Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine Faculty

Bio

Administrator Info
Name: Helen Rieger
Phone: 612-624-0999
Email: riege002@umn.edu
Fax: 612-625-2174

Summary
During Dr. Akingbola's clinical sleep medicine fellowship at the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center, he focused on sleep-related disordered breathing, parasomnias, and other sleep disorders including insomnia and RLS. He co-authored a book chapter on the diagnosis of Narcolepsy complicated by Bipolar Disorder and submitted a case report on the multidisciplinary approach to caring for a patient with Congenital Central Hypoventilation Syndrome. Additionally, he taught medical students and residents during their clinical rotation in Sleep Medicine. He also presented at the IMED session for the Internal Medicine Residence on Sleep Disordered Breathing.

Research Summary

• Cardiopulmonary physiology and sleep-related breathing disorders
• Sleep & Athletic Performance
• Intersection of Sleep Medicine and Hospital Medicine

Creative Activity Summary

• Cardiopulmonary physiology
• Sleep Related Breathing Disorders
• Medical Education

Bio

Administrator Info
Name: Helen Rieger
Phone: 612-624-0999
Email: riege002@umn.edu
Fax: 612-625-2174

Summary
Dr. Akpa completed his Internal Medicine residency at Meharry Medical College, Nashville before moving to Knoxville where he completed his Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine training at the University of Tennessee. He also completed a Sleep Fellowship at the University of Chicago after which he joined the faculty with the University of Minnesota. His research interests includes pharmacotherapy for narcolepsy and CPAP compliance in Sleep disordered breathing. Clinical interests include general pulmonology, sleep disordered breathing and Critical Care. In addition to his outpatient general pulmonary clinics at the Maple Grove M Health Fairview Clinics, Dr. Akpa works in the medical intensive care unit at both the University of Minnesota Medical Center and Fairview Southdale Hospital where he is involved in medical education for both the internal medicine and pulmonary critical care fellowship programs.

Research Summary

Pharmacotherapy for Narcolepsy; CPAP Compliance in Sleep Disordered Breathing

Teaching Summary

Medical student; Resident; Fellow Education

Clinical Summary

General Pulmonology; Sleep Disordered Breathing; Critical Care Medicine

Bio

Administrator Info
Name: Helen Rieger
Phone: 612-624-0999
Email: riege002@umn.edu
Fax: 612-625-2174

Summary
My research focuses on innate immunity and in particular the response of neutrophils to exogenous bacterial components or endogenous stress signals. Our main focus of disease is acute lung injury and the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) with our overall goal to improve patient outcomes in ARDS, a disease still associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Through examination of cell signaling pathways utilized by neutrophils in their response to stress mediators, we hope to identify targets that may be useful in dampening the response of neutrophils and accordingly decrease the severity of lung injury and the development of acute respiratory failure. Our major area of focus has been dissecting the pathways used by the mitogen activated protein kinase family of cell signaling molecules in order to better understand their upstream and downstream signaling components that induce and regulate the cellular activation of neutrophils. These identified components can then be assessed for their potential as modifiable targets for the treatment of ARDS at the bedside by drug or genetic approaches with the ultimate goal of improving patient outcomes.

Research Summary

Cell signaling, acute lung inflammation
The neutrophil is crucial to the inflammatory response and in particular to the pathophysiology of the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Although neutrophil recruitment to sites of acute inflammation is beneficial, an over-exuberant influx of neutrophils results in tissue damage that is detrimental to the patient. Accordingly, limiting neutrophil recruitment or neutrophil activation in the lung may benefit patients with ARDS, thereby improving outcomes. Our laboratory is interested in the signaling pathways that are activated in neutrophils during acute inflammation. One such pathway is the evolutionary conserved mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade. Exposure of neutrophils to inflammatory mediators, such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or chemokines (e.g. Interleukin 8--IL-8), activates components of the MAPK cascade leading to the expression and release of pro-inflammatory proteins. Our laboratory has previously examined the signaling pathways by which LPS activates the MAPK c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) in neutrophils and have shown that JNK regulates neutrophil recruitment to the lung after exposure to LPS. Although we continue to examine pathways leading to JNK activation in LPS-stimulated neutrophils, our laboratory is currently focusing on the role of the proteoglycan syndecan-4 in regulating the activation of JNK in neutrophils exposed to the chemokine IL-8. IL-8 is a major attractant for neutrophil migration and is highly expressed at sites of acute inflammation. In addition, IL-8 binds to syndecan-4 suggesting that syndecan-4 is uniquely positioned to regulate IL-8-induced signaling in neutrophils. We plan to examine the upstream signaling events that are regulated by syndecan-4 in the IL-8-induced pathway leading to JNK activation using biochemical and in vitro and in vivo genetic knockdown strategies. Our hopes are that these studies will further elucidate the mechanisms by which IL-8 activates JNK in neutrophils, and therefore neutrophil migration, and will provide potential modalities to control the inflammatory response. In addition, the lab is beginning to examine the mechanisms by which the renin angiotenisn system regulates neutrophil influx during acute inflammation. Currently, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE inhibitors) are widely used and are effective in patients with cardiovascular disease. In addition to their effect on blood pressure and cardiac function, however, ACE inhibitors decrease neutrophil recruitment to inflammatory sites. The goal of this project is to determine the mechanisms by which ACE-I decrease neutrophil recruitment and specifically the signaling pathways that are regulated by the RAS in neutrophils.

