Board members

MD Class of 2022
Alumni Engagement & Events Committee

Kristina Chien is a first year family medicine resident in St. Cloud, MN. She graduated from Harvard University with a degree in African Studies and Global Health and went on to complete a dual MD/JD degree at the University of Minnesota. Kristina is the executive director of So Others May Learn, a non-profit dedicated to providing comprehensive academic scholarships for motivated students living in rural parts of Zambia, Zimbabwe and Uganda. Kristina lives on Long Road Farm with her husband Eric and their four dogs.

MD Class of 2018
Student Engagement Committee

I was born and raised in Minneapolis and attended the University of Minnesota Medical School after serving in the Peace Corps in Kazakhstan and graduating with a Sociology degree from Macalester College. After doing RPAP in Ely, I completed an intern year in Med+Peds at LAC-USC in Los Angeles. I was then offered the opportunity to transition into Emergency Medicine, which I completed at LAC-USC in 2022. I then moved back home, where I spent a year enjoying working for ECC, predominantly at Abbot Northwestern, before taking the opportunity for a more academic job at the University of Minnesota. Since moving back I've also worked consistently up in Ely and in Duluth at St. Luke's.

MD Class of 1984
Chair, Philanthropy Committee
Executive Committee

I am a native Minnesotan and received my undergraduate and graduate education at the U of MN including a BA cum laude degree in Psychology, MS Genetics degree in 1980, and MD degree in 1984. After completing my Pediatrics Residency at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio in 1987 and my Pediatric Nephrology Fellowship, back at the University of Minnesota, Department of Pediatrics in 1990, I pursued a 17-year career as an academic pediatrician, kidney specialist, and educator at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, where I became Division Chief and built the primary Pediatric Nephrology referral center for northern Ohio during a 15-year period. Since 2007, I have modified my career pathway to become a physician executive at several global medical device and pharmaceutical companies, where I led several product development and medical safety teams. More recently, I have been a medical consultant for a number of global and start-up medical device companies.

Serving on the Medical School Alumni Board allows me to give back to the U of MN as a measure of gratitude for allowing me to fulfill my lifelong dream of becoming a physician. Being a member of the Philanthropy Committee affords me the opportunity to support programs, including the Future Physician Scholarship Fund, that help to alleviate the financial burden of medical education so that the brightest and best students can concentrate on their studies as they pursue their dreams and professional career aspirations.

MD Class of 2012 
Chair, Student Engagement Committee
Executive Committee

My journey in the world of medicine began at the University of St. Thomas where I majored in biology while also volunteering as an EMT for the University of Minnesota Emergency Medical Services. This led to attending medical school and I earned my MD from the University of Minnesota in 2012.

During my time in med school, I felt called to tackle the problem of poor educational outcomes among prehospital care providers. So, I founded Allied Medical Training in 2010, which has now grown into a nationally-recognized EMS education program. This led me to take the non-traditional path as a full-time entrepreneur upon graduating. I then took a leap into the tech side of healthcare and started a consulting firm that guided healthcare organizations and physicians nationwide during their transitions to electronic health record systems.

A few years down the road, my entrepreneurial spirit combined with my brother's passion for brewing led us to partner up to start Wooden Hill Brewing Company, the first brewery & taproom in Edina, MN. From medicine to craft beer, my journey has been nothing short of diverse and dynamic, and I'm excited to contribute to and collaborate with my fellow alumni.

MD Class of 1982 
Board President-Elect 
Executive Committee
Philanthropy Committee

Alan Glass, MD, is an emeritus faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry, former medical director of the Standardized Patient Program and advisory dean for the Cori Society. He is the recipient of numerous teaching awards and an inaugural fellow in the Washington University School of Medicine Academy of Health Professions Educators. A pediatrician by training, he spent two decades as a higher education administrator and is a past president of the American College Health Association. His medical education expertise lies in medical student admissions, where he formerly served as assistant dean for Washington University, and in complex remediation in the areas of clinical skills and communication. Dean Glass has had faculty cameos is seven Washington University School of Medicine student musicals.

