Faculty and Staff
The faculty and staff in the Department of Emergency Medicine are achieving excellence in the department’s research mission.
Leadership
Michael Filbin, MD
Dr. Filbin received a bachelor’s degree in Aeronautics & Aerospace Engineering in 1991 from the University of Washington in Seattle. He embarked on a career in engineering at the National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA), in Houston Texas, as a member of the Mission Operations Directorate for Space Shuttle flight operation, and participated in the design of the International Space Station (ISS). He developed an interest in medicine while participating in a study of Advanced Life Support protocols in a high-altitude, zero-gravity environment, which ultimately led to a career in medicine.
Dr. Filbin attended Baylor College of Medicine in Houston (MD, 1998), and thereafter completed a residency in Emergency Medicine at the combined Harvard-Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency (HAEMR) program in Boston (2002). He has practiced emergency medicine at Mass General since 2002; his research has focused on early detection and management of septic shock.
He was co-author on the landmark ProCESS trial—Protocolized Care for Early Septic Shock—that demonstrated equivalency of protocol-based therapy to usual care in early septic shock. This work has led to a renewed national focus on early detection of sepsis prior to the onset of shock.
Dr. Filbin has been a leader in the Mass General Sepsis Care Redesign and Mass General Brigham-wide sepsis initiatives. He has received funding from the MIT-Mass General Grand Challenge, CRICO Risk Management Foundation, and Nihon-Kohden Corporation for his work in early detection, intervention, and quality assessment for patients with septic shock in the Emergency Department.
John T. Nagurney, MD, MPH
Dr. Nagurney, attending physician at the Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Emergency Medicine, received his MD from Cornell University Medical College. He also has an MPH from the Harvard University School of Public Health. Dr. Nagurney completed his residency at The New York Hospital-Cornell University Medical Center and the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital. He also completed a fellowship in Public Health and General Internal Medicine and Ambulatory Care at the New York Hospital's Cornell University Medical Center.
In his capacity as Clinical Research Director, Dr. Nagurney oversees and conducts significant research regarding many aspects of emergency care, and he assists other principal investigators in study design, human subject considerations and research methodology. He has also developed a curriculum in research methodology, and teaches approaches to research for the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency program.
Blair Parry, BA, CCRC
Blair received dual bachelor degrees in French Studies and Psychology (concentration: physiological processes) in 2000 from Smith College in Northampton, MA. She has over 16 years of clinical research experience with expertise in project management, regulatory affairs, site monitoring and compliance, and site and personnel management. Blair and Dr. Nagurney created the first research program in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Mass General. Previously, she served as the project director for an NIDA-funded trial of occult drug abuse in the Emergency Department. She has been invited to lecture nationally on clinical research operations and starting research programs. In her current role, Mrs. Parry provides oversight and sets direction to the department’s clinical research projects and programs.
Staff
Brett Biebelberg
Nicole Charland, BA
Sarah Clavijo, BA
Shane Donnelly, BS, MBA
Shane graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a BS in biology in 2013. He is currently finishing up his MBA program at Fitchburg State University. Throughout his time at Massachusetts General Hospital, he has enjoyed most his colleagues and patient interaction. Motivated by the collaborative effort of his team, Shane finds inspiration in the research that is being conducted to promote medical advancement.
Dan Finch, BA
Nick Giordano, MS
Nick graduated from Boston University with a BS in biomedical engineering and a master’s degree in Medical Sciences. After graduate school, he worked with the Department of Surgery at Boston Medical Center to develop an intraoperative spectrophotometer used to differentiate tissues in real-time during surgery. Prior to coming to Mass General, Nick worked at the Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute where he studied anti-angiogenic nanoparticles and their effects in animal models. Nick’s research interests are diagnostic imaging and cardiovascular disease.
Kyle Kays, BS
Allison Keach, RN, BSN, CLC
Iain Kehoe
Hargun Khanna, BS
Kendall Lavin-Parsons, BA
Kendall graduated from College of the Holy Cross in May 2018 with a bachelor of arts degree in Molecular Biology. During her four years as an undergraduate, Kendall was a member of the varsity cheerleading team and elected as a captain for her senior year. Additionally, Kendall began working as a Medical Scribe in the Emergency Departments at both UMass Memorial and Marlboro Hospital during her sophomore year, and continued to serve in this position until Spring of 2018. Beyond work and athletics, Kendall loved participating in the Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring program in Worcester, MA. She is very excited to now return to the Emergency Department and embrace her new research-oriented role!
Brendan Lilley, BA
Jim Lu, BA
Brenna McKaig, BS
Chun Mei Su, BA, MS candidate
Chun graduated from UC Davis with a BA in Psychology in 2014, and is currently pursuing the Master of Science in Clinical Investigation at Boston University while working full-time at MGH. Prior to her role at MGH, she worked at BWH in the Division of Infectious Diseases working on clinical trials testing different experiment HIV vaccines and on various other infectious disease related research studies. Currently, she is working as the program manager for the NETT and SIREN groups that conduct various emergency related clinical trials under Dr. Joshua Goldstein.
Nora Murphy, BS
Nora graduated in 2017 with a BS in Biomedical Sciences from Auburn University in Alabama. While at Auburn, Nora worked as a research assistant in the University’s genetics laboratory studying the role of gene regulation in complex trait variability using fruit flies as a model system. She also became involved with the veteran association Wounded Warrior Project as an undergraduate where she worked closely with amputee and neurologically impaired veterans. This experience sparked an interest in patients that present with traumatic brain injuries. She is excited to be part of the Massachusetts General Hospital team and looking forward to contributing to the various research projects within the Emergency Department.
Abigail O’Connell
Caroline Rizzo, BS
Caroline graduated in 2016 with a BS in Biology from Villanova University in Pennsylvania. During her time at Villanova, she worked at Jefferson University Hospital in the Emergency Department enrolling patients into research studies. After her junior year she was hired as an intern at Massachusetts General Hospital working under Shan Liu, MD, interviewing elderly patients who had fallen within the past two weeks. Caroline is interested in neurological and cardiac-related events that results in visits to the Emergency Department.
Jasmine Torrey, BS
Jasmine graduated from Northeastern University in the spring of 2016 with a degree in Biology and a minor in Marine Biology. As an undergraduate, she played on the Women’s Club Lacrosse team, took part in a year-long marine biology master’s program, and worked for two semesters in clinical research at BIDMC and BWH as part of NU’s CoOp program. Jasmine enjoys traveling, scuba diving, and hiking, and spent the year after college bartending, studying for medical school, and backpacking Southeast Asia. Jasmine loves being immersed in the high paced environment of the Emergency Department, and is looking forward to continuing her work with the PERT consortium and further investigating different aspects of PE rapid response in the ED.