Coordinated and Collaborative Approach
The CIH team works closely with the Associate Deans for Education and program directors and across the health professions to ensure that our interprofessional education curriculum is strategically integrated through a coordinated and collaborative approach.
CIH Leadership
Center Staff
Core Faculty Team
CIH Executive Committee Members
Tamera Alpaugh, PhD, MLS(ASCP)
Dr. Alpaugh is a certified medical laboratory scientist with a MS in Management and PhD in Higher Education Leadership, Policy, and Management. Her current role is working as an Assistant Professor with the Medical Laboratory Sciences (MLS) Program at the University of Minnesota where she teaches undergraduate and graduate students. She also serves as the Writing Enriched Curriculum liaison for the MLS Department.
Email: [email protected]
Jennifer Brown, PhD, MLS(ASCP)cm
Dr. Brown is an assistant professor at the UMN Medical Laboratory Sciences Program. She has a PhD in Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology, and Genetics, with 30 years of experience in research and medical laboratories. Dr. Brown’s primary focus is clinical toxicology and chemistry, particularly utilizing mass spectrometry for drug analysis, medication monitoring, and automated chemistry workflows. Special interests include using technology to work more efficiently, health informatics, and promoting the value of the medical laboratory profession.
Email: [email protected]
Amy Haynes, DPT, PT
Dr. Haynes has been a licensed, practicing physical therapist for the past 10 years. She has a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from the University of Minnesota, graduated in 2012. She is currently practicing at TRIA Orthopedic Center and is an adjunct professor at Rasmussen University.
Email: [email protected]
Laura Kirk, RN, BSN, MS, PhD
Dr. Kirk joined the faculty of the University of Minnesota School of Nursing in 2014 and is a clinical associate professor. She teaches in both the prelicensure programs within the school of nursing (BSN and Masters of Nursing) and in the Doctor of Nursing Practice program. Her research interests center on the health and well-being of older adults across care settings. Dr. Kirk serves as a content expert for the Office of Interprofessional Continuing Professional Development (OICPD) within the National Center Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education, and advises on the development of continuing professional development programs.
Email: [email protected]
Traci Kruse, OTD, MA, OTR/L
Dr. Kruse is currently the Director of Experiential Learning at the University of Minnesota. She has practiced clinically in home health for more than 14 years, and has additional clinical experience in long-term care and transitional care settings. Dr. Kruse is passionate about aging in place and home safety, along with cognition, memory, and maintaining activities of interest through the lifespan. Her research interests include the role of Occupational Therapy in reducing hospitalizations in the home health setting. She is also passionate about community accessibility which can limit a person’s ability to participate in activities of interest.
Email: [email protected]
Rebecca Lulai, M.A. CCC-SLP
Rebecca is the Director of Clinical Programs in Speech-Language Pathology in the Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences. She worked in a variety of clinical practice settings before focusing her work on clinical supervision and education. She is excited to promote interprofessional education and practice for a diverse group of health science learners.
Email: [email protected]
Catherine McCarty, PhD, MPH, HEC-C, RD
Dr. McCarty is the Associate Dean for Research for the Medical School on the Duluth campus. She is a certified healthcare ethicist and teaches medical ethics to first and second year medical students on the Duluth campus. She is a Co-Thread lead for public health for the new Medical School curriculum at the University of Minnesota.
Email: [email protected]
Brooke Palmer, PhD, LP
Dr. Palmer is a Clinical Health Psychologist who provides psychological interventions to individuals living with acute and chronic health conditions within inpatient and outpatient settings. She has a particular interest in consultation-liaison psychology and working with healthcare colleagues to support patients admitted to the hospital for a range of health issues. She has worked with interprofessional learners doing Hotspotting work while a psychology trainee and has been engaged in interprofessional education efforts while at the University of Minnesota.
Email: [email protected]
Amy Sapola, PharmD, FAIHM, IFMCP
Dr. Sapola is a clinical pharmacist with a B.S. in nutrition, a nationally board-certified health and wellness coach, and a yoga and mindfulness instructor at University Hospitals Connor Whole Health. She is also an Institute for Functional Medicine Certified Practitioner (IFMCP). Dr. Sapola has completed a 2-year Fellowship with honors in Integrative Medicine from the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine and has trained in Culinary Coaching and Culinary Medicine. She has worked in health systems, including Mayo Clinic, Gundersen, and University Hospitals to bring an innovative and integrative approach to healthcare. In her current role at University Hospitals, Dr. Sapola specializes in Integrative Medicine and Women’s Health. Additionally, Dr. Sapola works with healthcare providers, community members, and schools, teaching yoga and mindfulness, food as medicine, and culinary medicine.As a mother of two young children, avid gardener, passionate cook, and long-time yogi, Amy has an integrative approach to health and wellness, personally and professionally.