MD Class of 2009
Philanthropy Committee

Elisabeth is a board certified Dermatologist and fellowship trained Mohs surgeon who has focused her career towards providing Mohs surgery for underserved populations. Originally from Germany, she calls herself a proud Gopher, having completed graduate school, medical school, residency and fellowship at University of Minnesota. She is excited for the opportunity to serve on the Medical School Alumni Board to give back to the academic institution that has shaped her professionally and personally.

Outside of clinical work, she is actively involved in local philanthropy, chairing the Advocates for Better Health Foundation, which provides grassroots funding for local grant recipients. She also remains active in research, studying cutaneous nerve fiber function. In addition, she has a passion for patient education and has been a grant recipient of the American Academy of Dermatology to fund her efforts. She also remains active in medical student and resident mentoring.

She lives in Minneapolis and enjoys spending time with family and friends, horseback riding, traveling and staying active.

MD Class of 2021
Alumni Engagement & Events Committee

I am a proud graduate of the UMN Medical School and am honored to serve on the Alumni Board. I am currently a Diagnostic Radiology Chief Resident at Yale where I will be staying on for my Neuroradiology Fellowship next year.

I grew up in rural Minnesota and stayed in-state for college at St John’s University, where I first began to understand the power of education, mentorship, and equity — not just as ideas, but as tools for real change. During this time, I co-founded my nonprofit, The Cause International, which focuses on addressing systemic gaps in access to clean water/healthcare internationally and access to higher education within the United States. To help fund these philanthropic ventures, I founded and am the CEO of my professionals apparel company: TCI Professionals which provides professional apparel to various hospital/residency programs, law schools, wealth managements firms, etc., across the United States. Since then, our initiatives have helped provide renewable, clean water to over 44,000 people internationally and offered college access counseling to more than 66,000 students across the United States. These experiences continue to shape the way I approach both medicine and service—as deeply interconnected and people-centered.

Returning to serve my medical school in this capacity feels like coming full circle. I am highly excited to support the next generation of physicians, strengthen alumni connections, and help foster a more inclusive and impactful community for all of us.

MD Class of 1980
Student Engagement Committee

Louis Ling graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in Chemistry (1975) and his Medical Degree (1980) before doing his residency in emergency medicine (EM) at the University of Chicago. After one year as faculty at the University of Illinois, he practiced EM for over 35 years at Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) from 1984 until 2020. He was associate program director for the EM residency, started the medical toxicology fellowship program and was program director of the transitional year. He was Chief Medical Education Officer at HCMC from 1992 until 2012 and as one of the first medical toxicologists in the country, he was medical director of the Hennepin Regional Poison Center for 18 years. 

Dr. Ling has published in medical toxicology and is an editor of three toxicology textbooks. He was an editor of five editions of Rosen’s Emergency Medicine and three editions of the Harwood-Nuss’ Clinical Emergency Medicine. 

He was Professor and Director of the EM program for Medical School Dean Al Michaels’s office to form the academic EM department in 2001 and Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education (GME) for Dean Debbie Powell from 2004 until 2012. 

He has chaired many Committees for the American College of Emergency Physicians, the American Association of Poison Control Centers and was President of the American Board of Emergency Medicine. He helped form two academic societies, the Council of (EM) Residency Directors (CORD) and the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine. (SAEM) As President of SAEM, he started the journal Academic Emergency Medicine. He helped plan the 1994 Macy Foundation report on the Future of Emergency Medicine, was on the National Advisory Committee for the Robert Wood Johnson Faculty Physician Scholars and the Governing Council for the AMA Academic Physician Section. 

He has been active with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education where he was Chair for the Review Committee for Emergency Medicine, a member of the Institutional Review Committee from 1996-2004 and a member of the ACGME Board of Directors from 2009-2012. At that time, Dr. Ling became the Senior Vice-President for Accreditation of Hospital-based specialties at the ACGME where he worked to implement the Next Accreditation System and to merge with the osteopathic community into a Single Accreditation System. 

