UMN Medical Center Faculty

Bio

Patricia "Pita" Adam, MD, MSPH, is the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health's vice chair for clinical affairs. She teaches in the University of Minnesota Medical Center Family Medicine Residency and is also one of the founding family medicine team members on the Minnesota Primary Care Transformation Collaborative. As vice chair, Dr. Adam's goal is to improve the care we deliver to our patients and the experience of our providers and staff as they serve our patients. She oversees the four family medicine residency clinics and is a member of the Primary Care Executive Team within our Primary Care Service Line. Dr. Adam has participated in research studying team-based care, intrathecal narcotics for obstetric pain management, and saline nasal spray for colds and sinusitis. Her current passion is ambulatory medicine. She is leading the three-year implementation of Clinic as Curriculum across our four family medicine programs with the goal of implementing advanced scheduling options to improve provider-patient continuity and provider wellness.

Research Summary

My focus and interest lie in improving and understanding primary care systems in academic clinics. This includes interprofessional team care, teaching residents patient-communication skills, and how to transform the care in teaching clinics. In addition, I am interested in the incorporation of Community Health Workers in a primary care clinic and in improving the care for our underserved patients. 

Clinical Summary

Ambulatory care; team care and interprofessional care; women's health

Bio

Dana Brandenburg, PsyD, is faculty in the University of Minnesota Medical Center Family Medicine Residency. She completed a fellowship in primary care and behavioral science education through Michigan State University. Her scholarly interests include the integration of mental health services into primary care, behavioral science education within family medicine residencies, and behavior change related to obesity and tobacco cessation. She also serves as a health care professional representative on the Health Care Home Advisory Committee at the Minnesota Department of Health.

Research Summary

Smoking cessation, health behavior change, primary care psychology

Bio

Nicole Chaisson, MD, MPH, is faculty at the University of Minnesota Medical Center Family Medicine Residency. She is also one of the family medicine team members on the Minnesota Primary Care Transformation Collaborative. She completed fellowship training in adolescent medicine and has strong interests in adolescent health and wellness and reproductive health. Dr. Chaisson earned her MPH in maternal and child health from the University of Minnesota.

Clinical Summary

Family planning and prenatal care, women’s health, adolescent health and wellness, cross-cultural health care, community-oriented care

Bio

Kristin Eide, DO, is faculty in the University of Minnesota Medical Center Family Medicine Residency. She completed as fourth-year chief resident and junior faculty in Chicago, IL. Her medical interests include osteopathic manual treatment and educating family medicine physicians.

Clinical Summary

Women's Health; Osteopathic Manual Treatment (OMT); Suboxone Therapy for Opioid Dependence

Bio

Peter Harper, MD, MPH, serves as department medical and quality improvement director; faculty at the University of Minnesota Medical Center Family Medicine Residency; and medical director of the Hubert H. Humphrey Job Corps Center in St. Paul. His medical interests include community-oriented primary care and asthma.

Clinical Summary

Specialties: Family medicine, community-oriented primary care, and controlling asthma

Bio

Javad Keyhani, MD, is faculty in the University of Minnesota Medical Center Family Medicine Residency. He's also involved in the Rural Physician Associate Program. Previously, he practiced family medicine in Montevideo, Minnesota, for about 10 years, and was also a preceptor at University of Minnesota Physicians Broadway Family Medicine Clinic.

Teaching Summary

Faculty, Rural Physician Associate Program and Metro Physician Associate Program

Clinical Summary

Chronic health conditions; Holistic medicine; Behavioral change

Bio

As a faculty member and medical director of the University of Minnesota Medical Center Family Medicine Residency at Smiley's Clinic, Carrie Link, MD, participates in clinical education, research, and primary care for all ages and all genders. She most strongly values a patient-first approach. Her medical interests include improving healthcare access, bedside teaching, gender care, and whole family care, in the context of one's family and community.