Clinical Summary

General Pulmonary, Pulmonary complications after hematopoietic stem cell transplant

Bio

Administrator Info
Name: Emily Awes Anderson
Phone: 612-624-0999
Email: awes0005@umn.edu
Fax: 612-625-2174

Summary
Dr. Abbie Begnaud is a Louisiana native who joined the University of Minnesota faculty in 2013. Dr. Begnaud has an interest in the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer. An inaugural diplomat of the American Association of Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology, she is trained in advanced diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, as well as general pulmonary and critical care medicine. She collaborated to launch the University of Minnesota Health Lung Cancer Screening Program and continues to oversee all its activities.Research interests include implementation and dissemination of lung cancer screening and use of lung cancer screening to reduce health disparities in lung cancer. She is studying how incidental findings of lung cancer screening impact the overall benefit of this health service.

Research Summary

Dr. Abbie Begnaud hails from Louisiana and arrived at the University of Minnesota in 2013. Her clinical work focuses on managing common lung diseases as well as diagnosis and management of lung cancer. Her research focuses on reducing the burden of lung cancer, through early detection (screening), especially for groups who are disproportionately impacted by the disease.

Dr. Begnaud has been fortunate to partner with Indigenous organizations to reduce the burden of lung cancer in this community. In addition, she is active with the American College of Chest Physicians and A Breath of Hope Lung Foundation.

Clinical Summary

lung nodules; pleural effusion; lung cancer screening

Bio

Administrator Info
Name: Emily Olmsted-Morales
Email: olmst111@umn.edu
Phone: 612-624-7163

Summary
Dr. Milind Bhagat is an Assistant Professor of Medicine specializing in Pulmonary and Critical Care at the University of Minnesota. He is a dedicated advocate for fostering diversity in medical education, improving access to quality healthcare for underserved populations, and addressing disparities in medical outcomes.
He is particularly interested in clinical research in the fields of bedside POCUS, pleural diseases, pulmonary hypertension, research and education of bedside critical care as well as bronchoscopic procedures, as well as expanding access to the screening, promoting equity in diagnosis and addressing disparities in the treatment of lung cancer. His prior work has included identifying high risk COVID-19 patients in the hospital, for which he was awarded the prestigious Alfred Soffer Research award.

Research Summary

• Critical illness outcome
• Procedural teaching and research
• Pleural diseases
• Pulmonary Hypertension
• Diversity, equity and inclusion in healthcare

Clinical Summary

ARDS, Sepsis, Pleural diseases, Bedside and Pulmonary procedures, healthcare outcomes research

Bio

Administrator Info
Name: Emily Awes Anderson
Phone: 612-624-0999
Email: awes0005@umn.edu
Fax: 612-625-2174