He has retired from clinical practice and continues to teach at the University of Minnesota in the Bequest Program and the Simulation Program. As a Partner of Superior Value in Program Accreditation (SVPA), he consults with teaching institutions to improve their graduate medical educational programs.

MD Class of 1992
Chair, Alumni Engagement & Events Committee 
Executive Committee

After graduating from the University of Minnesota in 1992, Dr. Loitman completed an internship and residency at Brown University and a fellowship in Pain Medicine and Palliative Care at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She has worked in hospice and palliative medicine since 1997. She started Palliative Care programs and worked in hospice in St. Louis and around New England. An author and contributor, she is also on the editorial board for various palliative care and AAHPM publications. She has a Pain Medicine private practice in addition to working in Hospice and Palliative Medicine at the VAMC. She lives in St. Louis, MO but loves to return to MN and spends one week every summer in Bemidji as a camp doctor and occasionally makes it back for the State Fair!

MD Class of 1968
Philanthropy Committee

I am a retired diagnostic radiologist. Born and raised in Bemidji, MN, I graduated from Harvard University in 1964 and UMN Medical School in 1968. After two years of training in internal medicine at the University of West Virginia and two years in the Navy, I completed a residency in diagnostic radiology at UMN Med School. The part of medicine that has always appealed most to me is the diagnostic effort so this was a perfect choice. I practiced for 15 years at Metropolitan Medical Center and 20 years with the Abbott Northwestern radiology group. I married a med school classmate fifty two years ago (Mary Hobbs Meland,MD) and our immediate family includes two pediatricians, a surgeon, and me, a radiologist. We all trained at this medical school so I feel a great attachment and a responsibility for its future. I have served for two years on the UMN Med School Scholarship Committee and for four years on the UMN Med School Admissions Committee. In both of these settings I have come to appreciate the great unmet financial needs of so many of its graduates. I benefited from scholarships in my education and want to repay my backers.

MD Class of 1970 
Student Engagement Committee

I attended high school in Moose Lake in northern Minnesota and began my college education at the University of Minnesota School of Engineering. I received very valuable advice and mentoring when I was a chemical engineering undergraduate, most importantly from meetings with the Dean of the Medical School, H. Meade Cavert, who encouraged me to apply to medical school after three years in the engineering undergraduate program. He continued to serve as a mentor and advisor throughout my medical school experience. Dean Cavert encouraged me to become involved in new curriculum developments as the president of my medical school class. That experience substantially influenced my long-term career commitment to medical education.

I did my residency in internal medicine, a graduate degree in public health, and specialty certification in preventive medicine. I was a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow and during my fellowship year worked in Congress on the House Appropriations Committee. I also benefited from a Winston Churchill Fellowship in Great Britain, studying the British National Health Service. I have spent much of my career in several medical schools and schools of public health as a faculty member and dean. Those experiences led to additional university leadership roles as provost, vice-chancellor, chancellor, and president in several universities and higher education systems, including Chancellor of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. I will always have deep gratitude for the personal development benefits I gained from my University of Minnesota Medical School experience.

MD Class of 2005
Alumni Engagement & Events Committee

Dr. Sachin B. Patel is a Pulmonary & Critical Care Physician at Respiratory Consultants who is passionate about healthcare equity, activism, and advocacy for vulnerable and underserved populations. Dr. Patel graduated magna cum laude with an English Literature degree from Carleton College. At the University of Minnesota Medical School, he was an Exceptional Merit Scholar and received the Joseph Collins Foundation Scholarship for excellence in arts and letters or other cultural pursuits outside the field of medicine. During his Internal Medicine residency at the University of North Carolina, he was awarded the Fischer Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Following residency, Dr. Patel practiced as a hospitalist for a year before moving to New Zealand, where he served as a Wanganui District Health Board Physician caring for Māori and Pacific Islander patients. This experience working with vulnerable indigenous communities deepened his commitment to health equity. He then completed a fellowship in Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine at the University of Maryland, where he gained additional experience helping victims of violence through training at the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Patel served as a leader at WakeMed Health & Hospitals in Raleigh, NC, where he delivered and coordinated life-saving care centered around patients and their families. Throughout his 12 years in North Carolina, he led quality improvement initiatives across hospital systems, resulting in improved patient experiences. In 2023, Governor Roy Cooper appointed him to serve on the NC State Health Coordinating Council.

