Faculty & Staff

Peter M. Nalin, MD, MBA, CPE, FAAFP
Department Head, Associate Dean for Rural Medicine, Professor


Bio
Jeffrey Adams, MD, is faculty at the University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth campus, where he directs a medical student course/clerkship and instructs third- and fourth-year medical student workshops.
Education
Fellowships, Residencies, and Visiting Engagements
Licensures and Certifications
Honors and Recognition
Professional Memberships
Selected Presentations
Contact
Address
155 SMedDuluth, MN 55812-3031
Administrative Contact
Linda Liskiewicz, lliskiew@d.umn.edu


Bio
Dr. al'Absi is a professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Biobehavioral Health, and directs the Duluth Global Health Research Institute. He holds the Max E. and Mary LaDue Pickworth Chair. Al'Absi has been honored with several awards, including the ABMR Neal E. Miller Award and American Psychosomatic Society Herbert Weiner Early Career Award. He is a fellow of the Association for Psychological Sciences; has served in leadership positions within several scientific organizations and on several NIH panels; and is associate editor for Psychophysiology and on the editorial board of the Annals of Behavioral Medicine.
Clinical Summary
Psychobiology of stress; pain; addiction
Education
Fellowships, Residencies, and Visiting Engagements
Licensures and Certifications
Honors and Recognition
Professional Memberships
Selected Presentations


Bio
I am a licensed psychologist with training in community and clinical psychology. My clinical interests include individual and family therapy, and assessment. Current work is in the implementation and testing of multilevel health promotion interventions in American Indian/Alaska Native rural communities.
Research Summary
My research focuses on ways to enhance the capacities of American Indian/Alaska Native communities to promote their own health and well-being. My current emphasis is youth development and health as part of a long-term 25-year collaboration with rural Alaska Native communities. This collaboration has documented culture-based strategies for youth suicide and alcohol misuse prevention and is now testing their effectiveness. The Qungasvik (toolbox) intervention is a strength-based, community-directed and community-staffed approach that creates protective experiences to buffer risk factors and promote well-being. The second strand of this work is documenting and describing the role of community-level protective mechanisms, sometimes called cultural continuity, in the low suicide rates of certain communities within high suicide impacted regions of rural Alaska. A third effort seeks to understand cultural and spiritual factors individuals in Pacific Northwest and Northern Minnesota tribal communities are using in their recovery from opioid use. All these studies share focus at the intersection of culture, resistance, and health.Research methods for this work include interview approaches to understanding cultural processes in health and well-being, and collaborative coding and interpretive analyses of these qualitative data with Indigenous community members. Quantitative approaches draw on my interests in classical and modern measurement theory, particularly in application with cultural distinctiveness, contemporary approaches to modeling for testing theory and intervention effectiveness, with particular focus on small population and small sample research, and recent developments in multilevel and Bayesian analysis approaches.Driving all these efforts is an applied focus in intervention science. Recent work has concentrated on protective factors frameworks. As an alternative to the risk and deficit models, this framework can guide a fresh understanding of resilience processes and new, more effective intervention development.
Education
Licensures and Certifications
Honors and Recognition
Professional Memberships
Selected Presentations


Contact
Address
300 W Conan StEly, MN 55731
Administrative Contact
Linda Liskiewicz, lliskiew@d.umn.edu


Bio
Raymond Christensen, MD, has practiced family medicine for approximately 40 years, making it his personal mission to provide rural communities with access to high quality health care. He serves as associate dean for rural health at the University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth campus, and associate director of the Rural Physician Associate Program. He also advises the Family Medicine Interest Group on the Duluth campus.
Education
Fellowships, Residencies, and Visiting Engagements
Licensures and Certifications
Honors and Recognition
Media Appearances
Professional Memberships
Selected Presentations
Contact
Address
131 SMed1035 University Drive
Duluth, MN 55812-3031
Administrative Contact
Veronica Olson, veolson@d.umn.edu


Bio
Dr. Doberstein joined the faculty at the University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth campus in January 2022 following 37 years of practice as a family medicine physician in rural, urban, and military settings. She has been full-time faculty at FM residencies in Georgia and Minnesota and continues to teach part-time at the Duluth Family Medicine Residency Program.
Teaching Summary
In addition to ongoing curriculum development and admission responsibilities, Dr. Doberstein will assist Learning Community faculty leaders with clinical skill development and mentor students during their adult and pediatric H&P experiences.
Contact
Address
147 SmedDuluth, MN 55812-3031
Administrative Contact
Linda Liskiewicz, lliskiew@d.umn.edu


Contact
Administrative Contact
University of Minnesota Duluth Campus
1035 University Drive, SMED141
Duluth, MN 55812


