The BIDMC & VA Boston Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellowship trains fellows at two academically rich sites, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the VA Boston Healthcare System, under a faculty drawn from psychiatry, neurology, and related disciplines across the Harvard and Boston University medical communities. The clinicians and educators listed here provide direct supervision, didactic teaching, and mentorship throughout the fellowship year.
Program Leadership
The fellowship is jointly administered across two sites. Each site has dedicated leadership, and fellows rotate through both.
| BIDMC | VA Boston |
Joshua Leo, MD, MPH Liz Dunn, MD Katiuska Ramirez, MD Danilo Rojas-Velasquez, MD | John C. Bradley, MD, DFAPA Larkin Kao, MD, FACLP |
Faculty
Fellowship Leadership
Joshua Leo, MD, MPH
Fellowship Program Director; Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Areas of interest: Neuropsychiatry, medical education, interdisciplinary teaching
Dr. Leo directs the BIDMC & VA Boston Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellowship and is a full-time Consultation-Liaison psychiatrist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He completed medical school and an MPH in Health Systems Management at Tulane University, psychiatry residency in the Harvard Longwood Psychiatry Residency Training Program, and a Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry fellowship at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
His work centers on neuropsychiatry, the care of medically complex inpatients, and clear, accessible teaching across specialties. His awards include the BIDMC Department of Psychiatry Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching and Mentorship, the Harvard Longwood Psychiatry Residency Excellence in Teaching Award, and a Department of Medicine teaching award selected by internal medicine housestaff at BIDMC. These honors reflect the mentorship culture and interdisciplinary education fellows experience in the program.
Outside of work, he is an unshakable New England Patriots fan and remains convinced that watching Brady-era game film should count as continuing medical education in crisis management.
Liz Dunn, MD
Director, BIDMC Psychiatric Consultation-Liaison Service; Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Areas of interest: Medical humanities, medical education, patient-doctor relationship, interviewing
A third-generation Californian, Dr. Dunn attended Stanford University, completed a master’s at UC Berkeley with a thesis on metaphor in medical language, and earned her MD from UC San Francisco. She directs the Psychiatry Consultation-Liaison Service at BIDMC, seeing patients in the emergency department and on medical and surgical floors. Her leadership goal is a service defined by collaboration, clinical excellence, and academic inquiry.
She teaches and mentors residents in the Harvard BIDMC Psychiatry Residency Program and Harvard medical students, focusing on interviewing and the patient-doctor relationship while fostering trainees' professional identities. Her interests include the medical humanities. Honors include the Harvard Longwood Psychiatry Residency Excellence in Teaching Award, the BIDMC Department of Psychiatry Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching and Mentorship, the APA Nancy Roeske Teaching Award, and the Harvard Medical School Cynthia Kettyle Teaching Award for Medical Student Education in Psychiatry.
Katiuska Ramirez, MD
Associate Director, BIDMC Psychiatric Consultation-Liaison Service; Fellowship Associate Program Director; Instructor in Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Areas of interest: Medical education, mentorship, demoralization, psycho-oncology, medical humanities
Dr. Katiuska J. Ramirez is a first-generation Hispanic physician who was born in Caracas, Venezuela, and grew up in Miami, FL. She has been in Boston, MA, since relocating for psychiatry residency training. She serves as Associate Director of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) C-L Psychiatry Service since 2022 and Associate Program Director of the BIDMC & VA Boston C-L Psychiatry Fellowship since 2024. She trained in the Harvard Longwood Psychiatry Residency Program (2015-2019) and completed fellowship training in C-L Psychiatry at Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School (2019-2020).
She was elected Secretary of the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society (MPS) in May 2026 and currently serves as co-chair of the MPS C-L Psychiatry Committee and Women in Psychiatry Committee. She has presented yearly at the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry (ACLP) Annual Meeting since 2023 and serves on the ACLP's Fellowship Education, General Sessions, and Mentorship Subcommittees. She was recently selected to serve on the American Psychiatric Association (APA) C-L Council in May 2026. Her honors include the BIDMC & VA Boston C-L Fellowship Program Faculty Teaching Award (2024), the BIDMC Department of Psychiatry Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching and Mentorship (2025), and the Association for Academic Psychiatry (AAP) Early Career Development Award (2026).