Research Summary

Our research focus is to improve outcomes in acute and chronic lung diseases. We are using a combination of tools to understand the basic mechanisms by which the lung repairs itself. A goal of these studies is to predict outcomes in lung diseases and develop therapeutic interventions to modify mortality. Since its initial description in 1967, Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) has remained a frequent cause of respiratory failure requiring supportive care in the intensive care unit. Our laboratory is using state-of-the-art tools to perform the large-scale study of proteins in cases with ARDS, to identify the biological processes and pathways that are selectively activated in cases that survive. We expect that these studies will result in novel therapy in ARDS by identifying the biological process that participate in lung repair. We are also pursuing studies in Idiopathic Pneumonia Syndrome, a non-infectious form of lung injury that occurs in blood and marrow transplant recipients. We are also collecting biological specimens from patients with Sarcoidosis. Our goal is to characterize comprehensively the protein profile in these patients and begin to understand why Sarcoidosis has such varied clinical presentation, response to treatment and unpredictable course. These studies are designed to develop biomarkers that will inform us about diagnosis and prognosis in Sarcoidosis. In collaboration with investigators at the Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, we have applied the novel SWIFT-MRI algorithm in imaging of lung tissue. These studies performed in an experimental model of ARDS show promising findings that we expect to translate in human subjects with acute and chronic lung disease.

Clinical Summary

Pulmonary Sarcoidosis; Interstitial Lung Diseases; Medical Critical Care; Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)

Bio

Administrator Info
Name: Emily Awes Anderson
Phone: 612-624-0999
Email: awes0005@umn.edu
Fax: 612-625-2174

Summary
Dr. Billings' primary research and clinical work focuses on cystic fibrosis (CF). She has a particular interest in the women's health issues in patients with CF. Dr. Billings investigates the role of sex hormones in CF and their impact on CF lung disease. Her research examines lung function during the phases of the menstrual cycle in young women with CF. Dr. Billings is also a co-investigator in CF drug development studies at the University.Dr. Billings directs the pulmonary firm rotation for third year internal medicine residents.

Clinical Summary

Bronchiectasis; Ciliary dyskinesia; Cystic fibrosis and Pediatric; Women's health issues in patients with cystic fibrosis

Bio

Administrator Info
Name: Emily Olmsted-Morales
Phone: 612-624-0999
Email: olmst111@umn.edu
Fax: 612-625-2174

Bio

Administrator Info
Name: Helen Rieger
Phone: 612-624-0999
Email: riege002@umn.edu
Fax: 612-625-2174

Summary
Originally from Canada, Dr. Burton received a B.Sc. in Biomedical Science from the University of Toronto and joined the faculty of the University of Minnesota in 2008.

Clinical Summary

Critical Care; Cardio-pulmonary physiology in mechanically ventilated patients, non-invasive ventilation use in ICU patients; Internal medicine resident education/curriculum development

Bio

Administrator Info
Name: Ashley Fuchs
Phone: 612-624-0999
Email: fuchs@umn.edu
Fax: 612-625-2174

Summary
Monica Campo Patiño, MD, MPH., completed medical school at Universidad El Bosque in Bogotá, Colombia. She went on to complete a research fellowship at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA. She received a Master’s in Public Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Subsequently, she completed an internal medicine residency at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, MA and a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA.
 
Currently, Dr. Campo is an Assistant Professor in the University of Minnesota Department of Medicine in the Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy, and Sleep Medicine Division. Dr. Campo specializes in the treatment and management of general pulmonary and critically ill patients. She is committed to excellent and compassionate care of patients with chest problems. Dr. Campo’s research focuses on the discovery of new therapies for patients with respiratory infections. She has received independent funding from the National Institutes of Health for her research projects and has published in peer-reviewed journals as well as presented her research at international scientific meetings.
 

Research Summary

Dr. Campo’s research program focuses on the examination of regulatory innate immunity pathways of the early stages of tuberculosis, that lead to the discovery of new therapies.

Her current projects include:

A)  Class I Histone Deacetylases Regulate Innate Immune Resistance to Mycobacterium tuberculosis. New therapies that target the host instead of targeting Mycobacterium tuberculosis directly, known as host-directed therapeutics, offer a promising answer to antibiotic resistance and the inability to kill non-replicating bacilli. Dr. Campo identified a selective inhibitor of histone deacetylases that controls extracellular and intracellular growth of Mycobacteria. This compound may be promising as a host directed therapeutic against tuberculosis. The goal of the current work is to search for the mechanism by which histone deacetylase inhibitors control mycobacteria replication and to study the cellular, epigenetic and genetic mechanisms of histone deacetylases regulation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection.

B)   Mycobacterium tuberculosis-induced responses in human alveolar macrophages vs. monocyte derived macrophages: Alveolar macrophages and recruited monocyte-derived macrophages mediate early lung immune responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis and are poised to determine the subsequent course of infection. Although previous studies documented differences between these cells, few have described cellular functions that regulate critical steps in anti-microbial responses. Dr. Campo’s team identified Mycobacterium tuberculosis-induced pathways that were specifically upregulated in human alveolar macrophages compared to macrophages. Further studies are underway to understand how these specific pathways are differentially regulated in human alveolar and peripheral macrophages. 

