Multidisciplinary Care

Healey Center for ALS Logo

In addition to our leadership team, the Healey Center for ALS includes a robust team of doctors, nurses, therapists and specialists. Learn more about them and how they work together here.

 

Physicians & Nurse Practitioners
Nazem Atassi, MD

Nazem Atassi, MD
Associate Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School

Suma Babu, MBBS, MPH
Suma Babu, MBBS, MPH
Assistant Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School
James Berry, MD, MPH

James D. Berry, MD, MPH
Winthrop Family Scholar in ALS Sciences
Averill Healey Endowed Chair in ALS
Director, MGH Neurological Clinical Research Institute (NCRI)
Chief, Division of ALS and Motor Neuron Diseases

Kate Brizzi, MD

Kate T. Brizzi, MD
Instructor in Neurology

Sheena Chew

Sheena Chew, MD
Instructor in Neurology

Merit Cudkowicz, MD, MSc

Merit Ester Cudkowicz, MD
Chief, Neurology Department
Director, Sean M. Healey & AMG Center for ALS
Julieanne Dorn Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School

William S. David, MD, PhD

William S. David, MD, PhD
Chief, Division of Neuromuscular Medicine
Director, Neuromuscular Diagnostic Center
Director, EMG Laboratory

Mark Garret, MD Mark Garret, MD
Physician Investigator
Neurologist

Doreen Ho, MD
Physician Investigator
Neurologist

Sabrina Paganoni

Sabrina Paganoni, MD, PhD
Co-Director, MGH Neurological Clinical Research Institute (NCRI)
Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School

Haatem Reda

Haatem M. Reda, MD
Site Director, Neurology Clerkship
Associate Director, Advanced General and Autoimmune Neurology Fellowship

Sarah Luppino, NP
Sarah Luppino, NP
617-724-3380 or sluppino@partners.org
Darlene Sawicki

Darlene Sawicki, NP
617-726-6190 or dsawicki1@partners.org

Jen Scalia

Jen Scalia, NP
617-726-0316 or jbscalia@partners.org

Debra Skoniecki

Debra Skoniecki, NP, MSN
617-643-0422 or debra.skoniecki@mgh.harvard.edu

Registered Nurses
Physical Therapists

Physical therapists Katherine Burke, PT, DPT, NCS and Amy Swartz Ellrodt PT, DPT work with patients to prolong mobility and function. Recommendations may include exercises, assistive devices, adaptive equipment and outpatient or homecare therapy.

Katherine Burke, PT, DPT, NCS
Katherine Burke, PT, DPT, NCS
Physical Therapist
617-726-1844
kmburke1@partners.org
Amy Swartz Ellrodt, PT, DPT
Physical Therapist
617-724-0815
aswartz1@partners.org
Claire MacAdam PT, NCS
Physical Therapist
617-726-5059
cmacadam@mgh.harvard.edu
Respiratory Therapists

Our clinic's respiratory therapists work with patients to evaluate breathing concerns, provide education about their respiratory issues and recommend supportive equipment.

Christopher Piccuito, RRT
Respiratory Therapist
617-724-4490 or cpiccuito@partners.org
Karla Schlichtmann, RRT
Respiratory Therapist
617-724-4496 or kschlichtmann@partners.org
Occupational Therapist

Julie MacLean, our occupational therapist, helps evaluate ones ability to perform activities of daily living and provides training and education for skills that are essential for independent functioning, health and well being.

Julie Maclean

Julie MacLean, OTR/L
Occupational Therapist
617-726-2960 or jlmaclean@partners.org

Speech Language Pathologists

Our clinic's speech language pathologists, Paige Nalipinski and Stacey Sullivan, specialize in working with ALS patients to evaluate any speech and swallowing issues that ALS might cause. They can also help arrange for communication devices.

Elizabeth Christiansen, MS, CCC-SLP
Speech Language Pathologist
617-724-0790 or echristiansen@mgh.harvard.edu

Stacey Sullivan

Stacey Sullivan, MS, CCC, SLP
Speech Language Pathologist
617-724-2045 or ssullivan@partners.org

Other Specialists

Jin Yun (Helen) Chen
Genetic Counselor
617-726-4878 or Jin.Chen@mgh.harvard.edu
Jin Yun (Helen) Chen is a certified genetic counselor working in the Department of Neurology and the Center for Genomic Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital. She is specialized in providing genetic counselling services to patients and families with neuromuscular, neurodegenerative and movement disorders. She participates in provider outreach and education related to genetic counseling and testing approach for genetic neurological conditions. She involves in the newborn screening for SMA and serves on the Medical Advisory Council for the CURE SMA Foundation.  Prior to this, she worked as a laboratory genetic counselor in the Division of Genomic Diagnostic at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where she gained expertise in variants analysis and report interpretation for both sequence variants and copy number alterations, as well as utilized clinical expertise to perform clinical correlation for report interpretation and generation. She received her master’s degree in Genetic Counseling from Brandeis University and bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Diane Lucente

Diane Lucente
Genetic Counseling Manager
617-726-1561
Diane Lucente, MS, LCGC worked as a research technician investigating genetic causes of neurological diseases for several years before training to become a Genetic Counselor, a role that she has filled for the past 20+ years. For the past 15 years, she has been a Research and Clinical Genetic Counselor in the MGH Center for Genomic Medicine and Department of Neurology. She provides clinical care to patients and families with neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental conditions, including diagnostic testing for patients with symptoms and presymptomatic testing for individuals with a 50% chance of inheriting a genetic condition. She is also actively involved in research, the focus of which is to try and determine the natural history and underlying causes for many neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative conditions.

Victoria Siddall

Victoria Siddall
Resource Specialist
vsiddall@mgh.harvard.edu
As the Resource Specialist Victoria helps patients by connecting them to community resources in their area. Additionally, she helps patients navigate Social Security Disability and Medicare, and helps patients and families connect to and navigate the different types of care and home care options.

Parenting at a Challenging Time (PACT)

The ALS PACT Program aims to support parents and coparents in addressing the disease-related challenges faced by their children (infants through young adults). A child psychologist or psychiatrist meets privately with parents to understand their children’s unique strengths and needs, and to provide ongoing developmental guidance and support throughout the family’s journey with ALS.
Archana Basu, PhD
Archana Basu, PhD
Psychologist for PACT
Cindy Moore, PhD
Cindy Moore, PhD
Psychologist for PACT