In 2015, the Minnesota legislature charged us with creating Medical Discovery Teams to focus on four critical statewide health issues. Meet Drs. Spencer, Pravetoni, al'Absi, and Thomas, four scientists committed to better understanding and treating the devastating problem of substance abuse disorder. Together they bring different points of view and experience—combining the strengths of neuroscience, pharmacology, family medicine, and biobehavioral health―and use different resources across the University to examine the causes and potential treatments for this complex group of disorders.

Childhood brain development sets the course for a person’s life trajectory: their learning potential, job potential, even the potential for mental health and wellbeing. Meet Drs. Georgieff and Fair, co-directors of the Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain (MIDB), who believe that understanding the process of how the brain develops, especially in critical periods, has the potential to narrow the achievement gap and prevent disease. Research, education, community involvement, and clinical care are all housed together in the MIDB—creating the opportunity for synergies of discovery.

For researchers at our University, one of the most devastating impacts of the pandemic was that many labs were forced to go dormant. Scientific experimentation is generally hands-on and impossible to do remotely. Even with this challenge, some researchers redirected their work to focus on the urgent need to understand how to diagnose, treat, and prevent COVID-19. Meet Drs. Boulware, Osborn, Bramante, and Kline, four of our researchers who used their knowledge and expertise to address specific problems of the pandemic. Learn more.

U of M funded

75

CO:VID grants
(Collaborative Outcomes:
Visionary Innovation & Discovery)

There are many invisible barriers to healthcare in our diverse communities, so we are continually developing practices that are inclusive of the needs of different cultures, languages, and spiritual beliefs. Meet Dr. Pratt, a health equity researcher who is currently working with women in the Somali immigrant community. Although women of East African descent have an elevated risk for cervical cancer, for many reasons, these women have low rates of cervical cancer screening. Dr. Pratt is testing a self-sampling HPV test to try to increase testing rates. Learn more.

NCI award

$2.9 M

to reduce disparities in cervical cancer screening

About one million people in the U.S. live with Parkinson's disease, a progressive neurological disorder that can significantly reduce mobility and independence. Medication, effective for many, becomes less effective over time, leaving some people without consistent relief from rigidity or tremor. Meet Dr. Vitek, neurologist, leader of the University's Udall Center of Excellence for Parkinson's Disease, and a pioneer in using deep brain stimulation to treat this disorder. With his team, he continues to develop ever-more-precise targeting in the brain and looking for ways to relieve additional symptoms.

We once thought that just visualizing the structures of the brain would unlock its secrets. Today we know that it is infinitely more complex, and that much of its function lies in the intricate networks it contains. Meet Dr. Urgubil and the Medical Discovery Team on Optical Imaging and Brain Science. Magnetic resonance imaging has given us insight into the brain's connectome, but exploring the connections at a cellular level requires new technologies — technologies that this team is inventing.

For over 40 years, our Duluth Campus has offered an amazing variety of programs to capture students' interest in science and medicine, literally from kindergarten through undergraduate school. One of these programs, Native Americans Into Medicine, offers undergraduates a two-year summer internship to study Tribal public health issues. The success of this program can be measured in the number of American Indians/Alaska Natives who have enrolled in medical school. Meet Dannah, who attended this program and just entered the medical class of 2025. Learn more.

Minneapolis was the epicenter of the George Floyd protests, and our medical students and trainees were deeply impacted by this. Meet Neurosurgery residents Dr. Do, Dr. Ladd, and medical student Erika Kaske. They were part of a group that examined less-lethal methods of crowd control—like tear gas and rubber bullets—and found injuries concerning enough to write a letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Learn more.

Estimated

15 M

people protested
George Floyd's death

What causes one medical trainee to pursue an academic career and another to drop it? And why do more women and minorities turn away, even when they initially chose an academic training program? Meet Dr. Mustapha, a pediatrician and internist who is developing tools to answer these questions. She believes that the answer lies in fairness—and unfairness—in how people are treated during training. Workplace fairness has long been studied in business. Now Dr. Mustapha is using this lens to examine equity in medical education.

It started as a math problem: 257 students X 12 patient stations X the 4 elements of Subjective, Objective, Assessment and Plan (SOAP) notes = 12,336 medical questions to score for each class of medical students' clinical skills assessments. Not only does this create a daunting workload, it also inserts a long time between the assessment and feedback. Meet Drs. Violato and Peterson, who are tapping into the enormous potential of artificial intelligence to teach and evaluate clinical skills. Learn more.

AI helps to score

12,336

questions each clinical
skills assessment

Every medical student is unique. Starting with the Rural Physician Associate Program in 1971, we have offered an alternative to traditional rotations with Individualized Pathways clerkships. These allow third-year medical students to customize their training to meet their needs and goals. Meet medical students Andrew Lyman-Buttler, who chose the Veterans Affairs Longitudinal Undergraduate medical Education (VALUE) clerkship, and Emily Syverud, who opted for the Hennepin Longitudinal Integrated Experience (HeLIX). The longitudinal integrated clerkships allow students to interact with and follow patients for an extended period of time. Learn more.

