Health Task Force at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia, while on leave of absence from HMS. While there he worked with Mrs. Rosalynn Carter and former President Jimmy Carter on public and international mental health issues and policy. Dr. Fricchione has published over 120 journal articles and has co-authored five books.

He has overall responsibility for the clinical, educational and research missions of BHI.

Continue on to Dr. Fricchione's full bio

Herbert Benson, MD
Director Emeritus

Herbert Benson, MD is the Director Emeritus of the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine and Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

A graduate of Wesleyan University and the Harvard Medical School, Dr. Benson is the author or co-author of more than 180 scientific publications and twelve books.

He assists in the direction of the clinical and research activities of the BHI.

Continue on to Dr. Benson's full bio and CV

Joy B. Rosen
Executive Director

Joy Rosen serves as the Vice President in the Department of Psychiatry and for Community Health Initiatives at MGH. In this capacity, she oversees program development, business planning, administrative and clinical operations, research management, and finance for four Departments/Institutes at MGH --  the Department of Psychiatry, the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine, the Home Base Program, and provides executive oversight for the Center for Community Health Improvement. She also serves as a liaison for the MGH and Partners HealthCare on determination of need-related matters.

In addtition, Joy provides ongoing strategic advice and counsel on various government relations issues  throughout the hospital including Determination of Need applications, mental health public policy, and regulatory issues as they pertain to the Department of Public Health for the Partners system.

Previously, Joy served as the Director of Government Relations for Partners Heath Care, overseeing advocacy efforts with the state and federal governments on healthcare reform legislation and the Massachusetts Stem Cell Bill. She served for 12 years as the Department of Public Health’s Assistant Commissioner for Management and worked as a senior policy analyst on health care issues for the Senate Committee on Ways and Means. 

Joy has a BA from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, and a MS from Brandeis University’s Heller School for Social Policy and Management.

Marilyn Wilcher
Senior Director

Marilyn Wilcher, senior director of the Benson-Henry Institute (BHI), has been associated with the Institute since its founding in 1988 as the Mind Body Medical Institute -- first as a trustee and later as senior vice president. During these years, she was involved in many aspects of the Institute, including administrative oversight of clinical areas, finances, development and marketing.

At BHI, her primary responsibilities include marketing, clinical administration, and The Education Initiative. Ms. Wilcher launched The Education Initiative in 1989 to offer a relaxation response-based curriculum to students and educators. She and her staff have successfully trained thousands of students and educators in independent, urban, suburban and special needs schools throughout the United States.

Ms. Wilcher is an honors graduate of Wellesley College and did post graduate work at the University of Washington.

John Denninger, MD, PhD
Director of Clinical Research

John Denninger, MD, PhD, is Director of Research at the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. He also serves as Associate Director of the MGH-McLean Adult Psychiatry Residency Training Program and Instructor Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. After receiving his undergraduate degree from Harvard University, Dr. Denninger completed his MD/PhD—with dissertation work on the biochemistry of the nitric oxide receptor—at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He completed his internship and residency in the MGH/McLean Adult Psychiatry Residency Training Program and served as Chief Resident in Psychopharmacology at Massachusetts General Hospital. He has received a Master of Medical Sciences from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology as part of the Clinical Investigator Training Program. Dr. Denninger has received many awards for his research and teaching, including the NCDEU New Investigators Award and the Harvard Medical School Students Award for Teaching. Dr. Denninger’s work overseeing the Benson-Henry Institute’s research program explores the relationship between stress reduction, resiliency enhancement and health in both clinical and basic domains. His research focuses on answering two questions about mind-body medicine interventions: (1) Assessing how well these interventions can help to promote wellness in a broad range of people and (2) determining how these interventions work, by exploring details of mechanism from genes, to biochemistry, to physiology, to brain activity.

Darshan Mehta, MD, MPH
Medical Director
Director of Medical Education
Staff Physician

Dr. Mehta received his BA in Biology from Illinois Wesleyan University and an MD from University of Texas-Southwestern Medical School. He completed his residency in internal medicine at University of Illinois-Chicago Hospital. He completed a clinical research fellowship in complementary and integrative medicine at the Harvard Medical School Osher Research Center (now based at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Division of General Medicine), during which he received a Master of Public Health degree from the Harvard School of Public Health.