Outside of her clinical and educational work, she writes poetry as a way to reflect on the emotional realities of caring for medically ill patients; her poem "Cranberry Juice" was recently published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
Danilo Rojas-Velasquez, MD
Fellowship Site Director, BIDMC; Instructor in Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Areas of interest: Psychiatric boarding, geriatric psychiatry, consultation-liaison service delivery, neuropsychiatric complications of medical illness, medical education, health equity
Dr. Rojas-Velasquez is an Instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and a Consultation-Liaison psychiatrist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where he serves as Site Director of the BIDMC & VA Boston C-L Psychiatry Fellowship. He also serves as Core Faculty for the HMS Psychiatry Clerkship Principal Clinical Experience, providing longitudinal teaching and assessment of medical students' clinical skills and reasoning. He completed his medical degree and psychiatry residency, serving as Chief Resident of both Psychosomatic Medicine and Diversity & Inclusion, at Yale School of Medicine, and his fellowship in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
His research focuses on psychiatric boarding, geriatric psychiatry, and the organization of psychiatric care in complex hospital settings, with recent publications in General Hospital Psychiatry, Journal of Hospital Medicine, and the Journal of Academic Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry. Born and raised in NYC, Dr. Rojas-Velasquez has a longstanding commitment to health equity and care of underserved communities, shaped by leadership in student-run free clinics and diversity initiatives at Yale. He brings that same commitment to his mentorship of fellows, residents, and students at BIDMC.
Larkin Kao, MD, FACLP
Medical Director of C-L Psychiatry, VA West Roxbury; Fellowship Associate Program Director; Fellowship Site Director, VA; Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Boston University
Areas of interest: Medical education, inpatient C-L psychiatry
Dr. Kao earned her medical degree at the University of California, San Francisco. She completed adult psychiatry residency at Boston University Medical Center and a fellowship in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry at Brigham and Women's Hospital. She has worked as a C-L psychiatrist with VA Boston since 2018 and has been the Medical Director of the C-L service at West Roxbury since 2022. She is an Associate Program Director of the BIDMC & VA Boston C-L Psychiatry Fellowship, an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, and a Part-Time Lecturer in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. She has served as the Scientific Program Chair for the ACLP 2026 Annual Meeting and as a member of the ACLP Medical Student Education Subcommittee, Education Committee, Membership Subcommittee, and Annual Meeting Committee. Honors include the Boston Medical Center Psychiatry Residency Program PGY1&2 Faculty Teaching Award, the Harvard South Shore Psychiatry Residency PGY2 Faculty Teaching Award, and the Boston University School of Medicine Affiliate Teaching Award.
Andrew Budson, MD
Chief, Cognitive Behavioral Neurology, VA Boston; Professor of Neurology, BU School of Medicine; Lecturer in Neurology, HMS; Associate Director, BU Alzheimer's Disease Center
Subspecialty: Neurocognitive Disorders
Areas of interest: Alzheimer's disease, memory disorders, neurocognitive assessment, neuroimaging, anti-amyloid therapies
Dr. Budson is Chief of Cognitive Behavioral Neurology at VA Boston, Professor of Neurology at Boston University School of Medicine, Lecturer in Neurology at Harvard Medical School, and Associate Director of the BU Alzheimer's Disease Center. He received his AB from Haverford College and MD from Harvard Medical School, followed by internship at Brigham and Women's, neurology residency at the Harvard-Longwood program, a clinical fellowship in Cognitive Behavioral Neurology at BWH, and a research fellowship in Psychology at Harvard University.
He has delivered 950+ academic talks and published 150+ papers, reviews, and chapters, co-authoring nine books including Memory Loss, Alzheimer's Disease, and Dementia: A Practical Guide for Clinicians. His research focuses on improving memory in Alzheimer's disease and the relationship between memory, consciousness, and dementia. He runs the VA Boston Memory Disorders Clinic, where fellows spend three months on Monday mornings learning brain-behavior relationships, late-life memory disorder diagnosis and treatment (including lecanemab and donanemab), and interpretation of neuroimaging and neuropsychological testing.
