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Educating and activating health professionals to work toward health equity.
Our Board
Marta Michalska-Smith, MD Dr. Marta Michalska-Smith is an Assistant Professor in Rheumatology at the University of Minnesota. She is interested in healthcare disparities, especially those seen in patients with rheumatic diseases such as lupus and scleroderma. She has given educational talks focusing on racial and socioeconomic factors that affect healthcare outcomes in these populations. She also has an interest in healthcare advocacy and has received training through the American College of Rheumatology Advocacy 101 Training Conference, the American Academy of Pediatrics Legislative Conference, and the Association of Women in RheumatologyAdvocacy Training Program and has helped facilitate a legislative advocacy class for the University of Minnesota Medical School “Becoming a Doctor” course. She earned her medical degree from Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, completed her Medicine-Pediatrics residency at the University of Minnesota, and her Rheumatology fellowship at George Washington University. Email: mmichals@umn.edu |
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Chris Reif MD, MA, MPH Dr. Chris Reif is a retired Family Physician who has worked for 45 years in community health settings in the Twin Cities, including jail, workhouse, prison, homeless shelter, chemical dependency / recovery / addiction care, school clinics, adolescent health, abortion care, gender affirming care, Health Equity, prison reform, and FQHCs including the last 20 years at Community University Health Care Center in the Phillips Neighborhood of South Minneapolis. He is a committed educator for all medical students and residents, public health students, and graduate students. He is active with MAFP, MMA, MPHA, and MDHEQ. He believes this is a critical time for peace, love, hope, justice, joy and RESIST for all of us. Email: reif.christopher@gmail.com |
Ileasa Green, MD
Dr. Ileasa Green is a radiology resident at the University of Minnesota and a MPH-trained physician committed to advancing community health through improved access, preventive care, and quality-focused systems change. Her work is built on a strong foundation of leadership in education and quality-improvement projects. Originally from California, and experienced in working with diverse U.S. communities, her interest and dedication lie in multicultural health equity work via DEI initiatives and community engagement aimed at fostering trust between patients and physicians.
Email: ileasag@gmail.com
Koushik Paul, MD - Treasurer - Elect
Dr. Koushik Paul is a PGY-1 resident in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota with a continuity clinic at Community University Health Care Center (CUHCC). His lived experience as an Indigenous asylee from Bangladesh who navigated displacement, poverty, and fragmented healthcare systems informs his commitment to equity-centered, longitudinal primary care.
Dr. Paul is a recipient of the Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians Medical Student Leadership Award and has been inducted into both Alpha Omega Alpha and the Gold Humanism Honor Society in recognition of his leadership, clinical excellence, and humanistic approach to care. He has led and secured multiple competitive grants that built sustainable navigation programs addressing social determinants of health, including food insecurity, transportation barriers, and access to chronic disease and addiction care.
His work centers on “wise practices,” elevating community voices in the implementation of evidence-based best practices to create culturally responsive, trusted, and effective care models. Through med-peds training, Dr. Paul aims to care for medically and socially complex patients across the lifespan while strengthening partnerships between health systems and the communities they serve.
Email: paul0775@umn.edu
Cuong Pham, MD - President Emeritus
Dr. Cuong Pham is internal medicine and pediatrics trained. He was born in Vietnam and escaped as a refugee at an early age. He was raised in Little Canada, Minnesota and is a proud life-long Golden Gopher from his undergraduate education to residency training. Currently he splits his time doing inpatient medicine at the University of Minnesota and primary care at the Community University Health Care Center. He is an Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Minnesota and is the Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Subcommittee for Graduate Medical Education. He has a focus on immigrant health and has worked abroad from South Africa to Vietnam. He is a licensed Buprenorphine provider, treating patients with opiate addiction. He is also interested in further understanding the impact of opiates on our marginalized populations.
Emails: pham0079@umn.edu OR president@mdheq.org
Rosemond Sarpong Owens, MPH CDM
Rosemond Sarpong Owens loves the Lord, loves people. She is a Pan African, philanthropist, mom, storyteller, and author of the book, “Apples in A Seed” and author of several children’s books under the moniker, “Lion’s Historian”. She is currently at Blue Cross Blue Shield, Minnesota leading the company’s enterprise-wide focus on building racial and health equity into the organization’s mission and business practices to impact systemic racism and health inequities. Rosemond has served on various boards and is currently the Vice President of the Greater Twins Chapter of the Links Incorporated, Chair of the Hennepin Health Care Community Advisory Board and the Chair of the Impact Committee of the March of Dimes, Minnesota Market. Her work has been recognized locally and nationally and was recently awarded the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award President by President Biden in 2022.
Email: Rosemond.Owens@bluecrossmn.com
Mike Aylward, MD, FACP, FAAP - President
Dr. Aylward went to New York University School of Medicine and then completed his internal medicine and pediatric residency training at the University of Minnesota. He spent a year as chief resident at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System where he oversaw residents and ran teaching conferences. He currently is the Program Director for the Internal Medicine/Pediatrics residency program. His academic interests include the practical application of technology to patient care, medical education, advocacy, and writing.
