Sam W. Ho Health Justice Scholars Program Mentors

Core Mentors

Bonnie Engelbart, MD
Dr. Engelbart was born and raised in Pompton Plains, NJ. She attended medical school at George Washington University and completed her residency training at St. Margaret in Pittsburgh, PA. She has been practicing medicine for 11 years and is currently a full-time clinician at Everett and Revere Health Center where she precepts Tufts third year medical students daily. She previously worked at Lynn Community Health Center for over five years. She served as a group leader for the Healer’s Art course at Tufts School of Medicine in addition to providing geriatrics training for pre-clinical students. She is interested in dermatology and geriatrics and spends her free time reading, running, swimming, participating in church activities at the progressive UCC church in Davis Square, and spending time with her husband and three sons.

Ken Freedman, MD, MS, MBA, FACP, FASAM, AGAF
Dr. Freedman has served as the Chief Medical Officer of the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital since August 2009. Ken also serves as Clinical Professor of Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, Treasurer for the Massachusetts Society of Addiction Medicine, and Regional Director for New England for the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM). Over the past 20 years, Ken has used his wide range of clinical and managerial skills to serve the needs of behavioral health and substance abuse patients. Ken teaches clinicians on the medically appropriate and humane treatment of pain disorders. Ken’s professional commitment is to help move health care delivery towards the integration of medical care and substance abuse treatment in respectful and innovative ways.

Kiame Mahaniah, MD
Dr. Mahaniah was born in Philadelphia, PA but grew up in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Geneva, Switzerland, before returning to the United States at age 19. He attended Haverford College and received his degree in Political Economy of the Third World, taking a special interest in the transformation of agrarian/traditional society into modern economies. He went to Jefferson Medical School in Philadelphia, PA and completed his residency at St. Margaret Memorial Hospital. Dr. Mahaniah served as a staff physician and residency faculty member at Greater Lawrence Family Health Center from 2003-2012. He has served as the Chief Medical Officer of the North Shore Community Health, Inc. in Salem, MA. He is now the Chief Medical Officer of Lynn Community Health Center in Lynn, MA. His overarching interest in medicine is the pursuit of social justice and the interaction, communication, and complexity of doctor/patient relationships. Dr. Mahaniah enjoys reading, particularly philosophy and science fiction, playing soccer, and spending time with his family.

Suzanne Mitchell, MD
Dr. Suzanne Mitchell is a board certified family physician and federally funded clinical researcher, studying disparities in patient safety and the impact of patient-doctor communication on medical decision making and health disparities. She is a lead investigator in the newly launched clinical trial of the Re-Engineered Discharge for Depressive Patients at Boston Medical Center and has authored peer-reviewed papers on the predictors of early unplanned hospital re-admissions. She has over a decade of clinical experience caring for vulnerable populations and practices family and palliative medicine. Dr. Mitchell received her medical degree from Wake Forest University School of Medicine and holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Research from UCLA. She completed family medicine residency at White Memorial Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA and the Academic Medicine Fellowship in Family Medicine at Boston Medical Center. Dr. Mitchell’s teaching focus is in inter-professional education and advanced communication skills in healthcare, including brief encounters using motivational interviewing and advanced directives discussions. She has special interest in the use of novel technology for simulation learning for both patients and medical students.

Glennon O'Grady, MD
Dr. O'Grady was born and raised in Long Island, NY. A Tufts School of Medicine graduate, he completed his family medicine residency training at Brown and has been practicing medicine for 25 years since. For seventeen years prior, he served as Medical Director at Greater Lawrence Family Health Center. He has also served as Director of the Hospitalist Program at Lawrence General Hospital and as a faculty member in the FM department at Boston Medical Center. Dr. O'Grady is especially interested in prevention of diabetes and prenatal maternity care. He enjoys gardening, bird-watching, fishing, and kayaking.

Randy Wertheimer, MD
Randy Wertheimer attended medical school at Boston University before completing her training at UMass Family Medicine Residency in Worcester. She has held major medical leadership positions in primary care for over twenty years, having served as Vice Chair of Family Medicine and Community Health at UMass, Chief of Family Medicine at Cambridge Health Alliance, and, Jaharis Chair of Family Medicine at Tufts School of Medicine. She has served as President of the Massachusetts Academy of Family Physicians and Chair of the Legislative Action Committee, as the only physician member on the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation Board, and as a member of the Massachusetts Board of Registration of Medicine. As PI on the RWJ national initiative Reach Out: Physicians Initiatives to Expand Care for Underserved Americans, Dr. Wertheimer developed a collaborative network of physicians to provide free medical care to uninsured and underinsured residents of central Massachusetts. She worked with PhRma to streamline the online application process for free medications and with the CVS Pharmacies to offer medications at reduced cost for those in need. She has spearheaded the successful implementation of advocacy programs, acquiring substantial funding to establish community-based health service sites in public housing projects and school-based clinics, and convening community stakeholders in the common mission of caring for the medically underserved.

Friends of Ho Health Justice Scholars

Kathryn Brodowski, MD - Preventive Medicine, Greater Boston Food Bank
Amy Chi, MD - Pulmonary/Critical Care at Tufts Medical Center
Avra Goldman, MD - Family Medicine at East Cambridge Health Center
Amanda Klein, MD - Family Medicine at Cambridge Health Alliance, Malden
Abigail Love, MD - Family Medicine at Cambridge Health Alliance, Malden
Dave Munson, MD - Internist at Boston Health Care for the Homeless
Geoff Pechinsky, MD - Family Medicine at Greater Lawrence Family Health Center
Liz Quinn, MD - Family Medicine, Lynn Community Health Center
Amit Sachdeo, DMD - Associate Clinical Professor, Tufts University School of Dental Medicine
Tony Schlaff, MD, MPH - Professor of Public Health and Community Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine
Pamela Smith , MD - Emergency Medicine at Lawrence General Hospital