Faculty

Bio

Peter Scal, MD, MPH, is an Associate Professor in the Division of Academic General Pediatrics. His work within the Division began in 1995 during medial school research rotation. He is currently undertaking a faculty development fellowship in Health Services Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota/School of Public Health focusing on the systems of care for youth with chronic conditions and transition to adulthood (9/2003-8/2005). He completed a two-year fellowship in Academic General Pediatrics with an emphasis on both the prevention of risk behaviors among adolescents as well as the care for children and adolescents with chronic illness and disability. Prior to his fellowship, he completed Pediatric residency at the University of Minnesota.
Current research projects include an analysis of the factors influencing the adequacy of services meant to foster the transition of adolescent with special health care needs from pediatrics to adult oriented care as well as an analysis of the racial/ethnic disparities in the parent-provider interactions among parents of adolescents with special needs. He recently completed an evaluation of a curriculum for preparing pediatric residents to provide tobacco use prevention and cessation counseling to children, adolescents, and parents as well as analysis of the risk and protective factors for youth tobacco use.
Dr. Scal's clinical and teaching activities are focused at the St. Joseph's Home for Children Community Clinic where he is the Medical Director. St. Joseph's is a community based service center for the children of Hennepin County who are either in, or at risk for, out of home placement. Additionally he attends on the Academic General Pediatrics in-patient service.

Bio

Rebecca Shlafer, PhD, MPH, is an Associate Professor in the Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Health. Dr. Shlafer joined the faculty in September 2012 after completing a two-year, post-doctoral fellowship in the Division (2010-2012). Dr. Shlafer completed her Masters in Human Development and Family Studies at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, and her PhD in Child Psychology at the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota.
Dr. Shlafer's research focuses on promoting the health and well-being of children and families exposed to the criminal legal system. Much of her work focuses on the health of children with parents in prison and jail, as well as the programs and policies that impact families affected by incarceration.
Dr. Shlafer has taught the writing seminar for the interdisciplinary training program in Adolescent Health, as well as undergraduate courses in Child Psychology and through the University Honors program. 
In addition to her research and teaching activities, Dr. Shlafer served as a volunteer guardian ad litem in Hennepin County for nearly 10 years where she served as an advocate for abused and neglected children involved in juvenile court.

Bio

Nimi Singh, MD, MPH, is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Adolescent Medicine Fellowship in the Division of Adolescent Health and Medicine at the University of Minnesota. She received her undergraduate degree at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania and her medical degree at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. In conjunction with her residency in Pediatrics and International Child Health at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland Ohio, she pursued a Masters in Medical Anthropology at Case Western Reserve University, and a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Fellowship at the University of Washington in Seattle, where she also received a Masters in Public Health. She then completed her training with a fellowship in Adolescent Medicine at the University of Washington. During her career she has also pursued further training in lifestyle and integrative medicine, honing her expertise in counseling teens on optimizing their health and wellbeing. Dr. Singh is currently pursuing the Clinical Scholars academic track. Her clinical and research interests have focused on disenfranchised youth including homeless and incarcerated youth, and on the mental health needs of youth in varying socioeconomic and cultural contexts. Currently she is focused on exploring, teaching, and evaluating means by which to promote mental health and resilience in youth, as well as in medical students, residents, and medical faculty. In June 2003 and 2007, she was the recipient of the Outstanding Faculty Educator Award by the Dept. of Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine.

Clinical Summary

Adolescent medicine; Adolescent anxiety; Adolescent depression; Adolescent eating disorders