Our Vision
A culture of living well with
serious illness.
Our Mission
To improve the serious illness experience for patients, families, clinicians, and staff, through engagement, advance care planning, and innovation in education and technology.
Our Specialties
The Continuum Project collaborates with the following MGH specialties:
Cardiology
Emergency Medicine
Geriatrics
Medical ICU
Neurology
Oncology
Pediatric ICU
Pediatrics
Primary Care
Surgery
...and More
What We Do
How the Continuum Project is Transforming Serious Illness Care
Serious Illness Care Program
Implements a systems-based approach to high-quality advance care planning that gives clinicians knowledge, skills and infrastructure.
Engagement
Engages patients, families, clinicians and staff in the process of preparing for serious illness decision-making and empowers them to have their needs met.
Education
Develops models of palliative care education that improve palliative care skills across all disciplines.
Who We Are
The Continuum Project is comprised of dozens of individuals that help to drive our mission to care for seriously ill patients. At the forefront of the project is our core team who work hand-in-hand with passionate scholars in each of our clinical areas across the hospital. We also have a wonderful support system of advisory boards who help guide the Continuum Project.
Core Team
Jeff Greenwald, MD
Associate Director of Implementation View Bio
Jeff Greenwald, MD
Associate Director of ImplementationDr. Greenwald is a hospital medicine clinician who directs clinical groups’ post-training implementation of the Serious Illness Care Program in Hospital Medicine, Neurology, and Pediatrics. In addition, Dr. Greenwald oversees the Hospital Medicine research protocol to assess the impact of serious illness conversations on patients, families, clinicians, and systems-level measures.
Alexis Drutchas, MD
Curriculum Design & Education Co-Lead View Bio
Alexis Drutchas, MD
Curriculum Design & Education Co-LeadDr. Alexis Drutchas is a palliative care physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and an Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She completed her residency in Family Medicine at Brown University, and following residency was a primary care physician for four years at Fenway Health in Boston. She then went on to complete the Harvard Interdisciplinary Palliative Care Fellowship, and stayed on as part of the MGH inpatient palliative care team. Her work in the Continuum Project includes curriculum design and serious illness communication training for interdisciplinary clinicians and learners across MGH.
Susan Edgman-Levitan, PA
Patient Engagement View Bio
Susan Edgman-Levitan, PA
Patient EngagementSusan Edgman-Levitan is the Director of the Stoeckle Center for Primary Care at MGH and a national expert on patient engagement with more than 25 years of patient engagement experience.
Kyle Kozelka, LICSW
Social Work Education & Training Lead View Bio
Kyle Kozelka, LICSW
Social Work Education & Training LeadKyle is an inpatient palliative care social worker within the Division of Palliative Care and Geriatric Medicine at MGH with expertise and training in the treatment of trauma, earning a post-Master’s certificate in the Relational and Multi-Contextual Treatment of Trauma from Simmons University. As the social work representative on the Continuum Project, Kyle is involved in co-creating floor-based Serious Illness Trainings for nurses and social workers. Kyle also serves on the Health Equity Curriculum and Diversity Efforts Committee within the Division of Palliative Care and Geriatric Medicine, incorporating Health Equity topics into the Harvard Interprofessional Palliative Care Fellowship.
Michaela Rowland, NP
Nursing Education & Training Lead View Bio
Michaela Rowland, NP
Nursing Education & Training LeadMichaela Rowland is a palliative care nurse practitioner also with experience and training in oncology. Her interests include integration of palliative care principles in the care of oncology patients and determining and mitigating barriers to achieving those goals.
Matt Russell, MD
Primary Care Lead View Bio
Matt Russell, MD
Primary Care LeadDr. Russell is a Geriatrics and Palliative Care Clinician with expertise and training in relationship centered communication (RCC) through the Academy on Communication in Healthcare, of which he is a faculty member. In addition to leading the implementation of the Serious Illness Care Program in Primary Care, he also serves as the medical director of the Senior Health Clinic at MGH.