Teaching Summary

Pulmonary; tuberculosis

Clinical Summary

General pulmonary medicine

Bio

Administrator Info
Name: Helen Rieger
Phone: 612-624-0999
Email: riege002@umn.edu
Fax: 612-625-2174

Summary
Dr. Cervenka earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at St Olaf College in 1991, and graduated for University of Minnesota Medical School in 2000. She completed residency training in internal medicine, and fellowship in pulmonary and critical care in 2007 at which time she joined the faculty at the University of Minnesota. She is currently practicing Sleep and Pulmonary Medicine and is the UMMC site director for the HCMC Sleep Fellowship Program. She is also the interim medical director for Fairview Sleep Center- Minneapolis.

Clinical Summary

Sleep-related breathing disorders including obstructive, complex, and central sleep apnea, obesity hypoventilation syndrome

Bio

Administrator Info
Name: Emily Olmsted-Morales
Phone: 612-624-0999
Email: olmst111@umn.edu
Fax: 612-625-2174

Summary
Dr. Roy Joseph Cho is an interventional pulmonologist who is board certified in Interventional Pulmonology, Pulmonary Medicine, Critical Care Medicine and Internal Medicine. He is an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Clinical Advisor to the Earl E. Bakken Medical Device Center at the University of Minnesota.Dr. Cho spends most of his clinical time performing airway, pleural and diagnostic procedures in the operating room and bronchoscopy lab and also consults with patients in the IP/nodule clinic at M-Health's CSC and Maple Grove clinics. He also attends in the medical intensive care unit as well as on the pulmonary and interventional pulmonary consult service.Dr. Cho is involved in didactic and clinical training for pulmonary, critical care and interventional pulmonary fellows, as well as internal medicine house staff, rotating on the ICU, pulmonary consult or interventional pulmonary service. He is an instructor for the point of care ultrasound (POCUS) courses for medical students and critical care fellows at the University of Minnesota.Dr. Cho is an active principal investigator and holds device patents within the interventional pulmonary space. He is the creator and editor for UMN's Interventional Pulmonary YouTube Channel. His clinical interest includes pleural disease, central airway obstruction, point of care ultrasound in ICU and pulmonary mechanics. His research focuses on 3D custom airway design, management of central airway obstruction and device innovation in interventional pulmonary.

Teaching Summary

Critical care ultrasound

Clinical Summary

Central airway obstruction; pleural disease; and point of care ultrasound; 3D custom airway design and medical device innovation

Bio

Administrator Info
Name: Emily Olmsted-Morales
Phone: 612-624-0999
Email: olmst111@umn.edu
Fax: 612-625-2174

Summary
I have active interest in medical education. In addition to teaching residents and medical students, I was coordinator for pulmonary curriculum for Physician Assistant school at Indiana University.

I focused on Pulmonary Hypertension during third year of my fellowship. My research area of interest includes Delirium & racial and social disparities in healthcare outcomes.

Research Summary

• Delirium, Medical Education
• Pulmonary Hypertension

Teaching Summary

ICU Primer for an Intern, Advance Ventilator Management

Clinical Summary

Pulmonary Hypertension, ICU Survival Care, Asthma

Bio

Administrator Info
Name: Ashley Fuchs
Phone: 612-624-0999
Email: fuchs@umn.edu
Fax: 612-625-2174

Summary
Dr. Jeffrey Dichter completed his Critical Care Medicine Fellowship at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland and Internal Medicine Residency at Los Angeles County General Hospital. He is currently an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Dichter is an intensivist with clinical interest in Disaster Preparedness and Response and is a founding and executive committee member of the Task Force for Mass Critical Care, an internationally recognized multidisciplinary organization whose publications helped the United States prepare for and respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic. He is also a faculty member at the University of Minnesota High Consequence Infectious Disease Containment Unit, one of thirteen federally designated centers. 

His research interests include mass critical care surge response and intensive care unit strain. He is also an expert at sepsis and performance improvement, and actively contributes to sepsis care throughout the University of Minnesota and M Health Fairview Health System. His contributions have been recognized by both the American College of Chest Physicians and the Society of Critical Care Medicine.
 

