OUR TEAM
Jenna Gustafson
Jenna serves as the Sr. Clinical Research Program Manager in the MGH Liver Center and has been a member of the research team for over 10 years. Jenna oversees the day-to-day operations of the clinical trials from study start-up through patient enrollment, ensuring projects are conducted within both local and federal regulatory requirements.
Ashwini Arvind
Ashwini is an Internal Medicine resident at the University of Texas Southwestern. Her research focuses on epidemiological and biological risk factors for MASLD and clinical outcomes associated with the development of MASLD in the non-obese population.
Ashwini was chosen as a 2021 Emerging Liver Scholar by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.
William Park
William is an Internal Medicine resident at the Boston University Medical Center who plans to pursue a gastroenterology fellowship after residency with a focus in hepatology.
His research interests include investigating the impact of sugar-sweetened beverages on MASLD development in population-based studies, the effect of gastric acid suppression on hepatic steatosis, and the gut microbiome. He was chosen as a 2021 Emerging Liver Scholar by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.
He earned his MD from the Drexel University College of Medicine and his B.A. in neuroscience from the University of Virginia.
Oluwafemi Balogun
Femi recently joined the MASLD program as a data analyst in May 2021. He is currently involved in a new research that explores the role intermittent fasting plays in reducing liver fat among individuals with MASLD. In addition, his interests include identifying predictors of incident disease and disease progression. He holds a master’s degree in epidemiology and biostatistics from Boston University and a medical degree from the University of Ilorin, Nigeria.
Megan Michta
Megan first joined the MGH Liver Center team as an intern in 2019. She continued working in that capacity until becoming a Clinical Research Coordinator in 2023. She currently is the primary coordinator for clinical trials investigating potential reversal of fibrosis and hepatic steatosis in patients with steatotic liver disease. She is interested in the role environmental factors play in disease development and is fascinated by the regenerative properties of the liver.
From the University of Massachusetts Amherst, she received a B.S. in Public Health Sciences and a B.S. in Environmental Science in 2022, and earned her MPH in Epidemiology in 2023.
Zoe Memel
Zoe is a resident physician within the Department of Internal Medicine at MGH. She plans to pursue a fellowship in gastroenterology after residency. Her research interests include studying how lifestyle changes can mitigate progression of fatty liver disease and metabolic syndrome. She is excited to be working on a new study on the impact intermittent fasting may have on fatty liver disease. She was awarded the American College of Physicians Southern California Student internist award in 2019 and was chosen as a 2020 Emerging Liver Scholar by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. She received her B.S. in nutrition from Cornell University and her M.D. from the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine.
Cheryl Rogen
Cheryl serves as a Clinical Research Program Manager in the MGH Liver Center and has been a member of the research team since 2016. She has worked with the team in roles ranging from Clinical Research Coordinator I to program manager. She works closely with Jenna overseeing the day-to-day operations of clinical trials from study start-up through patient enrollment, ensuring projects are conducted within both local and federal regulatory requirements.
Cheryl received her B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Syracuse University.
Michael A. Shi
Mike is an Internal Medicine resident at Baylor College of Medicine. He plans to pursue a fellowship in gastroenterology and hepatology. With an extensive basic science background, he is currently focused on clinical research involving the gut-liver axis in non-alcoholic hepatic steatosis and fibrosis.
Mike received his MD from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and his B.S. in Biology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Lisa Mun
Lisa joined the MGH Liver Center in June 2021 as a clinical research coordinator. Recently, she finished her first year of medical school at The Central Michigan University College of Medicine.
She graduated from the Boston University with a B.S. in Health Science and a minor in Biology.
Alumni
Stephanie Osganian
Stephanie joined our research team in September 2014 and serves as a senior clinical research coordinator. She graduated from Providence College in 2013 with a BA in Psychology and minor in Writing, and then went on to complete the post-baccalaureate premedical program at Harvard University (Extension). Stephanie helps implement and manage the daily activities for multiple clinical trials and repository studies within the NAFLD program. Along with our team, she helps ensure that our research is conducted in accordance with study protocols, regulatory and institutional requirements, and is focused on providing our patients with compassionate, equitable care.