U of M trains

70%

of state's physicians

Harold Palm didn't trust doctors. He had a bad history with them. But when his breathing problems became too serious to ignore, his wife made him give them one more chance. That decision may have saved his life. Meet Dr. Paul Stadem, a third year resident determined to get answers for his patient. When Mr. Palm needed new lungs, he insisted on one thing—that Dr. Stadem be his doctor through the transplant process, learning together every step of the way.

We're all aging. By 2030, one in five Minnesotans will be 65 or older. Meet Drs. Niedernhofer and Pacala, working in different ways to help people age well. Dr. Pacala leads Minnesota Northstar Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program, a statewide effort to improve the healthcare and health of older adults. Dr. Niedernhofer studies senescent cells―cells that stop dividing but remain in the body, playing a crucial role in aging and age-related diseases―and senolytics, drugs that selectively clear these cells and offer hope for better health.

First there were ECMO machines that could fit in the back of SUVs. The SUVs could be quickly sent to a metro-area emergency room in a cooperating healthcare network. But that didn't offer a solution for people living in more remote areas of the state. Meet Drs. Yannopoulos and Bartos who, with the help of great community partners, created the ECMObile, a specialized mobile emergency room capable of bringing this life-saving technology to the patient and reducing the time to treatment.

Contrary to what many people think, obesity is not caused by a lack of willpower, but is a medical problem that usually involves multiple factors, including how a person's brain reacts to food and how effectively their body extracts calories from what they eat. Meet Drs. Kelly and Fox, who lead the interdisciplinary Center for Pediatric Obesity Medicine. Together, this Center’s team researches a multitude of tools that can be personalized to improve each patient’s physical and emotional health.

Healthcare spending per person in the U.S. is twice the average of other comparable countries, yet healthcare outcomes are no better. Meet Drs. Melton-Meaux and Tignanelli, two of the advocates and leaders of the U of M's Center for Learning Health System Sciences (CLHSS). Together with the CLHSS team, they are finding ways to take the data we have collected from treating patients and using it to drive improvements in the care we provide and decreasing the time it takes for science to make it from the lab to the clinic.

Many COVID-19 patients find that they aren't recovering the way they hope to, with long-COVID symptoms lingering, and impacting their lives for months. Meet Dr. Ikramuddin, a physiatrist who works with these patients in the hospital and who saw the need for specialized ongoing care. M Health Fairview created some of the first "long-hauler" clinics—an Adult Post-COVID Clinic and a specialized ICU Survivorship Clinic—to help people recover from the complex long-term impacts of COVID-19.

Some students dream of going into medicine, but don't have examples to follow or mentors to help them plan their way towards that goal. Meet Aisha, now a third-year medical student, who joined the Ladder as a shy, quiet 17 year old. The Ladder is a Saturday program held at the Broadway Family Medical Clinic in North Minneapolis that offers activities in science and medicine. Aisha still goes to the Ladder, now as a mentor to younger students.

The Hippocrates Cafe presents live performances designed to educate, entertain, and heal. In 2020 a special show was recorded for TPT, our local PBS station. "Reflections on the Pandemic" offers an emotional journey through poetry, humor, music, cultural stories, and photography. Meet Drs. Olson, Trappey, Hallberg and Williams of the Center for the Art of Medicine, who reach medical students, residents, fellows, faculty and community physicians through art to deepen empathy, encourage curiosity, promote creative thinking, and embody the joy of practice.

Dementia is occurring at higher rates in Indigenous and rural populations than in urban areas, and many of the common strategies for caregiving and support aren't a good fit for people in these communities. Meet Drs. Jacklin, Lewis, and Warry, who perform community-based participatory research that values the input and experience of these varied groups. They build trusting relationships, and create respectful and culturally appropriate infrastructure through which the communities themselves can conduct the research.

Creating an inclusive and equitable learning experience requires deliberate action and leadership. Meet Drs. Owen, Lederman and Núñez, and medical student, Tegan Carr, all of whom were honored by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) for their leadership and advocacy in eliminating inequities in medical education and healthcare.

The MN CovidSitters started a support movement for frontline caregivers that spread widely. Meet Drs. Muthyala and the MN CovidSitters team, selected by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation as champions of humanistic care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more.

>248 families

of frontline
caregivers supported

Migrant workers travel to Midwestern states each year to harvest crops that wind up in our cupboards and freezers, and on our tables. The nature of their work, which moves from south to north as fruits and vegetables ripen through the summer, means that medical care is difficult to obtain. Meet the collaborators in the Mobile Health Initiative, Colleen McDonald Diouf, Opy Adesida, Maggie Eckerstorfer and Dr. Kirsch, the team organizing taking an interprofessional clinic on the road and bringing healthcare to this underserved population.

Mini Medical School gives our community and (now virtually) the world access to some of our top healthcare experts and educators who discuss topics like cancer, global health, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Given in three to six sessions, and available online afterwards, it allows people interested in health to get a more in-depth view of the subjects covered. Meet Drs. Nelson and Thielen, currently in charge of curating the topics and continuing this 20+ year endeavor to bring the community in through our doors to share our knowledge. Learn more.