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.
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.
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.
JOE KOOPMEINERS, PhD
Joe Koopmeiners, PhD, is a Professor and Division Head of the Division of Biostatistics at the School of Public Health. He co-leads the Rapid Prospective Evaluation Unit (RapidEval) within the Center for Learning Health System Sciences. His primary research interests include the development of statistical methods to answer questions related to cancer prevention, detection, and treatment more accurately and efficiently.
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.
RUBINA RIZVI, MD, PHD
Rubina Rizvi, MD, PhD is a physician informaticist with a career that is a blend of both international and US education and experience. As a clinician and a health informatician, she has 10 plus years of extensive research experience entailing planning, designing, conducting, and disseminating results of rigorous scientific research. Her main interest is to explore and incorporate/address the factors that could facilitate successful integration of technologies in health care delivery, both in terms of workflow processes and resulting outcomes. Dr. Rizvi is the Integration Lead for the Digital Technology Innovation unit.
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 (MN LHS) Mentored Career Development Program. He is the Integration Lead with MN LHS Training Program at 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.
BRONWYN SOUTHWELL, MD
Bronwyn Southwell, MD is an Anesthesiologist by training and supports the Evidence Synthesis unit as the Integration Lead to further the connection and engagement between the unit and the health system clinical variation reduction program, as well as with other CLHSS unit initiatives.
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.
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.
Julian Wolfson, PhD
Julian Wolfson, PhD is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Health, Division of Biostatistics. He co-leads the Innovative Methods & Data Science (IMDS) program within the Center for Learning Health System Sciences. Dr. Wolfson's collaborative work spans multiple disciplines, including infectious disease (HIV/Ebola), cardiovascular health, nutrition and obesity, and pediatrics. His research focus lies at the intersection of causal inference and machine learning, particularly as applied to large, messy datasets.
Rui Zhang, PhD
Rui Zhang, PhD is an Associate Professor and Founding Chief of the Computational Health Sciences Division in the Department of Surgery. He co-leads the Innovative Methods & Data Science (IMDS) program within the Center for Learning Health System Sciences. Dr. Zhang’s research focuses on biomedical informatics, especially artificial intelligence (AI), biomedical and clinical NLP, knowledge representation and pharmacy informatics. His primary focus is on the development of novel AI methods to analyze biomedical big data, including electronic health records (EHRs), biomedical literature, patient-generated data, and knowledge bases.
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.
KRISTIN BOMAN, MPH
Kristin Boman, MPH, is the Practice Based Research Network Manager. She is responsible for strategic planning and setting goals for the PBRN; managing the PBRN operations and programs; collaborating with partners and stakeholders; as well as growing the network across the M Health Fairview primary care service line.
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.
CHLOE BOTSFORD
Chloe Botsford is a Research Facilitator within the M Health Fairview Primary Care Service Line (PCSL) PBRN. She facilitates the development of research projects within the PCSL by increasing clinic's capacity for research, managing research projects, and coordinating protocols between clinics by creating a research network.
MOLLY DIETHELM, PMP
Molly Diethelm, PMP, is the Senior Research Coordinator for Center for Learning Health System Sciences. She is responsible for supporting various grant and research related activities for all center units. In addition, Molly is a Project Manager dedicated to the Digital Technology Innovation (DTI) Program managing research projects and program initiatives. She interfaces and coordinates work with IT, clinical, and academic stakeholders across the University and M Health Fairview.
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.
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.
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Name |
Title |
Area represented |
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Vice Dean for Research |
Medical School Dean Delegate |
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Associate Dean for Research |
School of Public Health Dean Delegate |
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Chief Academic Officer |
M Health Fairview Executive Leadership Team |
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Executive VP, Chief Nursing Executive, & Chief Operating Officer |
M Health Fairview Executive Leadership Team |
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Director, Institute for Health Informatics |
CTSI, IHI |
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Chair, Department of Surgery |
Medical School Department Chair |
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Dean, School of Nursing |
OACA (health sciences) School |
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Associate Director for Clinical Research; |
Masonic Cancer Center |
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Assistant Director, Office of Discovery and Translation |
CTSI |
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Director, Center for Care Delivery and Outcomes Research, VA |
Minnesota health system (non-MHFV) |
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Chief Clinical Officer, Community-University Health Care Center (CUHCC) |
Minnesota health system (non-MHFV) |
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Name |
Title |
Area represented |
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Professor, Department of Health Policy & Management, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh |
LHS Center |
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Director, Center for Healthcare Innovation and Delivery Science, NYU Langone |
LHS Center, CTSA |
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Director, Yale Equity Research and Innovation Center |
Patient Engagement, Health Equity |
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Sheila Moroney |
Principal, PX Adivsors |
Patient Engagement |
LHS Job Opportunities