Email: [email protected]
Tamara Statz, MA, LMFT, FT
Tamara is passionate about creatively collaborating to maintain and improve the lives of older adults and their families. As a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in private practice, Tamara works with individuals and families who are experiencing grief and loss, chronic and terminal illness, aging, dementia, and caregiving. She is a Fellow in Thanatology with expertise in death, dying, and bereavement. Tamara believes everyone benefits when the systems we live within work together to create environments and experiences where older adults and their families can thrive.
Email: [email protected]
Stephanie Delkoski, DNP, APRN, WHNP-BC
Dr. Stephanie Delkoski is a women's health nurse practitioner and Clinical Associate Professor in the School of Nursing at the University of Minnesota. She holds a faculty practice at an interprofessional, academic women's health clinic where she provides gynecologic, primary, and prenatal care to women across the lifespan. She has a special interest in preventive healthcare, complex gynecology, and menopause.
Email: [email protected]
Keri Hager, PharmD, BCACP
Dr. Hager's teaching spans the first year to the fourth year of the professional PharmD curriculum, and she has contributed to the 1Health IPE curriculum for over a decade. Her practice, teaching, service, and research focuses on developing an interprofessional collaboration-ready primary care workforce to improve health of the community. She currently provides comprehensive medication management and education at the Center for Alcohol & Drug Treatment in Duluth.
Email: [email protected]
Tyler Haynes, MHA
Tyler is a director of healthcare economics at UnitedHealthcare's Medicare and Retirement line of business. He has a Master's Degree in Healthcare Administration from Saint Louis University. He has worked in operational management positions in many different arenas, including primary physician practices and hospital acute care settings. In his current position, Tyler is responsible for understanding medical cost trends, analyzing and assessing their contribution to payors and stakeholders, and ensuring that patients receive the right level of care with the highest-quality outcomes.
Email: [email protected]
Joseph Merighi, PhD, MSW, LISW
Dr. Merighi is an Associate Professor and Associate Director of the School of Social Work. His research focuses on the professional roles and contributions of social work practitioners in health care settings, with a particular emphasis on nephrology social workers in dialysis clinics. He is very interested in examining how social workers can collaborate with other health professionals to improve the physical and mental health outcomes of clients.
Email: [email protected]
Joe Sepe, PhD
Dr. Sepe is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology at the University of Minnesota Medical School and Director of the MS in Physiology program. His research background is in cardiovascular physiology, including a postdoctoral fellowship in cardiovascular medicine at Oregon Health and Science University, and previously held a faculty position at the Carle Illinois College of Medicine. Along the way he has taught in several health professional programs and is passionate about physiology in medical education.
Email: [email protected]
Camille Sterner Sampers, EdD, MA, OTR/L
Dr. Camille Sterner Sampers is currently an Assistant Professor of the Occupational Therapy (OT) Program at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and Rochester. Her overarching research objective is to improve occupational therapy educational experiences so that our University of Minnesota Occupational Therapy Doctorate students are fully prepared for their transition as entry-level occupational therapists. Her current University of Minnesota research seeks to understand the complex learning factors that lead to a successful clinical occupational therapy program and experiential learning. Dr. Sterner Sampers has extensive clinical practice in schools, pediatric outpatient clinics, older adult communities, acute/transitional care, and assistive technology.
Email: [email protected]
Timothy Usset, MDiv, MPH; ACPE Certified Educator, Board Certified Chaplain, LMFT
Timothy J. Usset is a Board Certified Chaplain, ACPE Certified Educator, and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist/Board Approved Supervisor in Minnesota. Throughout his career, he has focused on moral injury and spiritually-integrated care intervention development and dissemination. He currently serves as a Research Health Scientist at the VA Maine Health Care System, a Researcher in the Minnesota Evidence-based Practice Center, and the Command Chaplain for United States Army Reserve Legal Command. Tim's honors and awards include being a Transforming Chaplaincy Fellow, and a Pat Tillman Military Scholar.
Email: [email protected]
Ryne Wilson, DNP, RN, OCN
Dr. Wilson is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing. He is a nationally recognized leader in cancer nursing with extensive experience in case management, interprofessional healthcare leadership, and health policy. Dr. Wilson has published in national and international peer-reviewed journals focused on clinical and professional issues in cancer nursing and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Oncology Nursing Society which represents over 100,000 oncology nurses across the United States.