Jaclyn Shameklis, MD
Curriculum Design & Education Co-Lead View Bio
Jaclyn Shameklis, MD
Curriculum Design & Education Co-LeadJaclyn Shameklis, MD received her undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and her medical degree from the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth in Hanover, NH. She completed her internal medicine residency at Brown University in Providence, RI and stayed on for an additional year to work and teach as a Chief Resident. Following this, Dr. Shameklis began the Harvard Palliative Care Fellowship program and upon completion joined the MGB Palliative Care and Geriatric Medicine department as a palliative care attending in September 2020. Dr. Shameklis joined the Continuum Project in 2021 and is now working as a co-educational lead for the Serious Illness Conversation trainings.
Shanaz Sharieff, MBA, MS
Data Analyst View Bio
Shanaz Sharieff, MBA, MS
Data AnalystShanaz Sharieff is a Data Analyst at Massachusetts General Hospital’s Center for Aging and Serious Illness at the Mongan Institute and the Department of Palliative Care. In this role, she manages the creation, maintenance, support, and innovation of databases and dashboards as well as data analytics. Prior to her current position, Shanaz gained experience through multiple internships – Millipore Sigma as a Junior Data Analyst and MGH as a Data Analyst Intern received her Dual Masters of Master of Business Administration and MS in Business Analytics from Suffolk University –Boston and her Bachelor’s degree in Business Management with Finance Major from one of the most well-reputed University in India. She has worked as a Teaching Assistant and Tutor at Suffolk University and enjoyed helping students, she has done multiple analytic projects using complex data sets. She is very data-driven and passionate to convert data into actionable solutions.
Kelly Spinelli, BS
Project Manager View Bio
Kelly Spinelli, BS
Project ManagerKelly has many years of healthcare experience in project management, process improvement/quality improvement, workflow integration as well as implementing and supporting hospital information systems. She assists with the development, organization, facilitation and implementation of the Continuum Project.
Keri Sullivan, BS
Project Coordinator View Bio
Keri Sullivan, BS
Project CoordinatorKeri assists with the advancement of Continuum Project initiatives and provides administrative support. She has experience working in multiple areas of healthcare, including in patient services, clinical research, and administration. Keri has an interest in health equity and community health, which is a lens she brings to this project as well.
Erica Wilson, MD
Data & Technology Lead View Bio
Erica Wilson, MD
Data & Technology LeadDr. Wilson is a palliative care clinician and information technology specialist and who assists with the development of educational platforms and supports the integration of Continuum Project work into clinical workflow in the electronic health record.
Scholars
2021-2022
Katy Black, MD
Pulmonary & Critical CareSusan (Pui) Cheung, MD
NephrologyKate Davidoff, MD
Pediatric LeadCaitlyn Dowd, RN
PediatricsShelly Karparis, RN
NephrologyLauren Lapointe, LICSW
Emergency Department Social WorkDeborah Lee, MD
Geriatric MedicineCarolyn McDonald, RN
NeurologyBeth McIntyre, NP
NephrologyDanielle Saly, MD
NephrologyNina Tolkoff-Rubin, MD
NephrologyNneka N. Ufere, MD
Hepatology2019-2020
Annah Abrams, MD
Pediatric PsychiatryLauren Boal, MD
Pediatric Hematology-OncologyChristy Cauley, MD
SurgeryDavid D’Alessandro, MD
Cardiac SurgeryDavid Dudzinski, MD
Cardiac ICUJean Fahey, RN
NeurologyMichelle Gorski, RN
Cardiac ICUMasaya Higuchi, MD
GeriatricsDaniel Hoch, MD
NeurologyDalena Matthews, RN
