People

The Center for Learning Health System Sciences is led by its Director and Deputy Director who oversee each center unit and unit leads, as well as staff and faculty. The directors report to the Deans of the Medical School and School of Public Health.

Internal and External Advisory Boards advance the mission of CLHSS by advising on strategic priorities and portfolio composition, and promoting CLHSS initiatives and collaborations. The board members are a diverse set of leaders representing UMN college and departments, M Health Fairview and other MN health systems, as well as nationally from LHS centers, patient engagement, and health equity disciplines.

In addition, core teams of data analysts, data scientists, and program and project managers from Fairview support the work of CLHSS to make the LHS research and education endeavors possible.

GENEVIEVE MELTON-MEAUX, MD, PHD

Genevieve Melton-Meaux, MD, PhD, FACMI, FACS, FASCRS is Professor of Surgery, Core Faculty in the Institute for Health Informatics, and the Chief Analytics and Care Innovation Officer at M Health Fairview. Dr. Melton is the Director for the Center for Learning Health System Sciences and leads its Digital Technology Innovation (DTI) Program. She also currently serves as the President of the American College of Medical Informatics.

TIMOTHY BEEBE, PHD

Tim Beebe, PhD is the Interim Dean and Mayo Professor in the School of Public Health. Dr. Beebe is the Director of the Minnesota Learning Health System Mentored Career Development Program (MN-LHS), the Deputy Director for the Center for Learning Health System Sciences, and leads its Healthcare Innovation Program for Implementation & Evaluation (HI-PIE). He also serves on the CTSI-Ed Internal Advisory Board and the CTSI-Ed Executive Leadership group.

BRAD BENSON, MD, FACP, FAAP

Brad Benson, MD, FACP, FAAP is the Chief Academic Officer for M Health Fairview and Professor of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine. In addition to his clinical focus, Dr. Benson's interests include milestone-based competency assessment across the continuum of medical education and integration of clinical research into a Learning Health System framework.

MICHAEL USHER, MD, PhD

Michael Usher, MD, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine. He co-leads the Rapid Prospective Evaluation Unit (RapidEval) within the Center for Learning Health System Sciences. In addition to hospitalist clinical practice, Dr. Usher plays a role as a "triagist" managing patient flow and capacity at the M-Health Fairview Systems Operations Center. Dr. Usher's research interest focuses on leveraging technology to optimize transitions of care in the acute care setting, measuring and defining quality, and pragmatic interventional studies.

NATHAN SHIPPEE, PhD

Nathan Shippee, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Division of Health Policy and Management, faculty in the Research Data Assistance Center (RESDAC) and Deputy Director of Curriculum and Methods for the Minnesota Learning Health System Mentored Career Development Program. He co-leads the Rapid Evaluation Prospective Evaluation Unit (RapidEval) within the Center for Learning Health System Sciences. His primary research focus is patient complexity in chronic disease management including frameworks for conceptualizing, measuring and addressing patient complexity.

MARY BUTLER, PhD, MBA

Mary Butler, PhD, MBA is an Associate Professor in the Division of Health Policy and Management and Co-Director of the Minnesota Evidence-based Practice Center. She co-leads the Evidence Synthesis Center within the Center for Learning Health System Sciences. Her primary research focus is the study of scientific evidence standards, research design, and systematic review methodology, evidence-informed health care , and complex patients and complex interventions.

JOSH RHEIN, MD

Joshua Rhein, MD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health. He co-leads the Evidence Synthesis Center within the Center for Learning Health System Sciences. His clinical and research interests are focused on HIV pathogenesis, global health, and infectious diseases including evidence synthesis on emerging treatments.

