Faculty

Joel Wegener, MD, associate program director, is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Medical School with a bachelor's degree in biology from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. He is a 2004 graduate of the Smiley's Family Medicine Residency Program. His medical interests include caring for patients with chronic disease, diabetes, quality improvement, and practicing full-spectrum family medicine. Outside of clinic, Dr. Wegener likes to spend time with his family, run, and enjoy the outdoors.

Nancy Baker, MD, joined the faculty in January 2001. A graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine, she completed her residency at Regions Hospital, formerly St. Paul-Ramsey Medical Center. After a brief tenure teaching at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Illinois, she joined the faculty at St. Paul Ramsey, where she held multiple leadership positions. Baker's clinical and teaching interests include community-oriented primary care, intimate interpersonal violence prevention, adolescent health care, and medical humanities. In her spare time, she enjoys canoeing with friends and family in the Boundary Waters.

Dana Brandenburg, PsyD, joined Smiley's faculty in fall 2004 after completing a fellowship in primary care psychology and medical education through Michigan State University. She received her doctorate in psychology from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology in Chicago and completed her internship in health psychology at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center. Interests include integrated mental health care, smoking cessation, and working with individuals coping with chronic illness. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and family, as well as participating in various endurance running events and recruiting Smiley's residents, staff, and faculty to join her in endurance events and training.

Nicole Chaisson, MD, is originally from outside Boston, Massachusetts, and still enjoys visiting family in New England. She received a bachelor of arts degree in religion from Oberlin College in Ohio and then moved to North Carolina, initially working in HIV research and finally completing medical school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Chaisson completed her residency training at Regions Hospital in 2003 and worked for a year as part-time faculty while starting an MPH degree in maternal and child health. She completed a year of fellowship training in adolescent medicine before starting at Smiley's. Areas of interest include adolescent health and wellness, community-based primary care, women's health, and underserved health care. When not at work she spends time with her family, Joe, Sam, and Charlie, enjoys going for long walks, and tries to keep her garden alive.

Sonya Fuad, MD, obtained her degree from the University of Minnesota Medical School and completed her residency training at the University of Utah. She has been an adjunct faculty member at Smiley's since 1993 and worked in several community clinics in the Twin Cities area before joining the faculty in 2005. Although she enjoys practicing a full range of family medicine, her areas of special interest include pediatrics, adolescent medicine, and prenatal health care. Fuad enjoys spending time with her husband and two daughter. They enjoy traveling and especially love to go on hiking trips together.

Peter Harper, MD, MPH, medical director, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, obtained his medical degree from Case Western Reserve University and his MPH from the University of Minnesota. He joined the faculty in January 2005 and splits his time between department-related continuous quality improvement projects and residency education at Smiley's. Harper came to us with 18 years of residency education experience as a faculty member at Regions Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program. He has particular interests in community-oriented primary care and has leadership roles with the Controlling Asthma in American Cities Project. Previously, he has led many local community projects including several immunization programs, a tobacco action group, a toy gun buy back program, and a violence action group. Whenever possible he and his family like to head up north to canoe in the Boundary Waters.

Suzanne Hecht, MD, graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Medical School and completed a family medicine residency there. At the University of California, Los Angeles, she completed a fellowship in primary care sports medicine and became an assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine and the Division of Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Surgery. Also at UCLA, she served as team physician, was director of the pediatric sports medicine clinic, worked in the osteoporosis center, and was on the faculty for the sports medicine fellowship. Hecht joined our faculty in October 2007. Her clinical and research interests include bone health and nutrition in female athletes, sports concussions, the pediatric athlete, body composition, osteoporosis, and injuries in gymnasts. She serves as team physician for University of Minnesota athletics and US Figure Skating and is a member of the USA Gymnastics National Healthcare Referral Network. She is married to Chuck and has twin boys and a daughter. Her interests include playing competitive tennis and judging gymnastics.

