Our Staff
Co-Directors
Chana A. Sacks, MD, MPH
Chana A. Sacks, MD, MPH is a general internist in the Department of Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and the co-director of the MGH Gun Violence Prevention Center. Dr. Sacks attended the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and completed her residency and chief residency in internal medicine at MGH. She completed a general medicine research fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital while completing her MPH at the Harvard School of Public Health. Since joining the faculty in the Division of General Internal Medicine, Dr. Sacks has focused her health policy work on developing and implementing a public health approach to addressing gun violence in Boston and across the country. Dr. Sacks’ research focuses on the prevention of firearm-related injuries and suicide prevention, particularly among older adults. She is also the executive editor of NEJM Evidence.
Peter T. Masiakos, MS, MD, FACS, FAAP
Peter T. Masiakos, MS, MD, FACS, FAAP, is the director of Pediatric Trauma Services at Mass General for Children and co-director of the MGH Gun Violence Prevention Center. He was trained at the Boston City Hospital and Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto), where he developed a clinical interest in pediatric trauma care and injury prevention. He is the director of the pediatric trauma surgery service at Mass General and has become a vocal injury-prevention advocate.
Dr. Masiakos has developed a strong interest in legislative advocacy and established strong relationships with state, federal and international legislators to enact eleven injury prevention laws, including ATV laws, junior-driver laws, child-restraint laws and gun safety laws. He has testified before the Massachusetts State Legislature, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the US Congress on the importance of legislation that prevents childhood injuries.
Clinical Education
Gretchen Felopulos, PhD
Dr. Gretchen Fischer Felopulos (she/her/hers) is a staff psychologist in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and is an Assistant Professor in Psychology for Harvard Medical School. Dr. Felopulos specializes in neuropsychological and psychological evaluations with children ages 5-18; college-age students; and young adults. She also offers diagnostic consultation and treatment planning for issues related to learning, executive function skills, behavioral concerns, and/or social-emotional functioning. She is the co-author of Straight Talk About Psychological Testing for Kids, contributing author for the MGH Clay Center for Young Minds website, and reviewer for The Journal of Child & Adolescent Psychopharmacology (JCAP). As the Education Lead for the MGH Gun Violence Prevention Center, Dr. Felopulos is also invested in promoting gun safety efforts and risk reduction via provider education, research, community engagement, and advocacy.
Cornelia Griggs, MD
Cornelia Griggs is a pediatric surgeon and board-certified critical care specialist. She completed her general surgery and critical care training at the Massachusetts General Hospital. After graduation from residency, she completed a second fellowship in pediatric surgery at the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York, Columbia University Medical Center. She devotes her academic time to health services research. Dr. Griggs is the Curriculum Development Lead at the MGH Gun Violence Prevention Center.
Center Staff
Stephany Zhivotovsky
Research Coordinator
Katherine Desmond
Administrative Coordinator
Research Affiliates
Geoffrey Anderson, MD, MPH
Surgical Intensive Care Physician, Division of Trauma, Burn, and Surgical Critical Care and Emergency General Surgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Assistant Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School
David Chang, MPH, PhD
Associate Investigator, Codeman Center for Clinical Effectiveness in Surgery, Mass General Research Institute
Associate Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School
Karen Donelan, ScD, EdM
Senior Scientist, MGH Cancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital
Chair of US Health Policy, Schneider Institutes for Health Policy, Brandeis University
Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Michael Flaherty, DO
Pediatric Critical Care Physician, Department of Pediatrics, Massachusetts General Hospital
Instructor in Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School
Molly Jarman, PhD, MPH
Lead Research Faculty for Health Informatics and Data Infrastructure, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Assistant Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School
Cassandra Kelleher, MD
Associate Visiting Surgeon, Pediatric Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital
Surgical Director, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Associate Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School
Elizabeth Klerman, MD, PhD
Research Investigator, Division of Neurophysiology, Sleep Unit, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital
Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School
Thomas McCoy, MD
Physician Investigator, Center for Genomic Medicine, Mass General Research Institute
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Rebecca Robbins, PhD
Associate Scientist, Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Investigator, Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders, Departments of Medicine and Neurology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Instructor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Christopher Stapleton, MD
Neurosurgeon, Cerebrovascular Program, Massachusetts General Hospital
Gun Violence Prevention Coalition
Staff members from across the hospital come together to discuss updates, brainstorm new ideas, hear guest speakers, and keep our progress aligned with our mission.
Paul Currier, MD
Co-Founder of the MGH Gun Violence Prevention Coalition
Paul is an intensive care and pulmonary physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and serves as the Director of the Respiratory Acute Care Unit and Director of Quality and Safety for the division. In his role as the head of Simulation and Experiential Learning for the Department of Medicine, he has helped to lead efforts in training resident physicians in how to talk to their patients about gun safety.
Kim Smith Sheppard, RN
Co-Founder of the MGH Gun Violence Prevention Coalition
Kim Sheppard has been a Clinical Research Nurse at MGH on White 12, the Translational Clinical Research Center(s), for 20 years. She is a principal investigator on gun violence prevention research at MGH and teaches classes on gun violence prevention to employees.
Mara Bloom, JD, MS
Vice President, Cancer Center and Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital
Peter Greenspan, MD
Peter Greenspan, MD is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Pediatrician at Massachusetts General Hospital. Most recently, he was Vice Chair of Pediatrics and Medical Director of the Department of Pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Greenspan is the Director of the MGH Gun Violence Prevention Center’s Mini Grant Program.
Kate Haskins
Violence Intervention Advocacy Program (VIAP) Coordinator, Massachusetts General Hospital
Kristian Olson, MD, MPH
Director, Springboard Studio and Core Educator Faculty, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital
Hemal Sampat, MD
Hemal Sampat is a physician in the Hospital Medicine Unit, double-specialized in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. He has been on faculty at the Massachusetts General Hospital since 2016 and is co-lead for the Albright Orange inpatient service for patients with complex needs.
Shannon Scott-Vernaglia, MD
Associate Chief of Clinical Faculty Development, Pediatrics
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School
Matt Thomas
Training, Development and Communications Specialist, Police and Security, Massachusetts General Hospital
If you are interested in joining our Coalition or Research Group, or are looking for other ways to get involved, please contact our Administrative Coordinator, Katherine Desmond, at KDESMOND2@MGH.HARVARD.EDU.