Alperen Appointed Stepping Strong Center Senior Director

Julie Alperen, DrPH, became the new senior director of The Gillian Reny Stepping Strong Center for Trauma Innovation on April 12.

As senior director, Alperen will provide both intellectual and administrative leadership to this multi-disciplinary innovation center. In collaboration with others on the Stepping Strong Center leadership team, her responsibilities include leading the implementation of strategic priorities, building and/or expanding internal and external partnerships, managing center finances, and supporting the growing Stepping Strong research community with value-added services.

Alperen joins the Stepping Strong Center after serving as administrative director of the Mary Horrigan Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology at the Brigham. With over two decades of experience in the public and private sectors, she is skilled at leading innovative scientific research and cultivating cross-disciplinary collaborations. Prior to working at the Brigham, Alperen served for 12 years as program director of the Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study Data and Operations Center at Harvard. She earned both master’s and doctorate degrees in public health from the Columbia University Mailman School.

Pomahac Departs Brigham for Yale

Bohdan Pomahac, MD, has been named the next division chief of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery at Yale School of Medicine effective August 1, 2021.

Pomahac currently serves as the Roberta and Stephen R. Weiner Distinguished Chair in Surgery at the Brigham and is a professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School. A graduate of Palacky University School of Medicine in the Czech Republic, Pomahac completed his general surgery residency at the Brigham followed by a fellowship in the Harvard Plastic Surgery Residency Program. He joined the Brigham Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery as a faculty member in 2004.

Under Pomahac’s direction, the first three full face transplant procedures in the U.S., and the first successful bilateral upper extremity transplantation in the Northeast were performed at the Brigham. Additionally, the group has expanded research protocols to include lower extremity and abdominal wall transplantation.

Kate Gregory

Gregory to Depart Brigham for Boston College

Katherine Gregory, PhD, RN, FAAN, associate chief nursing officer for Women’s and Newborn Health, Research and Innovation, has accepted the role of dean of the William F. Connell School of Nursing at Boston College (BC). Her last day at the Brigham will be June 1.

Gregory, who earned her doctorate degree and previously was a faculty member at BC, will begin in her new role when current dean Susan Gennaro, PhD, RN, FAAN, steps down at the end of the semester.

Gregory joined the Brigham in 2007 as a nurse-scientist while she was also a professor of nursing at BC. She then served as executive director for Women and Newborn’s Health before she was appointed to her current role as associate chief nurse in 2019. She has continued her work as a scientist and a research faculty member in the Department of Nursing and also serves as an assistant professor at Harvard Medical school.

Gregory was inducted into the American Academy of Nursing and secured National Institutes of Health funding for the milk microbiome project she leads. Through her research on the intestinal microbiome of preterm infants, Gregory has made important discoveries about necrotizing enterocolitis, a catastrophic inflammatory bowel disease that contributes to neonatal morbidity and mortality. Gregory, a widely published author, also serves as editor of the Journal of Perinatal and Neonatal Nursing.

Johnston to Depart

Bill Johnston

Bill Johnston, MPA, is leaving his role of chief operating officer of the Brigham and Women’s Physicians Organization (BWPO) and senior vice president of Clinical Services. His last day at the Brigham will be in early May.

Johnston, who joined the Brigham in 1998, was the first employee of the BWPO and has led its transformation from seven independent physician foundations in 1998 into the unified, high-functioning organization it is today. Johnston also led the growth of the ambulatory team and the expansion of the ambulatory network, overseeing the opening of five additional locations, including our ambulatory centers in Westwood and Pembroke, as well as significant renovations and expansion in Foxborough.

Most recently, Johnson led ambulatory teams through the COVID-19 response. These teams were responsible for dramatically scaling virtual visits, played an essential role in establishing testing and social-determinants-of-health screening sites in local communities and led the operationalization of employee and patient vaccination efforts.

Planning is underway for Johnston’s transition.

McClain Leaving Brigham

Wanda McClain, MPA, vice president of Community Health and Health Equity (CCHHE), has made the decision to pursue the next chapter of her career and will be leaving the Brigham on May 1.

McClain joined the Brigham in 2002. Under her leadership, the CCHHE has established programs that support victims of violence, improve birth outcomes, increase rates of colorectal cancer screening and ensure access to comprehensive primary care. She has supported initiatives focused on disparities in health outcomes and workforce development priorities, notably the Brigham Youth Programs, which provide a wide range of opportunities for young people from pre-kindergarten through college. From supporting basic literacy skills to enhancing opportunities for careers in science and health, these programs provide educational and career opportunities for young people in our surrounding neighborhoods and beyond.

A search committee will be assembled to recruit someone into the role in the coming months. In the interim, Mimi Joliffe, executive director of Brookside Community Health Center, Tom Kieffer, executive director of Southern Jamaica Plain Health Center, and Shirma Pierre, administrative director for the CCHHE, will work with Anderson to manage health center operations and community health programs.

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