Bio
Dr. Greenfield is a licensed psychologist and assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Biobehavioral Health. Her research focuses on substance use disorder treatment and recovery, prevention of opioid overdose deaths, behavioral health interventions, and Indigenous health equity. Other interests include mindfulness-based interventions, motivational interviewing, community-based participatory research, and scientific communication. Dr. Greenfield publishes regularly in peer-reviewed journals, serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, and has reviewed grants for the National Institutes of Health. The Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, internal university sources, and the National Institutes of Health have funded her team's work.
Research Summary
Since 2006, Dr. Greenfield has done research in addiction treatment and recovery. She is committed to Indigenous data sovereignty and ensuring research benefits tribal communities and is sustainable and enjoyable for all team and community members. She studies how change happens while meeting people where they are at. NIDA and NIAAA have funded her work, and she trained at Hazelden Betty Ford Center for Youth and Families, the University of New Mexico Center on Alcohol, Substance Use, and Addictions (CASAA), and the University of Minnesota.
Creative Activity Summary
Dr. Greenfield and colleagues incorporate art into their research. This has included hosting three art shows to complement research studies, releasing a coloring book during the pandemic, and hosting live Facebook events with Indigenous artists during the pandemic.
Teaching Summary
Dr. Greenfield teaches first and second-year medical students on the Duluth Campus. Example lectures include motivational interviewing, Psychological Interventions: the VA as a case example, sexual history taking, and harm reduction/opioid treatment in rural areas. She facilitates small group discussions, provides feedback on history-taking, and collaborates with colleagues to create PBL cases. Dr. Greenfield teaches first and second-year medical students on the Duluth Campus. Example lectures include motivational interviewing, Psychological Interventions: the VA as a case example, sexual history taking, and harm reduction/opioid treatment in rural areas. She facilitates small group discussions, provides feedback on history-taking, and collaborates with colleagues to create PBL cases.
Service Summary
Dr. Greenfield, Ph.D., LP, research focuses on substance use disorder treatment and recovery, prevention of opioid overdose deaths, behavioral health interventions, and Indigenous health equity.
Clinical Summary
Dr. Greenfield has experience with hospital-based psychiatry consultation/liaison, substance use disorder treatment, psychiatric comorbidity, mindfulness-based interventions, Indigenous health, motivational interviewing, and Veterans. Clinical work has been with adults; she is not currently practicing.
Education
Fellowships, Residencies, and Visiting Engagements
Honors and Recognition
Professional Memberships
Selected Presentations
Contact
Address
University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth CampusSMed 335, 1035 University Drive
Duluth, MN 55812-3031
Administrative Contact
Katie Johnson, kejohnso@d.umn.edu


Bio
Amy Greminger, MD, joined the faculty at the University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth campus in 2017. She is also part of the elder care and geriatric team at Essentia Health - Duluth Clinic.
Research Summary
I am interested in medical education, geriatrics, palliative care, and point of care ultrasound in medical education.
Education
Fellowships, Residencies, and Visiting Engagements
Licensures and Certifications
Media Appearances
Professional Memberships
Selected Publications
Selected Presentations
Contact
Address
145 SMed1035 University Drive
Duluth, MN 55812
Administrative Contact
Linda Liskiewicz, lliskiew@d.umn.edu


Bio
Ryan Harden, MD, MS, joined the faculty in 2015 and currently serves as course director for Community Clinical Medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth Campus. Dr. Harden has a clinical practice at Gateway Clinic in Sandstone, Minn., where he serves as Medical Director, including a hospital practice at Essentia Health Moose Lake, Minn.Dr. Harden also teaches Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Microbiology, Medical Genetics, Internal Medicine and Pediatrics to students preparing for the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE). He has given lectures all over the world, including Debrecen, Hungary, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, St. George's University, Grenada and Toronto, Canada. He has also been a guest lecturer with the Montana State University WWAMI program and he has delivered CME lectures on the Ethics of Genetic Testing. He has been a panelist and host for WDSE-TV's(PBS North) television program "Doctors On Call."Dr. Harden has been involved in community programs to prevent and treat prescription drug abuse. He has also worked closely with pharmacists to improve patient compliance with prescription medicines. Dr. Harden enjoys spending his free time with his family. His recreational interests include fly fishing, cross-country skiing, marathon running, motorcycling, scuba diving, waterskiing and ice hockey.
Education
Fellowships, Residencies, and Visiting Engagements
Licensures and Certifications
Honors and Recognition
Media Appearances
Professional Memberships
Selected Presentations
Contact
Address
1035 University Drive157 SMed
Duluth, MN 55812
Administrative Contact
Linda Liskiewicz, lliskiew@d.umn.eu


Bio
Kristen Jacklin, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Biobehavioral Health as well as the Associate Director of the Memory Keepers Medical Discovery Team – Health Equity (MK-MDT) at the University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth Campus. Dr. Jacklin is a medical anthropologist with an extensive background in community-based Indigenous health research and health equity. Her research focuses on chronic disease care for Indigenous peoples, including investigations concerning aging; cognitive health and dementia; diabetes; and Indigenous health/medical education. Dr. Jacklin leads the Indigenous Cultural Understandings of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias – Research and Exchange (I-CARE) program of research which pairs community-based participatory research (CBPR) approaches with Indigenous methodologies to address dementia disparities in Indigenous populations. She also co-leads with Dr. Wayne Warry, the Center for Community Engaged Rural Dementia and Alzheimer’s Research (CERDAR). CERDAR uses CBPR approaches to engage rural participants in projects concerning the prevention, diagnosis and care for people with dementia in rural communities. Dr. Jacklin is the founder of the International Indigenous Dementia Research Network and the Indigenous Cognition Awareness and Aging Awareness Research Exchange (I-CAARE.ca).
Education
Fellowships, Residencies, and Visiting Engagements
Honors and Recognition
Media Appearances
Professional Memberships
Selected Presentations
Contact
Address
624 E 1st StSuite 201
Duluth, MN 55805-2069
Administrative Contact
Tracy Kemp, tkemp1@d.umn.edu


Contact
Administrative Contact
University of Minnesota, Duluth Campus
1035 University Drive, SMED 232
Duluth, MN 55812