His educational and research interests include curricular development in complementary and integrative medical therapies, mind/body educational interventions in health professions training, and promotion of professionalism in medical trainees. He directs medical student and resident rotational electives at BHI-MGH.  Dr. Mehta sees patients in a consultative role for use of complementary and integrative medical therapies, as well as mind/body interventions for stress management and stress reduction.

Dr. Mehta is an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is also active in the Massachusetts Medical Society, and is a member of the American College of Physicians and the American Medical Association.  Dr. Mehta is a diplomate of the American Board of Holistic Medicine, and has completed professional training in mindfulness-based stress reduction at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Research and Clinical Staff

---

 

Peg Baim, MS, NP
Clinical Director, Center for Training
Director, Relaxation Response Resiliency Program

Ms. Baim is Clinical Director of the Center for Training at the Benson-Henry Institute, where she has earned international recognition as a leading educator and lecturer in the field of mind body medicine. She is also the Director of the Relaxation Response Resiliency Program, which serves patients coping with a variety of illnesses and stress-exacerbating symptoms. Ms. Baim is also an Adjunct Professor at the MGH Institute for Health Professions.

Ms. Baim began her nursing career upon graduation from the Massachusetts General Hospital School of Nursing. She is a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Boston College, where she earned her graduate and post-graduate degrees. Prior to joining the Institute in 1990, Ms. Baim’s professional background included work in the following medical specialties; cardiac, respiratory, critical care, and also oncology nursing (at Stanford Medical Center).

Much of  Ms. Baim’s work focuses on the relationship between stress and health conditions, creating innovative programs to help patients decrease physical and psychological symptoms. As a researcher and clinician, Ms. Baim’s principle areas of interest include mind/body applications of meditation practices, empathy, humor, and the cultivation of beliefs and behaviors that enhance resilience.

George Bush, MD, MMSc
Director of Neuroimaging Research

George Bush, MD, MMSc, is Director of Neuroimaging Research at the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. An Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and an Associate Researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital, he also serves as the Director of the MGH Cingulate Cortex Research Laboratory and Assistant Director of the MGH Psychiatric Neuroimaging Research Program. His research combines functional neuroimaging and intracranial recordings to study how cingulate cortex contributes to normal cognitive, decision-making, reward, motor, and emotional processing. This knowledge is then applied to elucidating the pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric disorders, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, OCD, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), schizophrenia, sleep disorders and Alzheimer’s dementia. For BHI, Dr. Bush is currently developing and refining functional MRI (fMRI) paradigms that seek to identify the neural circuitry underlying the relaxation response, altruistic (pro-social) decision-making and social attachment.

Aggie Casey, MS, RN
Director, Cardiac Wellness Program

Ms. Casey is Director of the Cardiac Wellness Program and is a clinical nurse specialist at the Benson-Henry Institute (BHI). She is also the clinical director of Affiliate Programs. She joined the BHI in 1991 and has over 30 years experience in acute cardiac care, cardiac rehabilitation and health promotion.

She earned her MSN degree in nursing at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center.

Ms. Casey has co-authored two books: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Lowering Your Blood Pressure (2006) and Mind Your Heart: A Mind/Body Approach to Stress Management, Exercise and Nutrition for Heart Health (2004). She also recently co-authored: A Harvard Medical School Special Health Report: Stress Management, Approaches for preventing and reducing stress (2008). In addition, she has published several articles in peer reviewed journals.

Ms. Casey has trained numerous health professionals from around the country in mind body medicine and heart health, and has presented at national conferences. Her specialty areas include health promotion and mind/body medicine.

  Rana Chudnofsky, MEd Director, Education Initiative

Ms. Chudnofsky has served as the Director of the Education Initiative at the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) since 2006. Ms. Chudnofsky is a frequent public speaker and also lectures at the Benson-Henry Institute's Clinical Training in Mind Body Medicine program (offered through Harvard Medical School Department of Continuing Education) as well as other continuing education seminars.

