Marc is a PGY-4 resident and neuroscientist in the MGH / McLean Adult Psychiatry Program. He serves as Chief Resident for Geriatric Psychiatry training, and as a Research Fellow in the Physician Scientist Training Program, working in the Alzheimer’s Clinical and Translational Research Unit (ACTRU). His research takes place at the Charlestown Navy Yard, and Marc is mentored by Dr. Steven Arnold (MGH Neurology). The team’s research interests include studying and improving clinical assessments, biomarkers and bioimaging, and performing investigator and industry-sponsored clinical trials for aging and dementia. Marc co-leads a series of clinical trials aimed at studying and retraining the immune system to understand, treat, and prevent Alzheimer’s Disease and other neuroinflammatory illnesses. He also co-leads a multidisciplinary clinical and informatics project with collaborators in the Massachusetts Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (MADRC) to perform in silico studies of drug treatment for neuropsychiatric and neurocognitive disease. He currently mentors a Postdoctoral Research Fellow and several Harvard Medical Students.
Marc’s interests in geriatrics developed as a medical student, where he served as a Medical Students in Aging Research (MSTAR) fellow. Through this fellowship he was exposed to clinical geriatrics and paired with a geriatrics-based research mentor. His work on sarcopenia (muscle loss), fragility, and susceptibility to chemotherapy side effects was awarded top poster at the American Geriatrics Society and American Federation for Aging Research Conference in 2016. As a resident he was an awardee of the American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry (AAGP) Scholars program, and more recently was selected to participate as a fellow of the 2021-23 Harvard Catalyst Clinical and Translational Research Academy as well as the 2021 Institute on Methods and Protocols for Advancement of Clinical Trials in Alzheimer’s Disease and related disorders (IMPACT-AD). His career research goals are to lead clinical and translational scientific research studies into diseases of pathological aging.
Marc received his MD with Alpha Omega Alpha honors from the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill. Prior to medical school, he received his PhD at the University of Colorado at Boulder in Behavior Neuroscience and Psychology, studying brain mechanisms of stress adaptation. This was followed by an NIH F32-supported postdoctoral fellowship working with the University of North Carolina Gene Therapy Center. There, he studied Adeno-Associated Virus (AAV) / host interactions and entry mechanisms, worked to develop new treatments for epilepsy, and generated novel viral vectors capable of cell-selective expression in the central nervous system. His research work has resulted in over 30 peer-reviewed publications, several book chapters, and a provisional US Patent (Co-Inventor, 2019).
As a psychiatrist, one of Marc’s favorite experiences is learning about the rich and complex lives of older adults. As a PGY-3 resident, he co-led weekly group therapy sessions for older adults, and now in his role as Chief Resident of Geriatric Psychiatry his goal is to provide junior residents with opportunities to appreciate geriatric psychiatry as a subspecialty. His other clinical interests include psychopharmacology, neuropsychiatry and end-of-life care.
Marc is a veteran of the US Air Force, having served as a cargo aircraft mechanic during the pre- to post-9/11 era. He is originally from Baltimore, and has lived in Colorado and South and North Carolina. Outside of work he enjoys creative and medical writing, spending time with family and friends and exploring the beauty and diversity of New England.