Diane Madlon-Kay, MD, MS, is a New York Medical College graduate and did her residency training at Madigan Army Medical Center. After serving in the U.S. Army for five peaceful years, she was on the faculty of the Regions Hospital Family and Community Medicine Residency Program in St. Paul for 18 years before joining the Smiley's faculty in July 2005. Madlon-Kay received an MS in clinical research in 2003; her research interest is maternal child health. She likes to inline skate, read, listen to Weird Al Yankovic, and spend time with her husband and two sons (although her sons are too old to want to spend time with their parents).

Kara Pacala, MD, is originally from Cleveland, Ohio. She is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Medical School and Smiley's Family Medicine Residency Program and joined the faculty in 2004. Pacala brings a background in social work to her clinical practice and teaching. Her areas of interest include urban community medicine, immigrant and refugee health, and medical humanism. She is married to Jim Pacala, who is also a family physician, and they have two terrific kids, Sam and Laura.

Chrystian Pereira, PharmD, is a graduate of the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy. He completed a post graduate pharmacy residency at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and then specialized in primary care at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Washington. He is an assistant professor with the College of Pharmacy and is working toward a master's degree in public health. His interests are with medically vulnerable patients and urban community health. Outside of work he has a fascination with bicycles and likes to play soccer and Ultimate Frisbee.

Timothy Ramer, MD, graduated from the University of Minnesota Medical School and completed his residency at Smiley's. He joined Smiley’s faculty in 1993. He has been patient care director for the last seven years and enjoys being part of the leadership team at Smiley's. He has interest and experience in international medicine, obstetric ultrasound, and quality improvement. Ramer grew up in India and enjoys cooking curries. His interests include biking, canoeing, and swimming, and his favorite holiday is Halloween. He is married to Martha Johnson, a teacher, and has two daughters and a son, Hannah, Nalini, and Jeffrey.

David Satin, MD, completed family medicine residency training at Smiley's in 2004 after earning his medical degree from the University of Western Ontario, London, a health science degree from Marianopolis College, Montreal, a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the University of Western Ontario, London, and the Robert Jones Scholarship to St. Andrews University, Scotland. He is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Minnesota Center for Bioethics and a staff physician in the University’s Department of Emergency Medicine. Special interests include improving physician comfort with ethical issues, the underserved, and emergency and inpatient medicine.

Luree Schneider, MD, was born in Iowa and spent the greater part of her life in California. She attended the University of California, Berkeley, for her undergraduate training, the University of California, San Francisco, for medical school, and Contra Costa Regional Medical Center for her residency training. After finishing her residency in 2003, she traveled the world for a year before making the move to sunny Minnesota. She joined the Smiley’s faculty in December 2007. Her medical interests are broad, but women’s health is an area of particular interest. Outside of medicine, she enjoys biking, playing bridge, dancing (especially Irish and ballroom), and traveling.

Steven Shu, MD, graduated from Shanghai Medical University, China, in 1984, completed his surgical residency, and worked as a surgical attending physician until 1991. He received his master's degree in molecular microbiology from the University of Miami in 1995, followed by a year-long surgical internship at Flushing Hospital, New York, and a residency in family medicine at Michigan State University in 2000. He obtained his physician E-MBA from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in 2005. Shu is especially interested in surgical outpatient procedures and practice management and is one of only a few family physicians in the U.S. who can do numerous office procedures. Shu has been actively involved in teaching residents in family medicine and office procedures for years, and serves as a part-time faculty member at the University of Minnesota.

Carolyn Sparks, MD,  receiving her undergraduate degree in chemistry at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, and her medical degree from Southern Illinois University. She completed her residency training at Regions Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program in St. Paul. Sparks joined the Smiley's faculty in 2005. Her previous work experience includes teaching high school math and science and working at an outfitter's near Grand Marais, Minnesota. Her interests include immigrant and refugee health issues and community medicine. She is currently working on a master's in public health at the University of Minnesota.