Elizabeth Gaufberg, MD, MPH, CHA Chief Academic Officer; Associate Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School

Elizabeth Gaufberg, MD, MPH is the Chief Academic Officer at the Cambridge Health Alliance and an Associate Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School (HMS). She came to CHA in 1989, completing residencies in Internal Medicine and then Psychiatry, followed by a rich career in patient care, education and administration. Liz was part of the original design team of the Harvard Medical School Cambridge Integrated Clerkship and has led the CHA-HMS Developing Physician Course since the CIC's inception. She served as the Director of the CHA Center for Professional and Academic Development (now transitioning to the CHA Office for Academic Affairs) for over 15 years. Her areas of professional interest and scholarship include developing innovative models of medical education, including longitudinal integrated clerkships and humanities and arts-based pedagogy. Liz is committed to fostering open inquiry and civil discourse in medical education, and serves on the HMS Dean's Open Inquiry Working Group which was created in 2025.

On a national level, Liz serves as a Senior Consultant to the Association of American Medical Colleges FRAHME (Fundamental Role of the Arts and Humanities in Medical Education) Initiative and is a Co-Director of the Harvard Macy Institute Art Museum-based Health Professions Education Fellowship. From 2012-2018, Liz served as the Jean and Harvey Picker Founding Director of the CHA-housed Arnold P. Gold Foundation Research Institute during which time she developed a community of practice of researchers, educators and advocates dedicated to advancing humanism in healthcare. The CHA Gold Innovation Fellowship and CEO CLER program are fruits of CHA's partnership with the Gold Foundation.

Liz has received numerous awards including the Clifford Barger Mentoring Award at Harvard Medical School and the Arnold P. Gold Foundation’s Pearl Birnbaum Hurwitz Humanism in Healthcare Award.

She is dedicated to supporting CHA faculty to forge pathways to professional flourishing in their roles as innovators, educators and researchers.

Marcela Almeida, MD, Director, CHA Academy of Educators; Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School

Dr. Marcela Almeida is the Director of the Adult Psychiatry Residency Program  at Cambridge Health Alliance and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. A graduate of the University of Chicago psychiatry residency and the Harvard Macy Institute Program for Educators in Health Professions. (link to rest of bio)

Dr. Almeida has dedicated her career to the intersection of clinical excellence and educational scholarship. Her extensive background includes completing a Medical Education fellowship at the University of Illinois at Chicago and directing a nationally recognized Women’s Mental Health and Reproductive Psychiatry program.

A recipient of the AADPRT Mentorship Award, she is a passionate "mentor-scholar" who has published numerous peer-reviewed papers in collaboration with her trainees. Her leadership is defined by a commitment to helping clinicians navigate the invisible transformations of their professional identities. Her academic interests span medical education innovation, physician wellness and burnout, and health equity within cultural psychiatry.

Bonni Stahl, MD, MPH, Associate Director, Cambridge Health Alliance Academy of Educators; Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School

Bonni Stahl is the Associate Director of the Academy of Educators at the Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS). She came to CHA in 2012, after completing Residency and Chief Year in the Internal Medicine/Social Medicine program at Montefiore Medical Center. Clinically she is an Internal Medicine, Primary Care Provider at Broadway Health Center. Her educational roles span both Graduate Medical Education and Undergraduate Medical Education at CHA. She serves as an Ambulatory Preceptor in the Internal Medicine Residency and served as the Director of Resident Evaluation from 2013 until 2019, helping to transition the Internal Medicine Residency into Milestones Based Evaluations. She has been teaching with the Practice of Medicine (POM), the first year clinical skills curriculum at Harvard Medical School, since its inception as part of the Pathways curriculum in 2015. She has been the POM Site Director for CHA since 2021 and CoCourse Director for POM, across HMS sites, since 2024. Her areas of professional interest include Curricular Development, Evaluation of Clinical Skills, Faculty Development and Engagement.

Paula Gardiner, MD, MPH, CHA Trainee Experience Advisor, Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Community Health at University Massachusetts Medical School

Paula Gardiner is the Director of Primary Care Implementation Research at the CHA Center for Mindfulness and Compassion. She is an Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Community Health at University Massachusetts Medical School. She directs the group medical visit program in the Center for Integrated Primary Care. She has an MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health, and completed a three-year Clinical Research Fellowship in Complementary and Alternative Medicine Research and Faculty Development at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Gardiner, with funding from NIH and a PCORI grant, focuses her research on mindfulness, technology, and health disparities and increasing access in low income patients. Current research is focused on the adaptive role of Group Medical Visits which include mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR). She has developed a medical group to support health behavior change and reduce pain and stress and is leading the implementation of this model nationally. She is a co-Director of the Mindful Healthcare Scholar program which is co-sponsored by the CMC and the Office of Academic Affairs. She has published over 90 peer-reviewed papers on chronic pain, health disparities, technology, dietary supplements, stress, and integrative medicine in underserved patients. She also has an interest in clinician stress and resiliency, and is the Trainee Experience Advisor for CHA graduate medical education. As a researcher in mindfulness, she became a certified meditation teacher completing a 2 year training with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield, a Mindful Self Compassion teacher completing training with Chris Germer, and has led MBSR classes. She is also a certified facilitator for Ron Epstein MD and Mick Krasner MD’s Mindfulness Practice program.