The Comorbidities Manager: meet our expert advisers
BMJ Best Practice is the only point of care tool that supports the management of the whole patient by including guidance on the treatment of a patient’s acute condition alongside their pre-existing comorbidities.
Healthcare professionals are prompted to consider the patient’s comorbidities when accessing treatment information. The Comorbidities Manager then produces an initial management plan that is tailored to the unique needs of the patient.
Written by leading specialists, the Comorbidities Manager provides tailored treatment advice based on the latest evidence and presented in a way that’s realistic for daily practice. It emphasizes the most important take-home points and, where evidence is scarce or equivocal, expert opinion is provided.
Advisory panel members
Endocrinology (diabetes)
Pankaj Shah, MD
Endocrinologist and Assistant Professor of Medicine
Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
Chair, Hospital Diabetes and Endocrinology Core Group
Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
Disclosures: As part of his job at his institute, PS provides expert opinion in a physician education tool called "Ask Mayo Expert", where he is one of several "Subject Matter Experts". He also addresses academic educational activities in the US and abroad as part of his institutional duty. PS declares no other conflicts of interest.
Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant
Preethi Pirlamarla, MD
Physician (Cardiologist) and Director of Quality Improvement for the Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant Department
Heart Institute at University of Washington Medical Center - Montlake, Seattle, WA
Disclosures: PP declares that she has no competing interests.
Interventional Cardiology
Lorenzo Azzalini, MD, PhD, MSc, FACC, FSCAI
Associate Professor of Medicine
Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Director of Interventional Cardiology Research
Heart Institute at University of Washington Medical Center - Montlake, Seattle, WA
Disclosures: LA has received consulting fees from Teleflex, Abiomed, GE Healthcare, Reflow Medical, Shockwave, Abbott and Cardiovascular Systems, Inc.; received a grant by Abiomed; serves on the advisory board of Abiomed and GE Healthcare; and owns equity in Reflow Medical.
Geriatric Medicine
Seki Balogun, MD, FACP, AGSF
Professor of Medicine, Geriatrician and Palliative Care Physician
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK
Disclosures: SB serves on the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 3 Interdisciplinary Review Committee.
Pulmonology
Khalilah Gates, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical care) and Assistant Dean of Learning and Academic Performance
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care, Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL
Medical Director, Diversity and Inclusion Education
NM Academy, Chicago, IL
Disclosures: KG is a Board Member of the Respiratory Health Association, where she focuses on communication for COPD and asthma and has no financial agreements or obligations.
Psychiatry
Philip R Muskin, MD, MA, DLFAPA, LFACLP
Senior Consultant in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry
New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY
Professor of Psychiatry
Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY
Disclosures: PRM is an Associate Editor of American Psychiatric Association Publishing and on the editorial board for the journal Focus, for which he receives no compensation. At the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology he is a member of the Article Based Certification Committee for Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry (no compensation), and at the American Psychiatric Association he is a member of the Scientific Program Committee for the Annual Meeting 2025 (no compensation) and will be on this committee in 2026. PRM serves as an expert witness in psychiatric malpractice lawsuits, for which he is compensated. He was grant co-investigator for the proposal "Can hypnosis enhance the ability to regulate behavioural and brain markers of emotional regulation?" (Proposal no. 75037-NS, Department of The Army, US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, Army Research Office), which ended in 2023. PRM receives royalties from American Psychiatric Association Publishing for The American Psychiatric Publishing Study Guide for the Psychiatric Board Examination (edited by Muskin PR and Dickerman AL, American Psychiatric Publishing, 2016), and makes presentations at the American Psychiatric Association of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Annual Meetings.
Emergency Medicine
Karen Jubanyik, MD
Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Director, Emergency Medicine Clerkship
Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
Disclosures: KJ declares that she has no competing interests.
Nephrology
Ziad Zoghby, MD, MBA, FACP
Associate Professor of Medicine
Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
Disclosures: ZZ received fees for consultancy work in 2022 and 2023 for ChroniSense LTD, a remote digital health company. He has served on the Nephrology Specialty Board for EPIC, an electronic health record vendor, and is the elected Chair of the Board for 2024-2025 (a nonpaid position).
Emergency Medicine
Madeleine Alexeeva, DO
Emergency Medicine Physician
Vituity, Visalia, CA
Associate Program Director of Emergency Medicine Residency
Kaweah Health and Medical Center, Visalia, CA
Disclosures: MA declares that she has no competing interests.
Hospital Medicine
Lindsey Phillips, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC
Disclosures: LP has declared that she has no competing interests.
Stroke
Dr Michael S. Phipps, MD, MHS, FAAN
Associate Professor of Neurology and Epidemiology and Public Health
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Director of the Brain Attack Center
University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, MD
MSP declares that he is a member of the American Academy of Neurology Quality Committee (non-financial), a Liaison, American Heart Association, QCOR Committee (non-financial) and a member of the International Stroke Conference Program Committee (non-financial). No financial disclosures.
Toxicology
Michael A. Policastro, MD, CPE, FACEP, FACMT, COL, USAF
Attending Emergency Physician and Medical Toxicologist
USACS, Mercy Health Fairfield Hospital, Fairfield, OH
Squadron Commander and Colonel
445th Aeromedical Staging Squadron, United States Air Force, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, OH
Disclosures: MAP is on the Speaker Panel Guest Military for Octapharma for fibrinogen concentrates, received a single honorarium for travel/hotel.