Research Summary

●    Critical care surge capacity, staffing, and resources in pandemics and disasters
●    Intensive care unit strain
●    Septic shock
●    Performance improvement expert

Clinical Summary

●    Special pathogens
●    COVID-only hospitals
●    Sepsis
●    Critical care
●    Ebola containment
●    Hospitalist
 

Bio

Administrator Info
Name: Abigail Alves
Phone: 612-624-0999
Email: aalves@umn.edu
Fax: 612-625-2174

Summary
Dr. Dincer is the PACCS Division Director, Chief of the Medical Subspecialty Service Line, Vice Chair of Clinical Affairs at the Department of Medicine and the Director of Interventional Pulmonary Program at M Health Fairview. After joining the UMN faculty in 2011, he developed the Lung Nodule Program and, one year later, the multidisciplinary IP program in collaboration with Thoracic Surgery, Interventional Radiology, and Medical Oncology. Dr. Dincer holds an MD from Istanbul University where he also finished a 4-year Internal Medicine Residency. He completed an Internal Medicine Residency with a research year working on alveolar epithelial cell apoptosis as a pathway to interstitial lung diseases at UIC/Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago. After a year of chief residency at the Michael Reese Hospital, he completed a fellowship in Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. He also holds an executive Masters in Healthcare Administration from the UMN School of Public Health. Dr. Dincer is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in minimally invasive procedures in diagnosing and treating lung diseases and is board certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Medicine, Critical Care Medicine and Sleep Medicine.

Clinical Summary

Complex airway diseases (tumor debulking with various methods, balloon bronchoplasty, stent placement, intrabronchial valve placement, bronchoscopic lung volume reduction, treatment of tracheal or airway stenosis); Bronchial Thermoplasty for uncontrolled severe asthma; Lung transplant airway complications; Cryoprobe lung biopsy in ILD, ARDS and diffuse parenchymal lung diseases; Medical thoracoscopy for undiagnosed pleural effusions; Intrabronchial valve placement for prolonged air leaks; Naviga

Bio

Administrator Info
Name: Helen Rieger
Phone: 612-624-0999
Email: riege002@umn.edu
Fax: 612-625-2174

Summary
Dr. Dudley's research is focused on measuring clinical performance and using incentives to improve it. Dr. Dudley has applied both qualitative and quantitative methods to identify important policy issues, such as variation in quality of care, and to study first the feasibility of and then the impact of novel policy responses, including payment reform and public reporting of quality of care. In a series of articles spanning the last decade, Dr. Dudley developed methods to identify organizations whose performance could improve and showed that such improvement was possible. His work led both to business leaders such as the Leapfrog Group realizing that they could influence health care in a positive way and to clinicians and policymakers recognizing that care re-engineering in the VA system had already contributed to dramatic improvement. Dr. Dudley also has led important efforts to advance the science of performance measurement. These include both projects creating novel models to risk-adjust outcomes like intensive care unit mortality and length of stay and survey instruments to capture patient assessments of care. These measures are extensively used in ongoing health care, including by the California Hospital Assessment and Reporting Taskforce, a collaborative he founded and in which more than 220 hospitals participate. Dr. Dudley's current work involves randomized controlled trials and observational studies of incentive programs and projects to understand the sources of performance variation among providers, especially as relates to disparities in care.

Bio

Administrator Info
Name: Emily Awes Anderson
Phone: 612-624-0999
Email: awes0005@umn.edu
Fax: 612-625-2174

Summary
My main clinical interests are cystic fibrosis (CF) and lung transplantation. I developed and direct the University of Minnesota Adult CF Program and am Director of our CF Center. In addition to CF, I am interested in the management of other bronchiectatic lung disease including Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia. I am involved in the pre-transplant evaluation and post-transplant management of patients referred for lung transplantation for both CF and other end-stage lung disease. My involvement in lung transplantation has led me to develop expertise in interventional bronchoscopy for both transplant-related and non-transplant airway disease. I am experienced in balloon dilation, and stent placement. In the in-patient arena I mainly focus on CF and lung transplantation, but also participate in general pulmonary consultation and all aspects of intensive care management. In addition to my direct patient care responsibilities, I participate actively in continuous clinical quality improvement activities in the Adult CF Program.

Research Summary

I have served as site Primary Investigator for a number of phase II and III trials for new medications for CF patients, including VX-770 and Denfosol. I have participated as a co-investigator for numerous other phase I-III trials for new CF and transplant medications as well.I have also participated as a primary or co-investigator for a number of investigator-initiated clinical studies. I am an active participant in a number of collaborative studies at the University of MN CF Center, related to cystic fibrosis and lung transplantation.