CHRISTOPHER TIGNANELLI, MD, MS

Christopher TIgnanelli, MD, MS, FACS is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Critical Care and Acute Care Surgery and Affiliate Faculty in the Institute for Health Informatics. He serves as Scientific Director of the Program for Clinical Artificial Intelligence (P4AI) in the Center for Learning Health System Sciences and Department of Surgery’s Center for Outcomes, Quality, Delivery, and Evaluation (C-QODE). His research interests include federated learning, interoperable clinical decision support, and other aspects of clinical AI. He currently serves on the AHRQ evidence-based Care Transformation Support (ACTS), CDC’s Adapting Clinical Guidelines for the Digital Age Initiative and the American College of Surgeons Health Information Technology (HIT) Committee.

JERICA BERGE, PhD, MPH, LMFT, CFLE

Jerica Berge, PhD, MPH, LMFT, CFLE is a Professor and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health. She leads the Department’s Practice-Based Research Network with its CLHSS partnership and co-leads CTSI’s Community Engagement to Advance Research and Community Health (CEARCH) team. She also directs the Healthy Eating across the Lifespan (HEAL) Center. Dr. Berge is both a researcher and behavioral medicine clinician. She is a licensed mental health therapist specializing in integrated care and community-based partnerships to promote child and family health. Her research interests include using mixed-methods to reduce childhood obesity disparities by race/ethnicity to promote health equity.

LINDSAY BORK NICHOLS, MBA

Lindsay Bork Nichols, MBA is the Administrative Director for the Center for Learning Health System Sciences. She is responsible for ensuring that the center is running efficiently and executing on its strategy; including management of the Center’s initiatives, funding portfolio, research studies, and grants; staff administration and management; and ensuring that strategic goals are defined, planned, measured and executed upon.

MAYA PETERS, MPH

Maya Peters, MPH is the Project Manager for the Healthcare Innovation Program for Implementation & Evaluation unit. She is responsible for the management of research projects and program initiatives for Evidence Synthesis and RapidEval. Maya interfaces and coordinates work with IT, clinical, and academic stakeholders across the University and M Health Fairview.

SAMANTHA ALCH, MPH

Samantha Alch, MPH is the Research Facilitator for the Practice-Based Research Network. She provides support and leadership to develop and facilitate research projects within the M Health Fairview Primary Care service line by building awareness of learning health system philosophies, establishing a collaborative research network, coordinating and implementing research protocols, and facilitating research studies.

DEBBIE PESTKA, PHARMD, PHD

Debbie Pestka, PharmD, PhD is a pharmacist and health services researcher within the Center for Learning Health System Sciences. Her research focuses on evaluating the implementation of novel and evidence-based programs and services into healthcare delivery and practice.

Internal Advisory Board
External Advisory Board

Internal Advisory Board

Name	Title	Area represented
Tim Schacker	Vice Dean for Research	Medical School Dean Delegate
Marizen Ramirez	Associate Dean for Research	School of Public Health Dean Delegate
Brad Benson	Chief Academic Officer	M Health Fairview Executive Leadership Team
Laura Reed	Executive VP, Chief Nursing Executive, & Chief Operating Officer	M Health Fairview Executive Leadership Team
Constantin Aliferis	Director, Institute for Health Informatics	CTSI, IHI
Sayeed Ikramuddin	Chair, Department of Surgery	Medical School Department Chair
Connie Delaney	Dean, School of Nursing	OACA (health sciences) School
Melissa Geller	Associate Director for Clinical Research; Division Chief, Gynecology Oncology	Masonic Cancer Center
Sandra Wells	Assistant Director, Office of Discovery and Translation	CTSI
Steven Fu	Director, Center for Care Delivery and Outcomes Research, VA	Minnesota health system (non-MHFV)
Colleen McDonald Diouf	CEO, Community-University Health Care Center (CUHCC)	Minnesota health system (non-MHFV)

External Advisory Board

Name	Title	Area represented
Lucy Savitz, PhD, MBA	Director, Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Northwest	LHS Center
Leora Horwitz, MD	Director, Center for Healthcare Innovation and Delivery Science, NYU Langone	LHS Center, CTSA
Marcella Nunez-Smith, MD, MHS	Director, Yale Equity Research and Innovation Center	Patient Engagement, Health Equity
Sheila Moroney	Principal, PX Adivsors	Patient Engagement