Core Leadership
Medical Leaders
Mitchel B. Harris, MD
Co-Medical Director
Mitchel B. Harris, MD
Co-Medical Director
Mitchel B. Harris, MD, envisions the center bringing together scientists and clinicians with a common interest in trauma care to streamline bench-to-bedside research and encourage multi-institutional collaborations. Until the fall of 2016, Harris served as the chief of the Orthopedic Trauma Services at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where he was awarded the Stepping Strong Distinguished Chair of Orthopedic Surgery. After assuming the role of Chair of Orthopedic Surgery at MGH (2017-2024), he was named the inaugural Chair of Orthopedic Surgery for the Mass General Brigham enterprise. He is a professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School. He was a recipient of the International Volvo Award for Low Back Pain Research, the BWH Hippocrates Society’s Humanitarian Award, and the Clifford Barger Mentorship Award from HMS. He has received teaching awards at the three institutions where he has worked.
Medical Leaders
Ali Salim, MD
Co-Medical Director
Ali Salim, MD
Co-Medical Director
Ali Salim, MD, is a professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School and has served as the chief of the Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery at Mass General Brigham. He also serves as the BWH Endowed Chair in Surgery and co-medical director of the Stepping Strong Center for Trauma Innovation. A renowned traumatologist and surgical intensivist, Dr. Salim is dedicated to clinical service, research, and surgical education. His clinical interests focus on the management of acutely ill trauma, emergency surgery, and intensive care unit patients. His research centers on trauma patient outcomes, traumatic brain injury, optimizing organ donor physiology, and increasing organ donation rates. He has authored or co-authored over 400 peer-reviewed publications, with recent NIH-funded research exploring racial disparities in organ donation. His work also examines the long-term physical, emotional, and psychosocial effects of moderate to severe traumatic injuries. Before joining BWH, Dr. Salim was an attending physician, director of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, and program director of the general surgery residency at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Duke University, a master’s degree from Columbia University, and his medical degree from Howard University College of Medicine. He completed his general surgery internship and residency, as well as a fellowship in trauma and surgical critical care, at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine.
Medical Leaders
Matthew J. Carty, MD
Director of Strategy and Innovation
Matthew J. Carty, MD
Director of Strategy and Innovation
In addition to his role as director of strategy and innovation at the Stepping Strong Center, Matthew J. Carty, MD, also serves as director of the Lower Limb Extremity Transplant Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and as assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. Carty is focused on reinventing how lower extremity amputations are performed to provide amputees with greater control of prosthetics and restore their limb responsiveness. In collaboration with Hugh Herr, PhD, from the Center for Extreme Bionics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Carty and his team invented the agonist-antagonist myoneural interface (AMI) procedure—a surgical method that preserves the normal signaling between a patient’s ankle-foot muscles and his or her brain. The pioneering surgery makes it possible for an amputee to use a bionic prosthetic that acts like a natural limb.
Core Faculty
James Lederer, PhD
Scientific Director
James Lederer, PhD
Co-Scientific Advisor
James Lederer, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and Principal Investigator of his NIH-funded research lab at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. An expert in trauma immunology, his work has been instrumental in establishing how injuries and radiation affect the immune system, with the goal of developing novel therapies to improve outcomes for patients following trauma, infections, and other immune challenges. Lederer’s innovative research extends to autoimmune diseases, sepsis, lung inflammation, and cancer immunology, using cutting-edge systems immunology approaches to translate findings from the lab to patient care.
Core Faculty
Molly Jarman, PhD, MPH
Injury Prevention Program Director
Molly Jarman, PhD, MPH
Injury Prevention Program Director
Molly Jarman, PhD, MPH, is the Deputy Director and lead research faculty for Health Informatics and Data Infrastructure at the Brigham and Women’s Center for Surgery and Public Health. She is also an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Her research addresses trauma surgery and emergency medical services, with a primary interest in trauma system organization, access to care for underserved populations, and the development of methodologies for the use of naturally occurring data in health services research. With training in both health behavior (MPH, University of North Carolina) and health policy (PhD, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health), Jarman believes multifaceted, interdisciplinary efforts are essential for preventing injuries.