Clinical Summary

• Cystic fibrosis
• Lung transplantation
• Primary ciliary dyskinesia
• Bronchiectasis
• Interventional bronchoscopy

Bio

Administrator Info
Name: Ashley Fuchs
Phone: 612-624-0999
Email: fuchs@umn.edu
Fax: 612-625-2174

Summary
I am a general pulmonologist and critical care physician with a particular clinical interest in diseases that affect the airways of the lungs such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. My current research interest involves how oral health may affect patients with chronic lung disease. In addition to my outpatient lung clinic, I work in the medical intensive care unit where I am involved in medical education and serve as the critical care site director for the medical school.

Research Summary

• Dental Health in Lung Disease
• Lung Mechanics in Pulmonary Fibrosis 

Clinical Summary

• Asthma
• Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency
• Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)
• Cardiopulmonary Physiology
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
• Non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis
• Respiratory Failure
• Sarcoidosis
• Sepsis

Bio

Administrator Info
Name: Helen Rieger
Phone: 612-624-0999
Email: riege002@umn.edu
Fax: 612-625-2174

Summary
Dr. Henke graduated from medical school at the University of Minnesota in 1983. He completed residency training in Internal Medicine in 1986 and fellowship sub-specialty training in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine in 1989, both at the University of Minnesota. He is a professor in the Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division. Clinical activities and interests include subspecialty pulmonary clinic focusing on interstitial lung diseases. Dr. Henke's research program seeks to understand the pathogenesis of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) at the basic science level. His research program focuses on identifying the underlying mechanisms driving IPF fibrotic progression. Recent discoveries include identification of pathological mesenchymal progenitor cells as a cell-of-origin for scar-forming IPF fibroblasts. The research program is currently focusing on elucidating epigenetic processes responsible for reprogramming IPF progenitor cells to their pathologic phenotype. Dr. Henke's research in IPF is supported by a NIH/NHLBI R01 Grant.

Clinical Summary

Interstitial lung disease with a focus on Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

Bio

I was raised in Detroit, Michigan; and attended the University of Michigan for college and medical school. I came to the University of Minnesota in 1978 for my Internal Medicine residency—and have spent my entire adult life here. My professional career has focused on three themes: Caring for patients with lung disease: I have served as medical director of the University of Minnesota lung transplant program since its inception in 1986; since then we have performed more than 1,000 lung transplants.Advancing scientific knowledge related to organ transplant medicine: I have been PI of funded NIH P01 and R01 grants; as well as Co-I on multiple other research projects. I have authored or co-authored more than 200 peer-reviewed publications. At present, I am the site-PI for the Cystic Fibrosis Lung Transplant Consortium; and for the CMS-sponsored registry of extracorporeal photopheresis for bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome after lung transplantationMentoring and teaching medical students, trainees, and junior faculty members: Currently, I enjoy being a member of our medical school Faculty Advisor program--which has been immensely effective, earning a 95% "approval rating" from our students! When not working, I enjoy relaxing with my family and friends, exercise, music, and travel.

Clinical Summary

Lung Transplantation Medicine

Bio

Administrator Info
Name: Helen Rieger
Phone: 612-624-0999
Email: riege002@umn.edu
Fax: 612-625-2174

Clinical Summary

Sleep Medicine; Health Care Delivery; Novel Approaches in Sleep Apnea; Patient Care Strategies and Guidelines; Respiratory Physiology; Respiratory Failure; Respiratory Control Disorders; Disorders of Heart-Lung Interaction

Bio

Administrator Info
Name: Helen Rieger
Phone: 612-624-0999
Email: riege002@umn.edu
Fax: 612-625-2174

Summary
Dr. Ingbar joined the Office of Faculty Affairs in 2022, as Assistant Dean for Faculty Development and Mentoring, providing leadership and strategic direction for mentoring and career development for faculty members across the school. Dr. Ingbar is the Director of Research Education, Training, and Career Development Core in the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI).  Prior to this OFA role, he served for more than 20 years as Director of the Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care & Sleep Division in the Department of Medicine

Dr. Ingbar received his MD from Harvard Medical School, and was an Internal Medicine Resident and Chief Resident at the University of Washington before completing his Pulmonary & Critical Care fellowship at Yale University. In addition, he is a physician scientist who focuses on understanding how the lung is repaired after injury and how this compares to lung development. He is Principal Investigator of the CTSI K Program and MPI of the Lung Biology T32 training grant, now in year 29.  He served as President of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) and the Association of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine Program Directors and as a member of the  ABIM Pulmonary Board. He is a member of the NHLBI Council and previously led the ATS Physician Scientist 

Dr. Ingbar is the Principal Investigator for research training provided to pre-doctoral students and post-doctoral MD and PhD fellows through a NHLBI training grant.

