2026 Spring Refresher

Yeng Yang, MD, MBA, FAAP

Internal medicine-pediatrics physician; Regional Medical Director Primary Care; Co-Chair, Health Equity, Inclusion and Anti-Discrimination Cabinet, HealthPartners, Maplewood

Yang is a med/peds physician dedicated to advancing health equity, centering her work on ensuring that every patient receives care that honors their cultural identity, values and lived experiences through culturally informed and responsive practices. She works across clinical, organizational and community settings to build partnerships between health care and the communities it serves, collaborating with community leaders, cultural organizations and patient groups to co-design approaches that reduce barriers and meet cultural needs. Her advocacy is grounded in the belief that culturally responsive care is essential to equity. Through system-level collaboration and community engagement, she advances care models that improve patient experience and well-being. Yang is active in HealthPartners equity initiatives and leads the Hmong Health Care Professionals Coalition, a nonprofit strengthening connections between communities and health systems.

Andrea Messina, MD

Obstetrics and gynecology physician, Park Nicollet Clinic

Messina joined Park Nicollet Clinic after completing her medical education in New York. While most of her career has been as a general OB/GYN, she became certified through the North American Menopause Society (now The Menopause Society) 10 years ago as she found her patients aging into perimenopause and menopause. Messina’s practice is now primarily focused on women in the menopause transition. She finds it rewarding to hear, time and again, that hormone therapy has been “life changing.”

Andrea Paulson, MD, MPH, MBA

Physical medicine and rehabilitation physician; Associate Medical Director, Gillette Children’s

Paulson is a Minnesota-based physician leader in pediatric and adult physical medicine and rehabilitation at Gillette Children’s. She serves as Associate Medical Director for Greater Minnesota, working to expand access to specialized care for children with complex conditions across rural communities.

David Satin, MD

Family physician; Associate Professor, University of Minnesota Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Center for Bioethics, M Health Fairview – Smiley’s

Satin is an associate professor in the University of Minnesota’s Department of Family Medicine and Community Health and in the Center for Bioethics. Within the Medical School, he directs the core courses in ethics, law, policy, health care finance and quality improvement. Satin’s research interests span the field of health systems science, and he has published on quality improvement, public health, behavioral economics, shared decision-making and bioethics.

Courtney Kimmell, MD

Pediatric resident, University of Minnesota

Kimmell is a pediatrics resident at the University of Minnesota and co-author of the cover article “Five Exceptions to Patient Confidentiality” in Family Practice Management (with Dr. David Satin), with prior national and local presentations on patient confidentiality. Ongoing research interests include pediatric ethics and confidentiality, medical education and pediatric resuscitation.

Emily Onello, MD

Family physician; Associate Professor, University of Minnesota Department of Family Medicine and Biobehavioral Health

For over a decade, Onello has served on the faculty at the Duluth campus of the University of Minnesota Medical School, where she helps train the next generation of family physicians. Previously, she practiced in Silver Bay, in Minnesota’s Arrowhead region, where she learned the joys of small-town life from her generous patients and neighbors. Onello is an alumna of Mayo Medical School (now Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine) in Rochester, Minnesota, and completed her residency training through Mayo Clinic’s family medicine residency in Rochester and Kasson.

Marah Aqeel, MS

Research Integration Specialist, Minnesota Primary Care Research Learning Network, University of Minnesota Department of Family Medicine and Community Health

Aqeel is a research integration specialist with the Minnesota Primary Care Research Learning Network (PCRLN) in the University of Minnesota Department of Family Medicine and Community Health. She brings over five years of experience managing research projects and fostering collaboration among multidisciplinary teams. Her work with the PCRLN focuses on advancing primary care research by coordinating efforts across clinicians, investigators and patient partners.

Jill Bengston, MPA

Senior Administrative Research Manager, University of Minnesota, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health

Bengtson is the Senior Administrative Research Manager in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Minnesota. She has extensive experience working in biomedical, behavioral and community-engaged research in an academic environment. She has her master’s degree in public administration from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Kristin Boman, MPH

Co-Director, Minnesota Primary Care Research Learning Network, University of Minnesota Department of Family Medicine and Community Health

Boman is co-director of the Minnesota Primary Care Research Learning Network at the University of Minnesota. She has over 19 years of experience in equity and research initiatives, including cancer disparities, community and patient engagement, practice-based research, training and mentoring. She holds a master’s degree in public health administration and policy.

Katie Loth, PhD, MPH, RD

Associate Professor, Vice Chair for Faculty Affairs, University of Minnesota Department of Family Medicine and Community Health

Loth is an associate professor and vice chair for faculty affairs in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Minnesota. She is both a researcher and practicing clinical dietitian. Her research explores social and environmental influences on child and adolescent dietary intake, eating behaviors, weight status and disordered eating. Loth provides nutrition counseling and medical nutrition therapy to patients of all ages at M Physicians Broadway Family Medicine Clinic. She is also faculty for the North Memorial Family Medicine Residency, where she helps train residents on topics related to medical nutrition therapy.

April Wilhelm, MD, MPH

Family physician; Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota Department of Family Medicine and Community Health

Wilhelm is a faculty physician and clinician-researcher at the University of Minnesota St. John’s Hospital Family Medicine Residency and the Program in Health Disparities Research. Prior to joining the faculty, she completed an interdisciplinary fellowship in child and adolescent primary care research at the University of Minnesota. Her research program centers on promoting healthy behaviors among children and adolescents in refugee and immigrant communities using community-engaged methods and family-focused intervention development and testing.

Muhammad Reza Chaudhry, MD, MPH

Family medicine resident, Hennepin Healthcare Whittier Clinic

Chaudhry is currently a second-year family medicine resident at Hennepin Healthcare and the Resident Director on the Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians Board. His passions include primary care, global health and medicine for underserved communities. Upon graduation, he intends to practice full-spectrum family medicine in Minnesota.

Joseph Gaugler, PhD

Robert L. Kane Endowed Chair in Long-Term Care and Aging; Distinguished McKnight University Professor, University of Minnesota School of Public Health

Gaugler is the Robert L. Kane Endowed Chair in Long-Term Care and Aging in the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and a Distinguished McKnight University Professor. He is also the director of the Center for Healthy Aging and Innovation; director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-funded BOLD Public Health Center of Excellence on Dementia Caregiving; director of the National Institute on Aging-funded EMBRACE AD/ADRD Roybal and State Alzheimer’s Research Support Centers and editor-in-chief of The Gerontologist. His research focuses on dementia care innovation.