Faculty

Lara Kovell, MD, Director

Lara Kovell, MD, is a noninvasive cardiologist with expertise in cardio-obstetrics. After studying in Pittsburgh for her undergraduate at Carnegie Mellon University, she completed her medical degree, residency and fellowship training at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She is associate professor of medicine and OB/GYN at UMass Chan Medical School, where she is leading several foundation and career-development award projects on hypertension management and cardiac biomarkers in pregnancy. She also serves as site principal investigator or co-investigator on several mobile health clinical trials. Dr. Kovell’s research and clinical passions lie in improving maternal health and reducing health inequities in cardiovascular disease prevention, specifically for pregnant and postpartum women with hypertension. She is excited to be sharing her passion for research and discovery with the Research Track residents. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, kayaking and traveling with her family.

Mara Meyer Epstein, ScD, Core Faculty

Mara Epstein, ScD, is a cancer epidemiologist who completed doctoral and postdoctoral training at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Channing Division of Network Medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She is associate professor of medicine in the Division of Health Systems Science and associate professor of population & quantitative health sciences. Her research focuses on utilizing electronic health records and health claims data to conduct epidemiologic research, with a focus on hematological cancers and cancer screening. She is also the site principal investigator for the NIH-funded All of Us Research Program. Dr. Epstein teaches and directs courses in all three schools at UMass Chan.

Mark O’Connor, MD’12, MPH, Core Faculty

Mark O’Connor, MD’12, is an assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism. He is a proud graduate of UMass Chan Medical School and completed residency and fellowship training at Dartmouth and Massachusetts General Hospital, respectively. A former hospitalist, he now specializes in the care of people with diabetes, and his research focuses on hypoglycemia prevention and continuous glucose monitoring. He has experience conducting clinical trials and analyzing large databases. He is also co-director of the Endocrine and Reproductive Systems course in the T.H. Chan School of Medicine. In his spare time, he enjoys trail running and playing the piano.

Tim Fitzgibbons, MD, PhD’12, Core Faculty

Tim Fitzgibbons, MD, PhD’12, is an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine. He completed his medical degree at Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine and completed residency and fellowship training at Boston Medical Center/Boston University School of Medicine. He earned his PhD in molecular medicine from UMass Chan Medical School. Dr. Fitzgibbons specializes in the care of patients with cardiovascular disease, and his research focuses specifically on investigating the mechanisms of obesity and stress-associated cardiovascular disease. He is also interested in preventive cardiology and cardiovascular digital health.