Clinical Summary

Acute lung injury/ARDS; Respiratory failure; Pulmonary embolism; Hemoptysis; Critical care; Pulmonary edema

Bio

Administrator Info
Name: Ashley Fuchs
Phone: 612-624-0999
Email: fuchs@umn.edu
Fax: 612-625-2174

Summary
Dr. Ingraham’s clinical expertise is in the care of critically ill patients. Dr. Ingraham is a health services researcher with an interest in evaluating and improving patient outcomes by enhancing the ICU team’s care delivery and supporting multidisciplinary care coordination.

He is particularly interested in assessing variation of evidence-based practices and identifying ways to better facilitate or mitigate barriers to provider evidence-based care to critically ill patients. His prior work has included identifying risk factors for prolonged critical illness, evaluating ICU outcomes over time, investigating the efficacy of multiple COVID-19 therapies, and measuring multiple healthcare disparities in hospitalized and critically ill patients.

Research Summary

• Critical illness outcome
• Variation in evidence-based practices
• Healthcare teamwork
• Patient centered care

Clinical Summary

ICU outcomes, chronic critical illness, end-of-life care

Bio

Administrator Info
Name: Helen Rieger
Phone: 612-624-0999
Email: riege002@umn.edu
Fax: 612-625-2174

Summary
I earned my medical degree from Tishreen University in Syria in 2010. Subsequently, I relocated to the United States in 2012 and joined Mayo Clinic as a postdoctoral research fellow, concentrating on cardiovascular aging research. Following this, I successfully completed my internal medicine residency training at the University of South Dakota in 2017. I concluded my fellowship training in pulmonary medicine and critical care at the University of Minnesota in 2023.

Research Summary

Interstitial Lung Diseases (ILD); identification of innovative clinical assessments capable of gauging the progression of ILD; clinical translational research

Creative Activity Summary

Interstitial Lung Diseases (ILD); employing a comprehensive multidisciplinary approach

Teaching Summary

Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD); progression of ILD; clinical translational research

Bio

Administrator Info
Name: Ashley Fuchs
Phone: 612-624-0999
Email: fuchs@umn.edu
Fax: 612-625-2174

Summary
Dr. Joseph Keenan is a board certified interventional pulmonologist and intensive care physician. He is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Keenan’s clinical focus is the diagnosis and management of cancer in the chest, supporting lung and other transplant patients, and the broader range of interventional pulmonology including bronchoscopic management of emphysema and tracheobronchomalacia.

His interests in the intensive care unit include safe intubation, mechanical ventilation, and point of care ultrasound.

Dr. Keenan is core faculty in the interventional pulmonology fellowship program at the University of Minnesota.

Research Summary

• Safety and monitoring during rigid bronchoscopy
• Mechanical ventilation

Clinical Summary

Primary Practice Locations

• University of Minnesota Medical Center
• M Health St. John’s Hospital and Lung Clinic, Maplewood

Bio

Dr. Kempainen has an avid interest in bronchiectasis, including both clinical research and patient care. Medical education is one of Dr. Kempainen’s primary scholarly interests. He has conducted research, has taught and developed curricula for a wide spectrum of medical providers. Dr. Kempainen works in the MHealth Cystic Fibrosis Center. 

Bio

Administrator Info
Name: Emily Awes Anderson
Phone: 612-624-0999
Email: awes0005@umn.edu
Fax: 612-625-2174

Summary
Dr. Kesler's clinical work focuses on Critical Care Medicine. She practices primarily at University of Minnesota Medical Center and Fairview Southdale hospitals. Her academic work focuses on Global Health, simulation-based training for Disaster Response, and the allocation of scarce resources during mass casualty incidents.She directs the Graduate Medical Education and Research Program in the Medical School, which serves to mentor medical students who want to incorporate international experiences into their medical school education. From 2011 to 2019 she directed the University of Minnesota Humanitarian Simulation, a full-scale field exercise of a humanitarian disaster. During the COVID-19 pandemic she created the MHealth Fairview plan for operating under Crisis Standards of Care. She also served as the Chair of the Ethics and Scarce Resources sub-committee of the Minnesota Statewide Healthcare Coalition. She collaborated with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and the Minnesota Covid Ethics Collaborative to create guidance for allocating scarce resources under Crisis and Contingency conditions, and currently sits on the MDH Scientific Advisory Team

Clinical Summary

I am especially interested in ethics and post-discharge quality of life for patients in the Intensive Care Unit.

