The Brain Health Initiative is a collaborative effort with the Brain Health Initiative and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), a Harvard Medical School Teaching Hospital.
Stephanie Peabody, PSYD, HSPP, Neuropsychologist | BHI FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR; CO-DIRECTOR, FLORIDA BRAIN HEALTH CONSORTIUM
Dr. Peabody is a neuropsychologist with over 30 years of experience as a clinician and program designer, consistently working to improve outcomes in brain health, development, aging, and performance at the individual and community levels.
In collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital and a global team of scientists and clinicians, she is the Founding Director of the Brain Health Initiative. Dr. Peabody has developed and co-leads several academic courses at Harvard, including Culinary and Nutritional Neuroscience, Lifestyle Medicine for Brain Health & Performance, Women’s Brain Health, and Positive Neuro Psychology.
She researches, teaches, and advises Harvard undergraduate and graduate students and a large cohort of Brain Health Scholars representing more than 30 high schools and undergraduate, graduate, and medical school programs globally.
She is also an advisor to the World Economic Forums, New Frontiers of Nutrition, and the Future of Personalized Wellbeing platforms. Dr. Peabody is a brain health expert and is often called upon to serve on global think tanks and consult on national and international brain health initiatives.
Ana-Maria Vranceanu, PhD, Clinical Psychologist | DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY INTERVENTION DEVELOPMENT & IMPLEMENTATION
Dr. Ana-Maria Vranceanu is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School. Trained as a clinical health psychologist, she has expertise in designing novel skills-based interventions to optimize brain health and prevent brain disease. She founded and directs the Integrated Brain Health Clinical and Research Program within the Department of Psychiatry at MGH. Dr. Vranceanu teaches workshops on the development and rigorous testing of skills interventions nationally and internationally. She has published over 130 articles and book chapters and has been principal investigator on 14 foundation and federally funded grants. Dr. Vranceanu is responsible for the design and conduct of rigorous clinical trials focused on preserving and optimizing brain health.
Uma Naidoo, MD | CHIEF HEALTH OFFICER and DIRECTOR OF NUTRITIONAL NEUROSCIENCE
Dr. Uma Naidoo is a Harvard nutritional psychiatrist and serves as the director of nutritional and metabolic psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital. She is on the faculty at Harvard Medical School.Dr. Naidoo trained at the Harvard Longwood Psychiatry Residency Training Program, and completed a consultation liaison fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Naidoo studied nutrition, and she also graduated from the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts as a professional chef. She was awarded her culinary school’s most coveted award, the MFK Fisher Award for Innovation. The nexus of training as a psychiatrist, professional chef and nutritional biologist have culminated in Dr. Naidoo being regarded nationally and internationally as a pioneer in the field of nutritional psychiatry. She founded the first US hospital-based clinical service in Nutritional Psychiatry and is a national and international best selling author of This is Your Brain on Food.
Shelley Carson, PhD, Psychologist | BHI DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING; MEMBER FLORIDA BRAIN HEALTH CONSORTIUM
Dr. Shelley Carson received her PhD in psychology from Harvard University in 2001, where she conducts research, teaches, and advises students. Her research on creativity, psychopathology, and resilience has been widely published in both national and international scientific journals, and her findings have been featured on the Discovery Channel, CNN, NPR, the BBC, and Radio Free Europe. In addition, Dr. Carson’s work has been noted in magazines such as Newsweek, Scientific American, and Psychology Today. Dr. Carson has served as a senior consultant and subject matter expert for a U.S. Department of Defense project, which provides innovative online mental health assistance to service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Dr. Carson also writes a popular psychology blog and has published an award-winning book on creativity. Dr. Carson is responsible for overseeing BHI’s education and training program and for designing and facilitating access to online survey instruments that will deliver evidence-based measures of scientific interest in all phases of this study.
Michael Jaffee, MD, FAAN, FANA | SENIOR ADVISOR TO BHI RESEARCH AND COMMUNITY INTERVENTION; CO-DIRECTOR, FLORIDA BRAIN HEALTH CONSORTIUM
Dr. Michael Jaffee, is an associate professor and Chair the Department of Neurology at the University of Florida. Prior to his current position, he was an associate professor of neurology, psychiatry and neurobehavioral sciences at the University of Virginia, where he served as the inaugural medical director of the Brain Injury and Sports Concussion Institute and director of the neurology sleep service. He graduated from the University of Virginia School of Medicine in 1992 and completed a combined residency in neurology and psychiatry at the San Antonio Uniformed Services Health Education Consortium in San Antonio in 1998. He later went on to complete a sleep medicine fellowship there in 2011.