Bio

Jennifer Oberstar, MD, FAAFP, CAQ SM, is an assistant professor in the University of Minnesota Sports Medicine program. Seeing patients at M Health Fairview Sports Medicine Clinic (CSC) and being the sports medicine liaison at M Health Fairview Clinic - Smiley's allows clinical time for developing patient relationships. Dr. Oberstar is a sports medicine clinical instructor for medical students and residents. Among her other leadership roles is coordinating and functioning as an advisor for Exercise Is Medicine On Campus. Dr. Oberstar volunteers her time covering community events such as high school game coverage, the Twin Cities Marathon, City of Lakes Loppet and Minnesota High School League state tournaments in multiple sports. Her research interests focus on Exercise Is Medicine in the community and on medical device development for training ultrasound guided injections. Physicians from other medical disciplines have collaborated with her to publish in scholarly journals.

Bio

James Pacala, MD, MS, is professor and head of the University of Minnesota Department of Family Medicine and Community Health. Dr. Pacala has performed research and published extensively on models of care delivery to geriatric populations and innovative teaching methods. He is a past president of the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) and is co-author of the AGS practice handbook, Geriatrics At Your Fingertips. Pacala currently chairs the UCare Board of Directors. In 2013, he was appointed to the 2013-14 Health and Aging Policy Fellowship. He is also PI for the Minnesota Northstar Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program.

Clinical Summary

Geriatrics, medical student education, and health services research.

Bio

Kara Pacala, MD, joined the University of Minnesota Medical Center Family Medicine Residency faculty in 2004. She brings a background in social work to her clinical practice and teaching and is consistently ranked in the top 10 percent of University of Minnesota Physicians for patient satisfaction.

Clinical Summary

Urban community health, refugee and immigrant health, women’s health, and reproductive rights.

Bio

Justin Penny, DO, MA, is an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School's Department of Family Medicine and Community Health and faculty at the University of Minnesota Medical Center Family Medicine Residency Program (Smiley's) in 2020 and now serves as faculty. His clinical interests include: Inpatient medicine, obstetrics, LGBTQ+ comprehensive care including gender-affirming care, geriatrics, medication-assisted therapy for opiate use disorders, and osteopathic manipulation. As a researcher, he is most interested in medical education concerning transgender and gender nonconforming care, needs for an aging LGBT+ population, and informed consent. He also works part time as a member of the Clinical Ethics team at the Center for Bioethics to provide clinical ethics services for the M Health Fairview System. Dr. Penny received his DO and MA in Bioethics from Kansas City University. He completed his medical residency in family medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical Center Family Medicine Residency Program.

Research Summary

Medical education concerning transgender and gender nonconforming care, bioethics, and informed consent.

Clinical Summary

Inpatient medicine obstetrics LGBTQ+, comprehensive care including gender-affirming care and HIV prevention, geriatrics specifically polypharmacy and medication de-prescribing medication-assisted therapy for opiate use disorders osteopathic manipulation.

Bio

David Satin, MD, is the department compliance officer and risk management leader. He also serves as faculty in the University of Minnesota Medical Center Family Medicine Residency, teaching and advising medical students. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Minnesota Center for Bioethics and researches ethical issues in performance-based quality improvement incentive programs (visit his online Pay for Performance Research Clearinghouse). Satin sits on several AMA workgroups, designing performance measures for CMS.Dr. Satin combines his interests in Bioethics, Quality Improvement, and Healthcare Finance in his roles as a course director in the medical school, a researcher, and frequent national speaker. Within the State, he chairs the Risk Adjustment and Segmentation Committee of Minnesota Community Measurement, serves on the University of Minnesota Medical Center's Medical Executive, as well as on the Boards of Stratis Health and the Minnesota Alliance for Patient Safety. He was recently appointed to the Minnesota Department of Health's Statewide Quality Measurement and Reporting System Steering Team.

Research Summary

Ethics of pay for performance, especially risk-adjustment for social factors, informed consent, and shared decision-making, medical education, and general bioethics.

Clinical Summary

Underserved medicine, hospital medicine, bioethics, family medicine, and inpatient medicine.