Her areas of specialization include relaxation techniques and cognitive strategies for clinical treatment centers, schools and universities. She received her training in Biofeedback from Boston Behavioral Medicine, trained in Vipassana Meditation at Vipassana Meditation Center, and is certified in Medical Qigong. 

Ms. Chudnofsky graduated from Harvard University where she earned her MEd in Technology in Education. She earned her BA from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst with a dual undergraduate degrees in Psychology and Education. In addition, Ms. Chudnofsky is a long-term accomplished entrepreneur, trainer and lecturer. She is the founder NextStep Training Inc., a software training firm which specializes in technical and Java training.

With a background in technology and in mind body medicine, she finds it particularly rewarding to show people how their body's physiology can change with meditation.

Stephanie Corrado, MD
Staff Physician

Dr. Stephanie Corrado is a board-certified internal medicine physician with a sub-specialty in adolescent and young adult medicine. She completed her internal medicine residency at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago and her fellowship in adolescent medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital. She has clinical interests in wellness, nutrition, eating disorders, and chronic health conditions in adult and adolescent populations. At the Benson-Henry Institute, Dr. Corrado provides consultative care for patients with a focus on stress reduction and mind-body medicine. She has particular academic interests on yoga and its effect on health- related conditions.

Molly Deisroth-Kim, MS, CES
Staff Exercise Physiologist
Cardiac Wellness Program

Molly Deisroth-Kim is an ACSM Certified Exercise Specialist with the Cardiac Wellness Program. Ms. Deisroth-Kim received her master’s degree in Exercise Physiology and Cardiac Rehabilitation from Springfield College. She has been in the cardiac rehabilitation field for more than twenty years including experience with the Dr. Dean Ornish Program.

Her specialty areas include health promotion, yoga and stretching for cardiac patients and bringing mind/body awareness to physical activity.

 

Leslee Kagan, MS, FNP
Director, Mind Body Program for Women and Mind Body Program for Health and Fertility
Co-Director, Relaxation Response Resiliency Program

Ms. Kagan is the director of Women’s Health at BHI. She is a clinical nurse practitioner who leads the Mind Body Program for Women, Mind Body Program for Health and Fertility and the Relaxation Response Resiliency Program (3RP). She is also part of the research team at BHI.

She earned her BS degree from the State University of New York at StonyBrook and completed her MS degree and postgraduate nurse practitioner training at Pace University and Harvard Community Health Plan. With the BHI since 1998, she has 20 years experience in providing health care.

Her work in menopause has been recognized by the North American Menopause Society and she is first author of Mind Over Menopause, The Complete Mind-Body Approach to Coping with Menopause, (Harvard Health Publications; Simon and Schuster). She is also a contributing author to Our Bodies Ourselves: Menopause, (The Boston Women’s Health Collective; Simon and Schuster 2006).

Ms. Kagan has trained numerous health care professionals around the country in mind body medicine and women's health, and has presented at national conferences. Her specialty areas include preventive medicine, and the application of mind/body techniques to infertility and menopause.

John Levine, MD, PhD
Director, Animal Research

Dr. Levine is Director of the Benson Henry Institute’s basic science laboratory, which is part of the Center for Engineering and Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and the laboratories of Shriners Burns Hospital for Children. He is an Associate Researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital and an Assistant Clinical Professor at Harvard Medical School. He has been on the staff at Mass General since 2004 and has held a faculty appointment at Harvard Medical School since 1987. In addition to his research at the Benson Henry Institute, Dr. Levine is a practicing pediatric psychiatrist and Director of Pediatric Behavioral Health for Tri County Medical Associates.

Dr. Levine is a graduate of University of Massachusetts Medical School, and completed his general psychiatry residency training there. He subsequently completed a fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry at Cambridge Hospital and Harvard Medical School, in Boston, and two neuroscience fellowships at McLean Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. Prior to medical school, Dr. Levine earned his PhD in psychology from the University of Miami, and his bachelor’s degree from Cornell University, where he graduated with distinction. He is a past recipient of the Harvard Medical School Dupont Warren Fellowship, and the National Institute of Health’s Outstanding Resident Award. Dr. Levine is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in both General Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Laura Malloy, LICSW
Director of Yoga Programs
Co-Director, Education Initiative

Ms. Malloy is Director of Yoga Programs and a Co-Director for the Institute's Education Initiative program. She is a licensed independent clinical social worker, specializing in working with children and their families.