Danny Mendoza, MD
Director of Neuropsychiatry, BIDMC Cognitive Neurology Unit; Director, BIDMC Heart Transplant Psychiatry Service; BID Community Hospital Regional Director; Chief of Psychiatry, BID Needham and BID Milton; Lecturer in Psychiatry, HMS
Subspecialty: Neuropsychiatry and Neurocognitive Disorders; Transplant Psychiatry
Areas of interest: Neuropsychiatry, neuroimaging, heart transplant psychiatry, addiction psychiatry, psycho-oncology, psychiatry in primary care
Dr. Mendoza completed his internship, residency, fellowships, and Chief Residency at Harvard Medical School. He is board certified in Psychiatry with subspecialty certifications in Addiction Psychiatry, Geriatric Psychiatry, and Psychosomatic Medicine. He serves as Director of Neuropsychiatry at the BIDMC Cognitive Neurology Unit, Director of the BIDMC Heart Transplant Psychiatry Service, BID Community Hospital Regional Director, and Chief of Psychiatry at BID Needham and BID Milton. He is also a Lecturer in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
His interests include neuropsychiatry, neuroimaging, heart transplant psychiatry, addiction psychiatry, psycho-oncology, and psychiatry in primary care. Dr. Mendoza especially enjoys working with medical students, residents, and fellows on complex medical and neurological cases with neuropsychiatric presentations, guiding them in formulating diagnoses through careful history-taking, neurological examination, and appropriate workup, including neuroimaging, to validate clinical impressions. His teaching honors include the BIDMC Department of Psychiatry Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching and Mentorship.
Marta Herschkopf, MD, MSt
Director of Medical Student Education in Psychiatry, HMS Department of Psychiatry at BIDMC; Attending, CL Service
Areas of interest: Bioethics, psychodynamic theory, medical education, religion/spirituality
Dr. Herschkopf earned her medical degree at Harvard Medical School and a Master's in Theology from the University of Oxford. She completed Adult Psychiatry Residency at NYU School of Medicine and a fellowship in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital. She serves as Director of Medical Student Education in Psychiatry for the HMS Department of Psychiatry at BIDMC and as an attending on the C-L Service. She maintains a psychotherapy-oriented private practice in Cambridge and is affiliate faculty at the HMS Center for Bioethics. Her interests include bioethics, psychodynamic theory, medical education, and religion/spirituality.
Rohn Friedman, MD
Vice Chair, BIDMC Department of Psychiatry; Associate Professor of Psychiatry (Part-Time), HMS
Areas of interest: C-L psychiatry, geriatric psychiatry, forensic psychiatry, psychodynamic applications in C-L, dementia/delirium, collaborative care, medical ethics, quality improvement
Dr. Friedman graduated from Harvard Medical School and completed Adult Psychiatry Residency at the Payne Whitney Clinic, New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. He is Vice Chair of the BIDMC Department of Psychiatry and Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Part-Time, at Harvard Medical School. Formerly Director of the Psychiatric Consultation Service at BIDMC, he continues to teach and work on the service. His interests include C-L psychiatry, geriatric psychiatry, forensic psychiatry, psychodynamic applications in C-L, behavioral symptoms of dementia and delirium, collaborative care, medical training, mentoring, medical ethics, and quality improvement.
Bernie Vaccaro, MD, FACLP
Former Director and Interim Director, BIDMC Psychiatric Consultation Service; Clinical Director of Neuropsychiatry, BIDMC
Subspecialty: Neuropsychiatry and Neurocognitive Disorders
Areas of interest: Neuropsychiatry, epilepsy, movement disorders, burn/trauma psychiatry, violence prevention
Dr. Vaccaro earned his MD at Georgetown University, completed Adult Psychiatry Residency at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center/Harvard Longwood Program, and fellowships in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry at Brigham and Women's Hospital and in Neuropsychiatry at the Behavioral Neurology Unit at BIDMC. He has consulted to burn/trauma units, comprehensive epilepsy monitoring services, centers of excellence for epilepsy and movement disorders, and the Center for Violence Prevention and Recovery. He has served as Director and Interim Director of the BIDMC Psychiatric Consultation Service and Clinical Director of Neuropsychiatry at BIDMC. He is a Fellow of the ACLP and the APA and has received teaching awards at BWH and BIDMC.
Anthony Weiss, MD, MBA, MSc, CPE, FAPA
Former Chief Medical Officer, BIDMC; Course Director, Physician Leadership Program; HMS Psychiatry Faculty
Areas of interest: Health care delivery improvement, neurology-psychiatry interface, ethics of novel neurotherapies
Dr. Weiss is former Chief Medical Officer at BIDMC, course director of the Physician Leadership Program at BIDMC, and on the HMS psychiatry faculty. He received a BS in pharmacology and toxicology (highest distinction) and an MD from the University of Wisconsin, an MSc from HMS, and an MBA (summa cum laude) from Babson College. He trained in the MGH/McLean residency, completed a consultation psychiatry fellowship at MGH, and additional fellowships including Harvard-MIT HST.