Bio

Administrator Info
Name: Emily Awes Anderson
Phone: 612-624-0999
Email: awes0005@umn.edu
Fax: 612-625-2174

Summary
Sarah Kiel attended medical school at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. She completed her internal medicine residency at the University of Minnesota followed by a Chief Residency. She subsequently trained at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center for her pulmonary and critical care fellowship with an emphasis in lung transplant and cystic fibrosis. She is thrilled to return to the University of Minnesota's excellent center for CF and transplant care.At UPMC, she created a database evaluating outcomes in CF patients undergoing lung transplant to assist in evaluating pre transplant factors potentially affecting post transplant outcomes. She also led several small group sessions in the University of Pittsburgh medical school during their pulmonary physiology course. In her spare time, she usually has her nose stuck in a book and enjoys cooking with her husband and cat. She is excited to be part of the division of Pulmonary and Critical Care at the University of Minnesota.

Research Summary

Post lung transplant care in Cystic Fibrosis Post lung transplant outcomes Care of Cystic Fibrosis patients in the era of highly effective modulators

Clinical Summary

Lung Transplant, Cystic Fibrosis, Critical Care

Bio

Administrator Info
Name: Ashley Fuchs
Phone: 612-624-0999
Email: fuchs@umn.edu
Fax: 612-625-2174

Summary
Dr. Kim is the Director of the Interstitial Lung Disease program and supervises ILD clinical trials. She established the University of Minnesota ILD database in 2010 to answer questions about natural history and outcomes of ILD. She led the ILD program to achieve recognition as a Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation Care Center Network site, which identifies pulmonary fibrosis centers that provide leading clinical care and research. She also organizes the University of Minnesota Pulmonary Fibrosis Patient Education Day, a biennial free symposium for patients and families with pulmonary fibrosis that provides the latest updates in pulmonary fibrosis care and research. Her clinical expertise centers on treating patients with interstitial lung disease, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis, IgG4-related lung disease, airway-centered interstitial fibrosis, scleroderma lung disease, other connective tissue disease-related lung diseases and rare ILDs. Her research interests include natural history and outcomes in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, pharmacogenomics of anti-fibrotic medications, non-pharmacologic treatments for ILDs, and clinical trials in ILD.

Research Summary

Natural history of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; clinical predictors of disease progression and survival in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; clinical research in interstitial lung diseases. Predictors of survival in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; IgG4-related lung disease; risk factors for acute exacerbation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; treatment ourcomes of pulmonary hypertension in interstitial lung diseases; airway-centered interstitial fibrosis; biomarkers of disease progression in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; multiple ongoing and completed clinical trials in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Clinical Summary

All ILDs. Our ILD clinic provides comprehensive, patient-centered care for patients. Our ILD nurse and clinic coordinators work closely with the ILD physicians to ensure that patients get the best care available. We also provide opportunities for patients to participate in studies if they choose.

Bio

Administrator Info
Name: Helen Rieger
Phone: 612-624-0999
Email: riege002@umn.edu
Fax: 612-625-2174

Summary
Dr. Kubbara's background is in Pulmonary and Critical Care with expertise in Interstitial Lung Disease, Pulmonary Vasculitis, and Medical Intensive Care. He completed a Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship from the University of Toleda (2015-2018). He has one year of experience at the Mayo Clinic Rochester in critical care, and one year in academic Pulmonary Critical Care at the University of Nevada Reno. Dr. Kubbara also has one year of community Pulmonary & Critical Care between Mayo Clinic Eau Claire & Aspirus Wausua Hospital. In addition, he had an advanced fellowship in Interstitial Lung Disease & Vasculitis from Mayo Clinic.

Research Summary

ILD/Vasculitis Shock Mechanical Ventilation

Clinical Summary

Interstitial Lung Disease; Pulmonary Vasculitis; Medical Intensive Care