Central to Dr. Patel's practice is taking time to know patients and their families. Through intimate connections with patients, families, and providers, he translates the complexities of modern ICU medicine into understandable, patient-driven care plans that respect healthcare literacy and embrace medical humanism. He has published essays and poems, and written and directed plays, reflecting his commitment to the humanities in medicine.

Dr. Patel is an active member of the Beryl Institute's Physician Advisory Council, working to elevate the human experience in healthcare. He also mentors undergraduate and medical students. In his spare time, he navigates the chaotic schedule of two young boys, enjoys writing, mountain biking, and cooking for friends and family. In 2025, after nearly 20 years away, he returned home to Minnesota with his family, and joined Respiratory Consultants to practice Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine at North Memorial Health.

MD Class of 1988
Board President
Executive Committee
Student Engagement Committee

I am an emergency medicine physician with over 25 years of practice in West Michigan at Level One trauma and tertiary medical center. During this part of my career, I also had departmental, health system, residency program, and GME-consortium leadership roles. For seven years, I was a member of the ACGME Clinical Learning Environment Review team, which aimed to enrich the training of physicians and enhance patient care at the institutions where physicians are trained. Most recently, I have worked at the medical school level in directing the third and fourth year clinical curriculum. I joined the board in order to share my experience and passions with alma mater, and to help support the experiences of physicians in training. In my spare time, I enjoy salt and freshwater fly fishing, the training of upland hunting dogs, reading and learning on a wide range of topics, and spending time with friends and family.

MD Class of 1997
Philanthropy Committee

As a physician and humanitarian for over 20 years, I have led and developed leaders locally, nationally and internationally. I was national Chairman of the Society of Hospital Medicine’s Leadership Committee, developed leadership training curriculum for my peers and participated as faculty. Besides that, I have been involved in humanitarian and philanthropic work all over the world through out my career as a hospitalist. I have worked with marginalized people both here at home and on every continent except Antarctica. I was recognized by the Society of Hospital Medicine with its inaugural Humanitarian Award in 2014. I am adept at cross cultural communication and engagement, navigating complexity, managing risk, diplomacy, building relationships and collaboration.

The reason is that I would like to give back to the U and serve as an Alumni Board member is that I consider the U my home and want to see her prosper and flourish and set up another generation of servant-leaders. Along with providing strategic and operational leadership, these are the things I bring to the alumni board. I graduated from the University of Minnesota Medical School in 1997. I am second generation U of M. My dad graduated from the School of Veterinary Medicine. I was born at the U’s teaching hospital and will forever consider the U of M my home. I am an Internal Medicine Hospitalist in Thomasville, North Carolina with Novant Health. I chose the hospital setting because I enjoy acuity and complex systems re-design. I love re-designing complex systems to make care safer for patients. I am married and live with my husband and two cats in Winston Salem, North Carolina. We have two adult children. I have a parallel career as a jazz singer. When I am not practicing medicine, I am usually playing music. I won first place in my category at the American Protégé International Music Competition in 2013 and made my debut at Carnegie Hall that same year. So someone other than my mother thinks I can sing.

MD Class of 1992 
Philanthropy Committee

I am a native Minnesotan and proud graduate of the U of MN; Medical School Class of 1992 and Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering, Institute of Technology in 1983. I completed my residency in Pediatrics at the University of Colorado, The Children’s Hospital, followed by a fellowship in Pediatric Cardiology at University of California, San Francisco where I was also a fellow in the Pediatric Scientist Training Program. I have lived in San Francisco since 1995. After fellowship, I continued as a physician-scientist at UCSF as an Assistant Professor supported by research grant funding from the NIH, American Heart Association, and other institutional sources. It was at UCSF where my passion for bench-to-bedside work began - studying the genetic underpinnings of inherited sudden death disorders and caring for children with these diseases or at-risk for developing them in their lifetime. In 2005, my career pivoted to the biotech industry where I have spent the last 20 years as a physician executive leading clinical research and development programs that have resulted in clinically approved new treatments globally. I am currently Chief Medical Officer at Thryv Therapeutics pursuing treatments for long QT syndrome, atrial fibrillation, and cardiometabolic diseases.