Founder
Audrey Epstein Reny, MBA
Founder and Advisory Board Chair
Audrey Epstein Reny, MBA
Founder and Advisory Board Chair
Audrey Epstein Reny, MBA, is Co-CEO of The Abbey Group, where she oversees the firm’s property portfolio and leads strategic planning for new development. Previously, she taught at Northeastern University and worked at Bain & Company, American Express, and Johnson & Johnson. Audrey serves on the boards of Boston Ballet, The Boston Foundation, the Mayor of Boston’s Women’s Workforce Council, the Women’s Foundation of Boston, and the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, and has previously served on the boards of Horizons for Homeless Children and Mass General Hospital for Children. She has led major fundraising efforts and run the Boston Marathon eight times in support of local charities. She founded and chairs the Advisory Board of The Gillian Reny Stepping Strong Center for Trauma Innovation at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she also serves on the President’s Advisory Board. Audrey is a member of the Undergraduate Financial Aid Leadership Council at the University of Pennsylvania, where she earned a BA from the College and an MBA from the Wharton School.
Program Leaders
Cheryl Lang, MPH
Program Director
Cheryl Lang, MPH
Program Director
After joining the Stepping Strong Center in 2019 as Injury Prevention Project Manager, Cheryl Lang, MPH, now serves as Program Director. In this role, she provides strategic oversight of the center’s trauma research and care initiatives. Lang is skilled at executing program strategies and cultivating multidisciplinary collaborations. A passionate advocate for advancing public health, Lang is committed to improving outcomes for trauma survivors. Previously, Lang worked at Boston Children’s Hospital and the Department of Public Health, where she focused on integrating prevention strategies into community public health initiatives. She received her Bachelor’s of Science and Master’s of Public Health degrees from Boston University.
Program Leaders
Veronica Topp, MPH
Program Manager
Veronica Topp, MPH
Program Manager
Since joining the Stepping Strong Center for Trauma Innovation in 2022, Veronica Topp has taken on the role of Injury Prevention Program Manager, providing leadership and overseeing daily operations for the Center’s injury prevention initiatives. Drawing on her Master of Public Health degree in community health from Boston University, Topp oversees the education and advocacy efforts of the Center and drives the implementation of new programs. Her professional background spans education, biomedical research, and the non-profit sector. With a strong commitment to injury prevention, Topp focuses on reducing traumatic injuries and strengthening community resilience from a public health perspective.
Program Leaders
Giana Cofman, MBA
Communications Specialist
Giana Cofman, MBA
Communications Specialist
Giana Cofman, MBA, serves as the marketing and communications lead for The Gillilan Reny Stepping Strong Center for Trauma Innovation. She oversees all internal and external communications, develops social media strategies and content, translates complex health information for various audiences, and creates marketing materials to promote the center’s events and initiatives. Cofman holds a Master of Business Administration and a bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Emmanuel College, where her studies in biology and healthcare management provided a strong foundation for her work at the intersection of health and communications. With prior experience in injury prevention education at Boston Children’s Hospital, she is passionate about using marketing and communications to help people understand how to better care for themselves.
Program Leaders
J. Morgan Jones, PA-C
Clinic Director, Stepping Strong TRAIL Clinic
J. Morgan Jones, PA-C
Clinic Director, Stepping Strong TRAIL Clinic
J. Morgan Jones, PA-C, is a physician assistant specializing in general surgery and orthopedic trauma. In her role at The Gillian Reny Stepping Strong Center for Trauma Innovation, she leads the newly launched Stepping Strong Transforming Recovery After Injury for the Long-term (TRAIL) Clinic, which is dedicated to addressing the needs of high-risk trauma patients. The Stepping Strong TRAIL Clinic combines comprehensive risk assessments, personalized recovery plans, and preventative education to improve patient outcomes and reduce repeat injuries. Morgan is a graduate from the Yale Physician Assistant Program. She began her career at Yale New Haven Hospital, where she spent three years on the inpatient orthopedics team, managing complex trauma cases and developing her passion for trauma prevention and long-term recovery care. Morgan is deeply committed to improving the lives of trauma patients by bridging the gap between acute care and sustained recovery. Her work at Stepping Strong TRAIL Clinic reflects her belief in the importance of individualized care and education as key components of successful outcomes.