She earned her BA in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and her MSW from Salem State College. Ms. Malloy is also a Kripalu yoga teacher, certified at the 500 hour level, with additional certifications in Yoga of the Heart, for individuals with cancer and cardiac disease, Laughter Yoga and Yoga Ed for children. She has a certification in yoga therapy from the Rocky Mountain Institute for Yoga and Ayurveda.  Ms. Malloy has been practicing yoga since 1994 and teaching since 2001.

Her specialty areas include yoga for stress reduction and health promotion, and bringing mind/body stress reduction strategies into school settings.

Elyse R. Park, PhD, MPH
Director of Behavioral Health Research

Elyse R. Park, Ph.D. MPH, is Director of Behavioral Health Research for the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, an Associate Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and a Clinical Associate in Psychology at the Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School.  She also directs the behavioral research at the MGH Tobacco Research and Treatment Center and the MGH Cancer Center’s Center for Psychiatric and Behavioral Sciences Research. Dr. Park received a PhD. in clinical health psychology from Yeshiva University in New York and completed a behavioral medicine fellowship at Brown Medical School in Rhode Island. She received her MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health.

Dr. Park has extensive experience designating and evaluating behavioral intervention trials. She is also experienced in qualitative research development and uses qualitative research to inform quantitative survey design. Her research interests focus on primary and secondary cancer interventions, as well as the role of culture and risk perceptions on cancer treatment decision-making. She has published more than 80 peer reviewed original articles.

At BHI, Dr. Park has created a manualized version of the Relaxation Response Resiliency program (3RP) which is currently being tested with a variety of medical populations. She is also the lead investigator for several mind-body behavioral trials, assessing the feasibility and potential efficacy of integrating the relaxation response into hospital based group treatments for infertility as well as brief individual treatment for women awaiting breast biopsy results. She is currently testing the validity and reliability of a postpartum stressors scale.

Ellen A. Slawsby, PhD
Director, Mind/Body Chronic Pain Service
Staff Psychotherapist

Dr. Slawsby is director of the Mind/Body Chronic Pain Service and provides individual therapy, specializing in individuals with chronic illness, IBS/IBD, GERD, chronic fatigue, and pain. She received her MA and PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

With the BHI since 1996, she is also a researcher and clinical trainer at the Institute and an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Slawsby has published and presented research on chronic medical illness and infertility.

 

Narmin Virani, RD, LDN
Dietitian, Cardiac Wellness Program

Ms.Virani is the clinical dietitian for the Cardiac Wellness Program.

She earned an undergraduate degree in nutrition from the University of Mumbai, India, and Texas Woman's University and completed a postgraduate dietetic internship at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She also holds a certificate of training in adult weight management from the American Dietetic Association.

Ms. Virani has 10 years' experience in nutrition counseling/education for weight loss, diabetes, and cardiovascular health. Her specialty areas include nutritional management of cardiac and diabetes patients, weight management, and digestive disorders such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Ann Webster, PhD
Director, Mind Body Program for Cancer
Staff Psychologist

Dr. Webster is the director of the Mind Body Program for Cancer and the Mind Body Program for Successful Aging. She is a health psychologist, researcher, and clinical/corporate trainer for BHI.

With the BHI since 1987, she earned her PhD degree in health psychology at Albert Einstein School of Medicine/Yeshiva University. She is an Instructor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School, an Associate Psychologist in Psychiatry at MGH, and an Instructor at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine.

Dr. Webster has received several awards, most notably from the AIDS Action Committee and the Northern Lights Alternatives, for her work with HIV+/AIDS patients. She also was a finalist for the Compassionate Caregiver Award from the Kenneth B. Schwartz Center. Recently, she was honored as a "distinguished alumna" by Ferkauf/Yeshiva University.

Dr. Webster is an Associate in Psychiatry as well as an Instructor in Medicine at the Harvard Medical School. She also sits on the boards of The Medical Foundation, the Community Research Initiative, and the Institute for Body, Mind, and Spirituality at Lesley University.