Cardiac ICUDanielle Salgueiro, RN
Neurology ICUSara Stevens, NP
Oncology2018-2019
Katlyn Breton, NP
Primary CareErin Coglianese, MD
CardiologyMichael Flaherty, DO
Pediatric ICUSara Joyce, NP
OncologyNatasha Lever, NP
CardiologyRhaea Photopoulos, NP
OncologyJanet Murphy, MD
OncologyLydecke Sweet, MD
Primary CareKerstin Zanger, MD
Pediatrics2017-2018
Lillian Ananian, PhD, MSN, RN
Medical ICUBrooke Duggan, LICSW
GeriatricsAreej El-Jawahri, MD
OncologyKellyann Jeffries, NP
OncologyBrittany Kelly, NP
PediatricsChristine McCarthy, RN
Medical ICUSharda Mukunda, MD
GeriatricsKerry Reynolds, MD
OncologyEmily Rubin, MD
Medical ICUDarlene Sawicki, NP
NeurologyShannon Scott-Vernaglia, MD
PediatricsJeanne Vaughn, NP
Oncology2016-2017
Emily Aaronson, MD
Emergency MedicineJoyce Barkin, NP
Primary CareKim Cheevers, RN
Pediatric ICUBrad Dickerson, MD
NeurologyDiane Fingold, MD
Primary CareDenisa Gace, DO
Hospital MedicineJeff Greenwald, MD
Hospital MedicineTara Jennings, NP
OncologyCindy LaSala, CNS
Hospital MedicineAnnie Lee, MD
Primary CareAlison McDonough, MD
Primary CareMichele McHugh, NP
Primary CareMichael Nathan, MD
Primary CareElahna Paul, MD
Pediatric ICUMaria Rice, RN
Emergency MedicineJustine Romano, LICSW
Pediatric ICUKate Treadway, MD
Primary CarePhoebe Yager, MD
Pediatric ICUAdvisory Board
Engagement Advisory Committee
Dianne Austin
Director of Diversity, Inclusion & Engagement, Human ResourcesColleen Delaney
Director, Internal Communications, Publications and Operations, Public AffairsJohn B. Herman, MD
Associate Chief, PsychiatryMichelle M. L’Heureux, MD
Physician, Internal MedicineVirginia Manzella
Senior Administrative Director, Primary CareCarol Michael
Patient/Family RepresentativeEllen Robinson, RN, PhD
Nursing, Institute for Patient Care; Clinical Nurse SpecialistCarrie Stamos
Patient/Family RepresentativeSlavin Taskforce
Peter Slavin, MD
MGH PresidentKatrina Armstrong, MD
Chief of Service, Physician-in-Chief, MedicineShea Asfaw
Chief of Staff, MGHEd Bajwa, MD, MPH
Physician, Pulmonary and Critical Care UnitDebjani Banerji, MHA
Administrative Director, Division of Palliative Care & Geriatric MedicineDavid Brown, MD
Chief, Department of Emergency MedicineDebra Burke, RN, DNP, MBA, NEA-BC
Senior Vice President, Patient Care; Chief NurseSusan Edgman-Levitan, PA
Executive Director, Stoeckle Center for Primary Care InnovationJeanette Ives Erickson, RN, DNP
Chief Nurse Emerita, NursingTim Ferris, MD
Chief Executive Office, MGHTheresa Gallivan, RN
Associate Chief Nurse, NursingMarie Elena Gioiella
Director, Social Service DepartmentPeter Greenspan, MD
Vice Chair; Medical Director, MassGeneral Hospital for ChildrenVicki Jackson, MD
Chief, Palliative Care DivisionKeith Lillemoe, MD
Surgeon-in-Chief and Chief, Department of SurgeryJesse MacKinnon, RN
Nurse, Patient Care UnitsJosh Metlay, MD, PhD
Chief, Division of General Internal MedicineCarol Michael
Patient/Family RepresentativeCathy Minehan
MGH Board of TrusteesBritain Nicholson, MD
Senior Vice President, DevelopmentPat O’Malley, MD
Director, Pediatric Palliative CareRev. John Polk
ChaplaincyKimberly Parks, MD
Cardiologist, Cardiology DivisionAnn Prestipino, MPH
Senior Vice President; Surgery, Anesthesia, Emergency Medicine and Clinical Business DevelopmentDavid Ryan, MD
Chief, Hematology/Oncology UnitEllen Robinson, RN, PhD
Nursing, Institute for Patient Care; Clinical Nurse SpecialistJoan Sapir, EdM, MBA
Senior Vice President, AdministrationLee Schwamm, MD
Executive Vice Chair; Chief, Stroke ServicePeggy Slasman
Senior Vice President, Public AffairsJennifer Temel, MD
Clinical Director, Thoracic OncologyKatharine Treadway, MD
Physician, Internal MedicineTony Weiner, MD
Physician, PsychiatryContact Us
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