Having been fortunate to build a rewarding career on the foundation of my strong education at the U of MN, I enjoy giving back to my alma mater through service on the Medical School Alumni Board. As a pediatric cardiologist and biopharma executive, I am committed to mentor and advocate for today’s students and to engage other alumni coast-to-coast to collectively join in these efforts. 

I am married to a med school classmate, who is also a physician-scientist and we’ve raised two daughters, now both college graduates. We enjoy travel, music, nature, and spending time with family in Minnesota whenever we can.

MD Class of 1980
Alumni Engagement & Events Committee

John A. St. Cyr, MD, PhD, a retired cardiovascular surgeon who received his B.A., B.S., M.S., M.D., and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Minnesota. He completed his general surgical training at the University of Minnesota and his cardiovascular surgical fellowship training at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver, CO. Dr. St. Cyr has extensive research credentials, is widely published, received numerous research grants, has numerous patents, and has presented at both medical and surgical conferences. His research interests have involved pediatric cardiovascular surgery, congenital heart disease, adult cardiovascular surgery, heart failure, valvular heart disease, myocardial ischemia, D-ribose, transplantation, dialysis, and blood viscosity. He continues to be a member of many editorial boards of medical/surgical journals; furthermore, he continues to be a consultant for many medical/surgical companies. Dr. St. Cyr is a member of numerous scientific research, clinical medical, and surgical societies.

MD Class of 2004
Student Engagement Committee

I’m Nicole Strand, MD — born and raised in Frazee, a small town in northwestern Minnesota, where our family doctor delivered me and cared for my parents and grandparents. That experience sparked my path toward medicine and brought me to the University of Minnesota Medical School in Duluth, where I graduated in 2004. I went on to complete my family medicine residency at La Crosse–Mayo and began my career in rural Minnesota practicing full-scope family medicine with OB. Over the years, I transitioned to hospitalist work, then emergency medicine, and also work as a physician advisor, bridging clinical care and hospital operations. I’m currently working toward an MBA to better understand the business side of medicine.

My husband and I live in rural Minnesota with our two daughters. I love lake days, a good book, and traveling with my family. I’m excited to be part of the Alumni Board to give back to the medical community that shaped me — especially by supporting rural medical education and mentoring students.

MD Class of 2006
Alumni Engagement & Events Committee

I grew up in the Twin Cities. I left for college, studying biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins University. I returned to Minnesota to study medicine at the University of Minnesota. I matched for general surgery at the University at Buffalo, where I met my wife. I did a subsequent fellowship in colon & rectal surgery at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. I returned to the Western New York area where I now work in Rochester, NY in private practice. The distance away from where I grew up has made me want to regrow some ties back to the region, inspiring me to apply to join the Alumni Board.

MD Class of 1996
Student Engagement Committee

Medical School: University of Minnesota
Combined Internal Medicine/Pediatrics residency training: Medical College of Wisconsin
Healthcare MBA: University of St. Thomas Opus College of business
Board certifications: American Board of Internal Medicine, American Board of Pediatrics

Dr. Yang currently practices primary care at HealthPartners, the largest consumer-governed, non-profit health care organization in the nation with an integrated health plan and care delivery in Minnesota. She co-chairs the Health Equity and Anti-racism cabinet and provides medical leadership to advance health equity and anti-racism across the organization. Dr. Yang also serves as the regional medical director of one of the primary care regions. She has practiced internal medicine/pediatrics for 21 years and has expertise in patient-centered medical home, quality and process improvement and innovation as well as health equity. She is active in the community with several organizations that provide youth leadership development and health and well-being as well as mentoring youth.