Meet Our Research Team
The Be Well Study is being led by Anne Thorndike, MD, MPH, and Doug Levy, PhD and a team of researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) who are working in collaboration with GBFB. The Be Well study is funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH) and has been approved by the Mass General Brigham Institutional Review Board (IRB).
Investigators
Anne Thorndike, MD, MPH
Principal Investigator
(617) 724-4608
Anne Thorndike, MD, MPH is the Principal Investigator for the LiveWell/ViveBien study. She is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the director of the Metabolic Syndrome Clinic at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Center. Her clinical and research interests are the prevention and treatment of obesity and related diseases. Much of her work focuses on promoting healthy food choices in diverse populations and understanding how problems such as food insecurity and housing instability influence dietary intake. Dr. Thorndike serves as the chair of the American Heart Association’s Nutrition Committee and is a member of the expert panel for the U.S. News and World Report Best Diets Rankings.
Jessica Cheng, PhD, MPH
Jessica Cheng, PhD, MPH is a trained epidemiologist currently completing a postdoctoral fellowship with joint appointments in the Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health and Department of General Internal Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital. Her research interests center around designing and evaluating multicomponent behavioral lifestyle interventions for the prevention of chronic disease as well as methodological complexities of measuring behavior. Her work has made extensive use of the Healthy Eating Index and data from weight loss trials. Dr. Cheng’s current work focuses on dietary changes in low-income populations. She is a trained coach for the Diabetes Prevention Program Group Lifestyle Balance (DPP-GLB) and is certified in public health (CPH).
Doug Levy, PhD
Co-Investigator
(617) 643-3595
Doug Levy, PhD is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the Mongan Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. As a health services researcher, his work focuses on how public health, health care finance, and health services can improve prevention and population health. His research topics have included tobacco use, healthy eating, social influence, and cost-effectiveness in studies taking place in both clinical and community settings.
Kristine Gu, MD, MPH
Kristine completed her undergraduate studies and a combined MD/MPH degree at Tulane University. Her interest in health disparities grew during her internal medicine residency training at Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center where she was part of the Health Equities and Disparities track. She is now a second-year endocrinology fellow at the Massachusetts General Hospital, where her research interests include examining the impact of social determinants of health on diabetes management.
Clinical Research Coordinators
Noah Bingham, BS (617) 724-4641
Noah graduated from Brown University in May 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and joined MGH’s Division of General Internal Medicine in October 2024. During his time at Brown, he developed a love of the biochemical lens of medicine through his coursework and research on breast and ovarian cancers. He is eager now to develop the interpersonal lens of medicine through his work at MGH. He is a strong believer in using an interdisciplinary and community-based approach in healthcare and is excited to see this approach in practice through his work. In his free time, he enjoys cooking, playing ultimate Frisbee, and watching baseball.
Emma Bussolo, BS
(617) 724 - 6930
Emma graduated from Tufts University in May 2025 with a B.S. summa cum laude in Biopsychology. She joined the MGH Division of General Internal Medicine in June 2025. Prior to this role, she worked at Tufts Medical Center in the Women, Mother, and Baby Research Institute, where she helped lead an initiative providing weekly fresh produce to food-insecure pregnant women to study its impact throughout pregnancy. Through her direct work with patients and dedication to compassionate, patient-centered care, Emma continues to shape her path toward a future career as a physician. As a Colombian, she is especially passionate about serving underserved, Spanish-speaking communities in the Greater Boston area. Outside of work, Emma enjoys skiing, hiking, and spending time with her dog, Patu.
Emma habla español.
Catherine Cronin, BS (617) 643-4810
Catherine is originally from southeastern Massachusetts, and recently graduated from Emory University with a bachelor's of science in Biology. She joined the MGH Division of General Internal Medicine in October 2024, and hopes to become a physician-researcher in the future. Having previously conducted public health research in Atlanta, Catherine is passionate about understanding how to improve healthcare outcomes for underserved communities. Outside of work, Catherine enjoys singing, hiking, and trying to befriend local animals.
Sonia Vasquez, BS (617) 726-4800
Sonia graduated from Northeastern University in May 2025 with a bachelor’s degree in Biology and joined MGH’s Division of General Internal Medicine in June 2025. Having previously worked at MGB in the Maternal Fetal Medicine Lab, Sonia developed a strong interest in social determinants of health and the impacts they have on health equity. As a Boston native, Sonia is excited to contribute to studies that reduce health disparities and improve community health in the city of Boston. In her free time, she enjoys reading, listening to BTS, and spending time with her family.
Sonia habla español.
Database Manager
Sydney Howard, MS
Sydney is a database manager and analyst for the departments of General Internal Medicine and Psychiatry within the Massachusetts Genera Hospital. She has a BS in Computer Science from Rhodes College and a MS in Epidemiology from Tulane University. She enjoys hiking, pressure cooking, and successfully debugging obscure compiling errors.