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]
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]
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]
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]
Joseph Merighi, PhD, MSW, LISW
Dr. Merighi is an associate professor in 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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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 Biomedical Sciences Department in the Medical School, Duluth Campus as an Assistant Professor. She also serves as the Director of Learner Research, coordinating the Duluth Medical Student Research Program and working with 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]
Chiara Acquati, PhD, LMSW, FAOSW
Dr. Chiara Acquati is the Robinson Endowed Chair in Clinical Sexual Health at the Eli Coleman Institute for Sexual and Gender Health, and associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota Medical School. Recognized for her scholarship at the intersection of psychosocial oncology, dyadic health research, and clinical sexual health, her work examines how close relationships and caregiving processes influence mental health, coping, and sexual well-being across the cancer continuum. Dr. Acquati leads initiatives that advance intervention science, provider training, and translational models of care, fostering interdisciplinary collaborations that improve psychosocial care for individuals, couples, and families facing cancer and chronic illness.
Email: [email protected]
Senenge Andzenge, PhD
Lauren Bernstein, MVB, MPH, DACVPM
Dr. Lauren Bernstein is an assistant professor in Community Medicine, and works in partnership with the College of Veterinary Medicine and local community organizations. Dr. Bernstein has a background in private companion animal practice and community-engaged public health research. Her primary interests include understanding how structural social, economic, political, or cultural barriers affect access to information, access to veterinary care, and dynamics of power and trust. Dr. Bernstein serves as the advisor for the Student Initiative for Reservation Veterinary Services (SIRVS), and the co-advisor for the One Health Club and Veterinary Treatment Outreach for Urban Community Health (VeTouch).
Email: [email protected]
Denise Christie, DNP, CRNA
Denise Christie is a certified registered nurse anesthetist with a DNP in leadership. She serves CentraCare as a CRNA and as manager of Advanced Practice Provider Academics and Education. Denise is also a faculty member at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, School of Nurse Anesthesiology. She has an active interest in quality and safety initiatives and is a contributing member of the St. Cloud Hospital Advisory Board. She is passionate about supporting all learners, strengthening teamwork, communication, and outcomes across healthcare.
Email: [email protected]
Kristin Disori, MD
Dr. Kristin Disori is an assistant professor and pediatric hospitalist at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital. She enjoys teaching and mentoring trainees across the continuum of medical education. Her professional interests include medical education, patient safety, and interprofessional communication.
Email: [email protected]
Jared Van Hooser, PharmD
Jared Van Hooser, PharmD, is a clinical associate professor at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy and a director of the HOPE Clinic, an interprofessional student-run free clinic in Duluth. His work focuses on creating learning environments that foster collaboration, curiosity, and psychological safety through team-based learning, medical improv, interprofessional education, simulation, and community-engaged education. His scholarship explores how educational practices can help learners develop the communication, teamwork, and reflective skills needed for collaborative patient care.
Email: [email protected]
Elizabeth Hopfenspirger, DNP, MSN, APRN, CNP, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC
Dr. Elizabeth Hopfenspirger is a Clinical Assistant Professor and Specialty Coordinator of the Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Doctor of Nursing Practice (PMHNP DNP) program at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing. She is also an accomplished and dual board-certified Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse Practitioner and Family Nurse Practitioner. Dr. Hopfenspirger has over 22 years of experience in nursing and advanced practice nursing specialties, including psychiatry, family practice and cardiology, and in a variety of interprofessional settings. She holds a clinical practice at a precision medicine clinic in the Minneapolis area.
Email: [email protected]
Aimee Murray, PsyD
Aimee Murray, PsyD is an associate professor and child clinical psychologist at the University of Minnesota’s Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, where she co-directs an interdisciplinary clinic specializing in identifying and treating youth with emerging psychosis. In addition to serving as the director of Psychotherapy Training for the department's Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship, she has served on councils dedicated to improving mental health parity and system-wide access to care. Her clinical and research interests focus on implementing high-quality, research-informed models and digital health interventions for psychosis, as well as advancing psychotherapy supervision.
Email: [email protected]
Joseph Strangfeld, MPAS, PA-C
Joe is a hospital medicine physician assistant and serves as the medical director for Hospital Quality at Hennepin Healthcare, where he cares for hospitalized patients and works collaboratively to improve safety and outcomes. He believes team-based care and mutual respect are critical to achieving the quadruple aim in healthcare, and Joe is especially passionate about work that promotes the value of each team member, like leading implementation of hospital multidisciplinary rounds. Additional interests include clinical decision support, patient and family engagement, de-implementation science, and patient safety.
Email: [email protected]