Email: [email protected]
Stuart Grande, PhD, MPA
Stuart Grande is a medical sociologist with expertise in Shared Decision Making - designing, testing, and implementing tools and techniques for delivering evidence-based medicine in partnership with patient preferences to improve care outcomes for individuals, families, and care teams.He has an interest in Community-Based Participatory Research which is centered around principles of shared leadership, power, decision making, and agenda setting.
Email: [email protected]
Jessica Grittner, MS, CCC-SLP
Jessica Grittner is a researcher in the Rehabilitation Science Program in the University of Minnesota Medical School. Her research explores neuroplasticity in the respiratory system and highlights sex differences in healthy and injured neurophysiology. Dr. Grittner's research interests stem from her clinical background as a specialist in pediatric feeding and swallowing impairments. She thinks one of the best things about being a clinician-researcher is the opportunity to mentor and teach the next generation of clinicians, and she is excited to be an associate faculty member of the Center for Interprofessional Education.
Email: [email protected]
Jennifer Haglund, MD
Jennifer Haglund, MD practices as a transplant hepatologist at UMMC Fairview. She is the APD of the GI fellowship program; and in the Medical School, co-directs the GI/Liver course.
Email: [email protected]
Jenna Herman, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC
Dr. Jenna Herman is a Family Nurse Practitioner and a Clinical Associate Professor in the University of Minnesota School of Nursing. She currently practices in family practice, caring for patients across the lifespan and coordinating interdisciplinary care. Her scholarly interests include addiction, diagnostic reasoning, pharmacogenomics, rural/global health and more.
Email: [email protected]
Larry Lindenbaum, MD
Dr. Larry Lindenbaum is an associate professor, the Academic Division Director of Multi-Specialty Anesthesiology - East Bank, as well as the Associate Director of Medical Student Education with the Department of Anesthesiology. He also serves as the Executive Medical Director of Perioperative Anesthesia for M Health Fairview and is the MHealth Chief of Anesthesia.
Email: [email protected]
Iqbal Petker, DMD
Dr. Iqbal Petker is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Division of Outreach and Community Engagement within the Department of Primary Dental Care at University of Minnesota School of Dentistry. His career has focused on public health dentistry, serving community-based patient groups. Dr Petker has served as a course director for the Dental Externship Program, Dental Public Health and Geriatric Dentistry courses and has been involved in preclinical and clinical education prior to coming on board at the University of Minnesota. Currently, he directs student rotations at Cedar-Riverside Clinic.
Email: [email protected]
Katie Schuver, PhD, LPC, LADC, C-IAYT
Katie Schuver, PhD, LPC, LADC, C-IAYT is a lecturer in physical activity and health promotion in the School of Kinesiology and lead graduate faculty for the Yoga Focus Area at the Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing.
Email: [email protected]
Clara Smoniewski, PhD
Clara Smoniewski is an RNA and molecular biologist with an interest in infectious disease, particularly those that affect marginalized communities and will be impacted by climate change. She studied mitochondrial RNA regulation in Trypanosoma spp. in the lab of Dr. Sara Zimmer for her PhD, and now works in the Medical School, Duluth Campus as a Research Manager and Assistant Professor. As part of her role as Research Manager she runs the Medical Student Research Program and mentors student researchers on the Duluth Campus.
Email: [email protected]
Monica Streater, DNP, APRN, CNM
Dr. Streater is a Clinical Assistant Professor and Director of Prelicensure Nursing Programs in the School of Nursing, and she maintains an active clinical practice as a Certified Nurse Midwife. Her work focuses on serving marginalized communities and leading quality improvement initiatives in clinical care. She teaches obstetric nursing and midwifery courses across the BSN, MN, and DNP programs. Her scholarly interests center on the intersection of planetary health and midwifery.
Email: [email protected]
Stamatis Zeris, MD
Dr. Zeris is a psychiatrist at Hennepin Healthcare that specializes in serious mental illness, including schizophrenia, severe mood disorders, borderline personality disorder, trauma and mental illness with co-occurring substance use disorders.Dr. Zeris has a special interest in end of life care for individuals with mental illness and works with the Palliative Care Team. He has developed a peer reviewed End of Life Psychiatric Care Curriculum for the University of Washington Psychiatry Residency Program and has led case conferences with palliative care, pastoral care, and psychiatry during his training. He especially enjoys teaching medical students, residents and working on inter disciplinary teams.
Email: [email protected]