Diversity & Inclusion

Our Mission

Our goal is to provide state-of-the-art urologic care for our patients. In order to achieve this, it is imperative that we cultivate an environment that values diversity, fosters inclusion, and pursues equity for our faculty, residents, staff and patients alike. By doing so, we appreciate the positive differences that derive from diversity of thought and experience, and as such, promote mutual trust and respect for all.

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Meet Our Team

Nissrine Nakib, MD is the Director of Pelvic Floor Medicine at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Nakib has a busy clinical practice that entails caring for patients with pelvic organ prolapse, incontinence, pelvic pain, recurrent urinary tract infections, as well as those with spinal cord injuries and neurogenic bladders. As lead of the Urology Department’s Quality Control she works hard to establish safety and quality measures in order to ensure patients get the best possible care. Additionally, she conducts clinical and translational research with focus on sacral nerve modulation and other urinary disorder treatments. Education is an integral part of her role at the University and she enjoys teaching residents and medical students about Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstruction through mentoring, didactic sessions, and anatomical training labs. Furthermore, she strives to increase public awareness and educate her patients on urological issues in women. Gender and other equity issues are an important topic to Dr. Nakib and she values her work as the Chair of The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee for the Urology Department. She is also a member of the American Urological Association North Central Section Committee for Women. Last year she joined The Strategic Communication and Collaboration Action Committee in The Center for Women in Medicine and Science. Dr. Nakib was voted as the Chair of this committee and looks forward to accomplishing great things in her new role. Full Bio

Dr. Christopher Warlick is the Department Head for the Department of Urology and is an Associate Professor who treats several urologic cancers, with an emphasis on prostate cancer. Dr. Warlick has a busy prostate cancer practice and is a nationally recognized leader on Active Surveillance for low risk prostate cancer, while performing robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomies for men requiring definitive therapy. Dr. Warlick has ongoing research focusing on the use of MR imaging in prostate cancer, the development of novel tests to help determine early signs of disease progression, and on programs to increase the use of shared decision making around PSA screening and prostate cancer treatment decision making. Full Bio

Dr. Kyle Anderson is interested in a variety of urologic conditions, including laparoscopic treatment of abnormalities including kidney cancer, ureteral pelvic junction obstruction, prostate cancer, adrenal abnormalities. He also specializes in minimally invasive thermotherapy for kidney cancer and kidney stone disease. When he’s not in clinic, Anderson is an associate professor of urologic surgery at the University of Minnesota Medical School. His research focuses on the use of thermotherapy (cryotherapy and radiofrequency ablation) for the treatment of kidney cancer. Full Bio

Ryan Haggart is a first year urology resident at the University of Minnesota. He attended the University of Chicago for undergraduate school where he was involved in multiple non-profit organizations including ArtShould, Young Chicago Authors, and Health Leads where he helped create and manage arts and health programming targeted to the Southside of Chicago. He attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison for medical school where he was vice-president of MEDiC, the only free healthcare clinics program in Madison. He is passionate about finding solutions to healthcare disparities. He has been part of research efforts on a health coaching model to address healthcare disparities in hypertension outcomes, and he is currently involved with a randomized controlled trial developing methods for the sexual rehabilitation of sexual minorities following prostate cancer treatment.

Mary Jo Hadler is the Administrative Director for the Department of Urology. She has been a leader, mentor, and coach for female athletes for over 17 years. Additionally she is a member of the YWCA - "the YWCA is on a mission to eliminate racism, empower women, stand up for social justice, help families and strengthen communities."

Daniela F. Ward Grados Story

I was born and raised in Mexico City, surrounded by friends and family, and that upbringing instilled in me a deep appreciation for community and connection. This foundation ultimately guided my decision to attend the University of Minnesota. My journey to the University of Minnesota began with a recommendation from my friend’s father, who had trained as a colorectal surgeon at the University. He spoke highly of the kind people and the vast academic resources provided to residents and researchers. After that, one look at the Urology Program convinced me that this was where I wanted to work. There is representation of every area of Urology and every practice setting, which makes the University of Minnesota an ideal place to be a researcher. While at the University, I’ve been able to work on my leadership skills by forming a Prostate Cancer Research group with medical students and other research fellows. Working here also helped me further develop my clinical skills as I observed a wide variety of surgical procedures/cases and tested my knowledge by participating in all the program’s academic activities. I published my first-ever research paper as a first author, a review of the advances in Immunological therapies for bladder cancer. I got to travel nationally and internationally to present the results of my research projects, meet important figures in the world of Urology, and finally match into the specialty of my dreams- all thanks to the help, guidance, and support of the UMN faculty and residents. If you’re considering applying to the University of Minnesota, do it! I couldn’t be happier with the time I spent working here. Make sure to take the time to meet everyone and foster those relationships. The mentorship offered by the faculty is invaluable and I leave the University knowing that I made friends and mentors for life.

Daniela F. Ward Grados, MD, Research Fellow