His work focuses on improving health care delivery across mental health and hospital systems. He teaches and sees patients on the BIDMC C-L Service, with interests at the neurology-psychiatry interface and the ethics of novel neurotherapies. He has 70+ publications and serves as a peer reviewer for multiple journals. Honors include Young Investigator Awards from the International Congress on Schizophrenia and the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, plus HMS teaching awards.
Talya Shahal, MD
Attending, CL Service, VA Boston; Instructor in Psychiatry, HMS and BU; Site Director for Harvard South Shore Psychiatry Residents, MGB Geriatric Psychiatry Fellows
Areas of interest: Dementia with behavioral disturbances, palliative care in older adults, education of trainees and nursing staff
Dr. Shahal earned her medical degree at Tel Aviv University School of Medicine, completed internship at Meir Medical Center, Adult Psychiatry Residency at St. Mary Mercy Hospital (Michigan), and a fellowship in Geriatric Psychiatry at Mass General Brigham, working across McLean Hospital, Mass General Hospital, and Brigham and Women's Hospital. She is on the C-L Service at the VA Boston Healthcare System and is an Instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Boston University. She serves as site director for Harvard South Shore Psychiatry residents and MGB Geriatric Psychiatry fellows.
She has served on the AAGP's Teaching and Training committee since 2019 and Resident Education Subcommittee since 2019, and has been recognized for contributions to clinical education by Harvard South Shore Psychiatry Residency.
Pooja Sarkar, DO
Attending, Division of Addiction Psychiatry, BIDMC; Instructor in Psychiatry, HMS
Areas of interest: Substance use disorders, perinatal addiction, complex alcohol and opioid withdrawal in hospitalized patients
Dr. Sarkar is a board-certified addiction psychiatrist in the Division of Addiction Psychiatry at BIDMC and an Instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Her clinical practice focuses on outpatient treatment of substance use disorders and inpatient consultation for medically complex patients. Before joining BIDMC, Dr. Sarkar completed her Addiction Psychiatry fellowship at Boston Medical Center and her general psychiatry residency at the University of Massachusetts Medical School-Baystate. Her academic interests include substance use disorders in perinatal populations and the management of complex alcohol and opioid withdrawal in hospitalized patients.
Ornella Dubaz, MD
Director of Movement Disorders, VA Boston; Clinical Instructor of Neurology, HMS/BWH; Site Director, MGB Neurology Residents at VA Boston
Subspecialty: Movement Disorders
Areas of interest: Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, Huntington's disease, DBS, chemodenervation, interdisciplinary care, neuropalliative care
Dr. Dubaz is Director of Movement Disorders at the VA Boston Healthcare System and Clinical Instructor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School/Brigham and Women's Hospital. She graduated from Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, PA and completed her neurology residency at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, IL, followed by a movement disorders fellowship at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She has been Director of Movement Disorders at VA Boston since 2020.
Her clinical interests include Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, Huntington's disease, deep brain stimulation, chemodenervation, interdisciplinary models of care, and neuropalliative care. Her research includes studying medication practices in Parkinson's disease, the benefits of exercise for PD, and clinical trials for disease-modifying and symptomatic treatments. She is the founder and director of the VA Boston Parkinson's Disease Interdisciplinary Clinic. She has received numerous Excellence in Teaching Awards and won the Susan Perlman Award for Academic Excellence, Special Leadership Skills, and Compassion for Patients in 2019. She is also site director for the Mass General Brigham Neurology residents at VA Boston.
Stephen Nicolson, MD, FACLP
Director, Psychiatry Consultation Service and Addiction Psychiatry Service, BID Plymouth; Part-Time Lecturer in Psychiatry, HMS
Areas of interest: Bedside neuropsychiatric examination, global health, addiction
Dr. Nicolson earned his medical degree at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, completed Adult Psychiatry Residency at Emory University, and a fellowship in Psychosomatic Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. Before joining Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth, he directed the Psychiatry Consultation Service and the Psychosomatic Medicine Fellowship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He sees patients at the Senior Behavioral Health Center, directs the Psychiatry Consultation Service and the Addiction Psychiatry Service at BID Plymouth, and is a Part-Time Lecturer in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. His interests include bedside neuropsychiatric examination, global health, and addiction. He has published in AJP, Journal of Addiction Medicine, Lancet Oncology, Psychiatric Services, and Psychosomatics, among others.
Questions?
For questions about the program or application process, contact
Program Director Joshua R. Leo, MD, MPH or
Program Coordinator Renetta Johnson
Visit the main fellowship page for program overview, curriculum, and application details.