Medical Executive Committee
The Stepping Strong Medical Executive Committee consists of leading physicians and researchers from several academic institutions with expertise in plastic and orthopaedic surgery, bioengineering, and basic science. The committee advises The Gillian Reny Stepping Strong Center for Trauma Innovation on scientific and medical direction, utility of current initiatives, prioritization of future grant making areas, and selection of award recipients. In addition, committee members provide strategic advice to the Stepping Strong Advisory Board members and Stepping Strong-affiliated faculty.
Shailesh Agarwal, MD
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Geoffrey Anderson, MD, MPH
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Natalie Artzi, PhD
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Reza Askari, MD
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Harvard Medical School
DaMarcus Baymon, MD
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Paul Biddinger, MD
Mass General Brigham
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Matthew J. Carty, MD
Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Zara Cooper, MD, MSc
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Harvard Medical School
David Crandell, MD
Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital
George Dyer, MD
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Omid Farokhzad, MD, MBA
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Jonathan Gates, MD, MBA
Hartford Hospital
Hartford Healthcare Medical Group
Eric Goralnick, MD, MS
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Mitchel B. Harris, MD
Massachusetts General Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Juan Herrera-Escobar, MD, MPH
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Molly Jarman, PhD, MPH
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Jeff Karp, PhD
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Broad Institute
James Lederer, PhD
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Nomi Levy-Carrick, MD, MPhil
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Yi Lu, MD, PhD
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Meghan McDonald, MSN, RN, TCRN
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
David Mooney, MD, MPH
Children’s Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Stephanie Nitzschke, MD
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Bohdan Pomahac, MD
Yale University
Yale School of Medicine
Olivier Pourquie, PhD
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Nakul Raykar, MD, MPH
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Ali Salim, MD
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Christian Sampson, MD
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Naomi Shimizu, MD
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Indranil Sinha, MD
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Nishant Suneja, MD
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Diane Tsitos, DNP, RN
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Arvind von Keudell, MD, PhD
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Mike Weaver, MD
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Scott Weiner, MD, MPH
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Jack Wixted, MD
Beth Israel Deaconess
Harvard Medical School
Mark Zhang, DO, MMSc
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Advisory Board
The Stepping Strong Advisory Board consists of distinguished business leaders and philanthropists who offer strategic guidance on The Gillian Reny Stepping Strong Center for Trauma Innovation’s programming, development efforts, and partnerships across Mass General Brigham and beyond. Board members help forge connections between the Stepping Strong Center and leading corporations, academic institutions, and charitable organizations with which they are affiliated.
- Audrey Epstein Reny, Chair
- Dave Averett
- Jeffrey Beir
- Sarah Beir
- Paul Bleicher
- Tara Ciongoli
- Francis Claro
- Timothy Diggins
- Sandra Edgerley
- Barbara Eisenson
- Michael Eisenson
- Betsy Banks Epstein
- David Epstein
- Esta Gordon Epstein
- Jennifer Epstein
- Robert Epstein
- Nina Fialkow
- Margaret Flanagan
- Jane Reny Frank
- Michael Greeley
- Winston Henderson
- William Keravuori
- Elizabeth Loughlin
- Erin McDonough
- Terry McGowan
- Jeryl Oristaglio
- Robert Nagle
- Ted Pappendick
- Carroll Pierce
- Robert Pierce
- Danielle Reny
- Gillian Reny
- Steven Reny
- Carmichael Roberts
- Hamid Tabatabaie
- Ronit Velde
- Patricia Winton
Your gift today can transform trauma care and save lives tomorrow.