Stefania Stoyanova
Stef joined the MGH liver team in January 2020. She graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a BS in Kinesiology and a minor in Psychology. She works as a clinical research coordinator, focusing on studying the effects of aspirin on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
George Apyapong
George is an Internal Medicine Resident at Yale New Haven Hospital. George’s research interests include chronic liver diseases, biomarker discovery, health disparities, and under-representation in clinical studies. He endeavors to leverage skills in clinical-translational research and community engagement to address disparities in chronic liver disease. George completed his B. Pharm at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana and MS in Applied Biotechnology at UMass Lowell. He earned his MD from Harvard Medical School.
Jeffrey Wang
Jeffrey joined the NAFLD Program at MGH in September 2020 as an NIH NRSA Predoctoral Fellow. Jeffrey’s research interests focuses on the development of non-invasive biomarkers for the diagnosis and monitoring of NAFLD. He works on several clinical trials and translational studies, ranging in topics from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to chronic liver diseases including hepatitis C and NAFLD.
He graduated from the Johns Hopkins University with a B.S. in Neuroscience and a minor in Psychology.
Thomas Wang
Thomas is a 3rd year Internal Medicine resident at MGH and plans to complete a gastroenterology fellowship after residency. His research interests are predominantly focused in two areas: diagnosis and management of NAFLD in the prevention of steatosis and fibrosis progression and novel programs and quality improvement initiatives to improve healthcare delivery systems that manage high risk patients with decompensated cirrhosis. He earned his MD from Harvard Medical School and his B.A. in neuroscience from Washington University in St. Louis.
Emad Shaikh
Emad joined MGH Liver Center as a Post-Doctoral Fellow in July 2021. He is involved in development and writing of protocols and management of IRB reviews and visits. He works closely with data analysts to perform studies on proteomics and metabolomics in NAFLD and exploring associations and risk factors between NAFLD and CVD.
He acquired his medical degree from Pakistan and then did his training at Weill Cornell Medical College-Qatar affiliated Hamad General Hospital, Doha, Qatar. He is currently earning a MPH degree at Harvard T. H Chan School of Public Health. Previously, he completed his Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Harvard Medical School.
Julia Sjoquist
Julia started in the MGH Liver Center in 2018 as a clinical research coordinator. She currently works as a senior CRC at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Jack Bertman
Jack joined the MGH Liver Center as a clinical research coordinator in July 2022. He currently assists in the management and recruitment of ongoing interventional drug trials and repository studies for the NAFLD group.
He graduated from Vassar College in 2022 with a B.A in Biochemistry and a minor in Hispanic Studies.
Hayley Schultz
Hayley joined the MGH Liver Center team as a clinical research coordinator in September 2021. Hayley will start medical school this coming academic year.
She graduated from Vassar College in 2019 with a B.A. in Biology.
Tracey Simon
Dr. Tracey Simon is a physician investigator in the MGH MASLD Program, a member of the MGH Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit, and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at HMS. She is a hepatologist in the MGH Division of Gastroenterology, where she cares for patients with chronic liver diseases, including MASLD. Her research focuses on the prevention of cirrhosis, hepatic decompensation events and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) among patients with MASLD. She conducts epidemiologic and clinical outcomes research in large population-based datasets, and integrates clinical, genetic, and molecular data from liver histology cohorts to identify novel strategies for preventing cirrhosis and HCC. Additionally, she is leading an ongoing randomized controlled trial of baby aspirin for the treatment of MASLD and MASH.
Dr. Simon earned her MD from Brown University, and an MPH from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She completed Internal Medicine residency at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and fellowship in Gastroenterology & Hepatology at the MGH. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, Harvard University, and the Dana Ferber/Harvard Cancer Center where she is a member of the Cancer Epidemiology Program.
Kathleen Corey
Dr. Kathleen Corey is the Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital MASLD Clinic, Associate Program Director for the Medicine Residency for Clinical and Translational Research, a hepatologist who specializes in NAFLD, Physician Investigator in the CTEU, and an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Her interests include clinical and translational research in NAFLD. She aims to better understand predictors of development and progression of NAFLD, the interplay between cardiovascular disease and NAFLD, and the natural history of NAFLD in persons living with HIV (PLWH). She is the Co-PI for an R01 evaluating the role of tesamorelin, a growth hormone-releasing hormone for the treatment of NAFLD, and is involved in an NIH-funded study on the prevalence, risk factors, and treatment of NAFLD in PLWH.
Dr. Corey earned her MD at Duke University School of Medicine, her MPH from the University of North Carolina and her MMSc from Harvard Medical School. Prior to joining the faculty of MGH, she completed her training in Internal Medicine, Chief Residency, Gastroenterology and Advanced Hepatology and Liver Transplant at MGH.