Our 20-member competency-based University of Minnesota Physicians Board supports the development of the organization's strategic priorities with an objective to maintain a vibrant and thriving multi-disciplinary academic practice.
Jakub Tolar, MD, PhD, Board Chair
The University of Minnesota Physicians Board is led by Jakub Tolar, MD, PhD, Dean of the University of Minnesota Medical School and Vice President for Clinical Affairs at the University of Minnesota. He is also the co-leader of M Health Fairview, a collaboration among the University of Minnesota, University of Minnesota Physicians and Fairview Health Services.
Denis Clohisy, MD, Vice Chair
Denis Clohisy, MD is a Professor and Chairman of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Minnesota Medical School and a member of the University of Minnesota Cancer Center. He also serves as the Committee Chair of the Clinical Strategy Committee.
Rahel Ghebre, MD, MPH, Secretary
Dr. Ghebre received her medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School. She completed her specialty and subspecialty training in Gynecologic Oncology at the University of Minnesota and received an MPH degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Bevan Yueh, MD, MPH, CEO
Dr. Bevan Yueh is Professor and George L Adams Chair for Otolaryngology. He is a native of Minnesota, and was delighted to return to Minnesota in 2007. Dr. Yueh is a head & neck surgeon, and his practice is focused on the ablation of H&N tumors. As a former Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar, he has expertise in clinical epidemiology and health services research, with special focus on improving hearing health, and improving function and quality of life of patients after treatment for head & neck cancer.
Community Board Members
Jon Christianson, PhD
Jon Christianson, PhD is on the faculty of the Division of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota and has held the James A. Hamilton Chair in Health Policy and Management since 1998.
Julia Joseph-Di Caprio, MD
Julia Joseph-Di Caprio, MD is Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for UCare, leading the Medical Director team, and the Clinical Services, Pharmacy and Quality Management departments.
Richard Migliori, MD
Richard Migliori, MD is Executive Vice President of Medical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer for UnitedHealth Group. He works closely with businesses across the enterprise to help improve healthcare quality, access and affordability.
Thomas G. Olson
Thomas G. Olson retired as the Managing Director of The Business Bank in 2013 after a long and successful career in investment banking. In addition to his role as the Committee Chair of the Audit Committee on the M Physicians Board, he serves on the University of Minnesota Foundation Board of Trustees and the Advisory Board of the Holmes Center for Entrepreneurship at the Carlson School of Management.
Kathleen L. Pickard
Kathleen (Kathy) is a retired Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the University of Minnesota Foundation (UMF) with 20 years of experience interacting extensively with the U of M, UMF Investment Advisors (UMFIA), University Gateway Corporation (UGC), UMF Real Estate Advisors (UMFREA) and University Enterprise Laboratories (UEL). Kathy also served on the U of M Regents’ Debt Management Committee during her twenty-year tenure managing the tax-exempt financing for UGC. Kathy’s most recent involvement post-retirement is becoming a member of the American Association of Women (AAUW) – St. Paul Branch, serving as an Executive Board member and Finance Committee Chair.
Dee Thibodeau
Dee Thibodeau is chief executive officer of Charter Solutions, a healthcare information services company consistently awarded for results in the areas of management consulting, analytics, business process, integration and application development.
UMN Medical School Faculty Board Members
Joel Boyd, MD
Dr. Boyd is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. His clinical interests include sports medicine, specializing in arthroscopy, ACL injuries, multiple ligament injuries, reconstructions and revision ACL reconstructions.
Denis Clohisy, MD,
Denis Clohisy, MD is a Professor and Chairman of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Minnesota Medical School and a member of the University of Minnesota Cancer Center. He also serves as the Committee Chair of the Clinical Strategy Committee.
Naomi Fujioka, MD
Naomi Fujioka, MD, is an oncologist who cares for adult patients with thoracic malignancies, head and neck malignancies and lung cancer chemoprevention. Dr. Fujioka sees her patients at University of Minnesota Masonic Cancer Center. Her clinical interests include lung cancer, lung cancer chemoprevention, head and neck cancer.
Rahel Ghebre, MD, MPH
Rahel Ghebre, MD, MPH is Associate Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Health (OBGYN) at the University of Minnesota Medical School.
Kathryn Justesen, MD
Kathryn Justesen, MD is Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health and Program Director of the University of Minnesota North Memorial Family Medicine Residency.
Joseph Neglia, MD, MPH
Joseph Neglia, MD, MPH is the Head of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota Medical School and the Physician-in-Chief of the University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital.
Elizabeth Seaquist, MD
Elizabeth Seaquist, MD, is a professor of medicine and is also the Chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School.
Sayeed Ikramuddin, MD
Sayeed Ikramuddin, MD, MHA, is a weight loss and bariatric surgeon who specializes in minimally invasive general surgery, pediatric bariatric surgery and the effects of gastric bypass on type 2 diabetes mellitus. Dr. Ikramuddin is also the Chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of Minnesota Medical School.
Catherine M. Bendel, MD
Catherine M. Bendel, MD, is a neonatologist whose clinical practice is focused on neonatal infectious diseases. She sees patients primarily in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital. Dr. Bendel is an Associate Professor in the University of Minnesota Medical School’s Department of Pediatrics, where she also serves as associate chair for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion; director (interim) of the Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship and department-wide fellowship director.
CLINICAL PARTNER BOARD MEMBER
James Hereford
James Hereford is the President and CEO of Fairview. He joining the organization in 2016 bringing extensive experience in strategically guiding organizations, strengthening core operations and bringing teams together to drive cultural change.
Prior to joining Fairview, James served as chief operations officer at Stanford Health Care. Previous roles included chief operations officer at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation and a series of leadership roles with the Group Health Care Delivery System.
James holds bachelor's and master's degrees in mathematics from Montana State University. He has taught courses with Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, University of Washington’s Master of Health Administration program and The Ohio State University’s Masters of Business Operations Excellence program. He is a frequent writer and presenter on the topic of lean management systems and transformation.