Dr. Jaffee is board certified in neurology, psychiatry, sleep medicine and brain injury medicine. He has additional certifications in behavioral neurology and neuropsychiatry, as well as neural repair and rehabilitation.
His 21-year Air Force career included wartime service as the chief of the medical staff for the largest U.S. military hospital in Iraq and service as the U.S. Air Force surgeon general neurology consultant. He served as the U.S. Department of Defense liaison to two White House-appointed panels of the Defense Health Board, and as the national director of the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, where he managed a network of 18 sites leading to the publication of over 100 peer-reviewed articles and paving the way for deployed medical research. Dr. Jaffee helped develop seminal clinical practice guidelines and tools for the management of traumatic brain injury. He has represented the Department of Defense with congressional testimony. He was the first medical officer invited to have his military promotion ceremony in the House of Representatives. He has served as a consultant to the Institute of Medicine, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the National Institutes of Health and the National Football League.
Dr. Jaffee retired from the Air Force in 2013 at the rank of colonel, when he was appointed to his faculty position at UVA. Now at UF, he continues to serve as a national and federal subject matter expert and serves as chair of the Peer Reviewed Alzheimer’s Research Program as part of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program. He also is the senior neurologist serving on the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation national brain injury medicine examination committee.
Dr. Jaffee has dedicated a significant part of his career to developing innovative educational and research collaborations between the Department of Defense, federal agencies, academic institutions and other stakeholders, including the National Football League and the Alzheimer’s Association.
Amy Patel, MS| BRAIN HEALTH SCHOLAR PROGRAM COORDINATOR
Amy Patel, MS, serves as the Program Coordinator for the Brain Health Scholar Program, is a 2022-2024 Brain Health Scholar, a Research Assistant to BHI faculty, and the Project Director and Co-Editor for the Lifestyle Medicine for Brain Health and Performance Project. In addition to her involvement with BHI leadership, she is a full-time third-year medical student at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) in New York. Prior to attending medical school, Amy completed her Master’s in Medical Science at LECOM-Bradenton and her Bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience at Georgia Tech in midtown Atlanta. She has previously conducted research on the effects of brain injury on resting state function, caregiving in assisted living facilities, and therapeutic options in neuro-oncology. In her free time, Amy enjoys creating content for her own global wellness podcast, volunteering with aging populations, and practicing the “food as medicine” philosophy through new brain-healthy recipes.
Alex Velez Herth, MS, MA |BRAIN HEALTH SCHOLAR STUDENT LIAISON
Alex Velez, M.S., M.A. serves as the Student Liaison for the Brain Health Scholar’s Program. She is a 2022-2024 Brain Health Scholar and a research assistant in the BHI program. Alex is a third-year doctoral student in Spalding University’s Clinical Psychology program and is emphasizing her studies in Health Psychology. Prior to attending Spalding, she completed her Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from Murray State University, and her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Kentucky Wesleyan College. Her clinical interests include the mind-body connection and the use of mindfulness techniques that serve as a whole-body treatment approach to mental health and comorbid physical illnesses. At BHI, she serves as an assistant to the program coordinator, manages the communication and training of other Brain Health Scholars, in addition to creating specialized training content for them to become Certified Brain Health educators.
Gabrielle Bachtel | COMMUNITIES FOR BRAIN HEALTH OUTREACH COORDINATOR
Gabrielle Bachtel serves as the BHI Communities for Brain Health Outreach Coordinator. She is also a 2022-2024 Brain Health Scholar and a Research Assistant to BHI faculty. Gabrielle is a third-year medical student at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) and Florida Area Health Education Center Scholar. She earned her 200-hour Registered Yoga Teacher license as a high school student and is currently undergoing her 500-hour Registered Yoga Teacher training. She has extensive experience with research, including human clinical trial studies, academic writing, and microbiology/immunology bench work, as well as community engagement and leadership. Her current research and book chapters explore the entanglement of lifestyle medicine, overall health, and well-being through a brain health lens; lifestyle neuropsychiatry; lifestyle medicine implementation strategies and interventions; food as medicine; nutritional neuroscience; the intersection of lifestyle medicine and positive psychology; the brain-mind-body connection; global/public health and healthcare policy; health disparities; and social determinants of health. At BHI, she is involved in building strategic relationships with collaborative partners and community members; developing, implementing, and evaluating Communities for Brain Health initiatives and activities; and coordinating event and fundraising opportunities.