Email: mike.aylward@proton.me
Connor Buechler, MD - Treasurer
Dr. Connor Buechler is an Internal Medicine and Dermatology resident at the University of Minnesota. Though he was born in Minnesota, he grew up in Mississippi and graduated from the Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, Michigan, where he was active in advocacy and healthcare provision for the homeless as well as expanding racial equity in medical education. He has served in numerous organizations focused on health equity, and has a particular practice interest in under-resourced populations with limited access to medical care.
Email: buech045@umn.edu
David Hamlar, MD DDS
Major General (RET) David Hamlar is a craniofacial skull base surgeon and retired from the Minnesota Air National Guard where he was the Assistant Adjutant General. His is on staff at Regions Hospital and HealthPartners Clinics. His affiliation with the University of Minnesota includes training medical students and residents as well as administrative responsibilities on the admissions committee and as a faculty advisor. He is Chair of his Department of Otolaryngology’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and is a member of the Medical School’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. He is currently on multiple Boards to include Twin Cities Chapter Red Cross (Chair), KMOJ Radio (Chair), Minnesota Humanities Center, StarBase Minnesota, and NorthPoint Health and Wellness Center.
Email: hamla001@umn.edu
Jeff Heidkamp Jeff Heidkamp is an immigration attorney in Minneapolis who represents a wide range of clients, including international physicians, medical students, researchers, and immigrant families. Prior to entering law school in midlife, he spent 20 years working as a teacher, pastor, and nonprofit executive. Jeff’s interest in healthcare equity began through his wife’s work with residents and fellows at the University of Minnesota, which gave him an early look at the pressures facing young clinicians. His perspective is also shaped by his own family: he and his wife, Le Que (who arrived in the United States as a refugee at age six) have been married for 25 years and are raising two daughters, now 17 and 23. In his legal practice, Jeff sees the talent and dedication that international medical professionals hope to bring to the United States, alongside the challenges many immigrant clients face when trying to access basic healthcare. These experiences inform his role on the MDHEQ board, where he focuses on how immigration realities affect both the people who provide care and the communities who depend on it. Email: heidkampja@gmail.com |
Angelica Willis, MD, MPH
Dr. Angelica Willis is an Internal Medicine-Pediatrics hospitalist and Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota. She is originally from Michigan and completed medical school and a Masters of Public Health in Epidemiology at the University of Michigan. She then completed Med-Peds residency at the Medical College of Wisconsin before moving to Minnesota. She has been actively involved in health disparities work since college, and her academic interests are primarily in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, as well as in medical education. She strives to be an advocate for her patients and for equitable healthcare for all.
Email: will7513@umn.edu
Zuhur Ahmed, PhD, MBA
Zuhur is a community health leader, researcher, and healthcare administrator with over 20 years of experience in community health and advocacy, and policy settings. She currently serves as an Administrative Fellow at Fairview Health Services, where she works on system wide initiatives focused on primary care access, quality improvement, operational excellence, and equity strategy.
Zuhur’s background spans healthcare management, public health, labor and employment policy, and community-based research. She has led and co-authored equity-focused research projects including work with the Workplace Justice Lab at Rutgers University examining labor standards enforcement in immigrant and BIPOC communities. Her career also includes extensive experience in regulatory compliance, workforce development, and capacity building within community-based and healthcare organizations.
A longtime advocate for underserved communities, Zuhur brings a strong equity lens shaped by her lived experience as an immigrant and her professional work in community health, media, and education. She is deeply committed to advancing health justice through cross-sector collaboration, accountability, and systems change.
Email: zuhur.ahmed@gmail.com
Elizabeth Stranges, MD
Dr. Elizabeth Stranges is a general internist committed to patient-centered care and addressing structural inequities that shape health outcomes. After completing training outside of Chicago at Loyola University Medical Center, she practiced inpatient and outpatient medicine at Chinle Comprehensive Health Care Facility on the Navajo Nation for several years. She is currently happy to be faculty in the Department of General Internal Medicine at Hennepin County Medical Center. Her background includes health services research, teaching, and community organizing.
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Maureen Edu
Maureen is a medical student at the University of Minnesota Medical School. Born in Ghana as a Liberian refugee, she immigrated to the United States at the age of nine and was raised in Maryland. She earned her undergraduate degree from Randolph College. Shaped by her experiences as a former refugee, Maureen is deeply passionate about advancing health equity and serving refugee, immigrant, and other marginalized communities.
Email: edu00001@umn.edu
Henry Baer-Benson
Henry is a third year medical student at the University of Minnesota Medical School. He completed his undergraduate degree in Community Health at Tufts University and worked in social services before applying to medical school. He has held several leadership roles as a medical student including Community Relations Co-chair of the Phillips Neighborhood Clinic and a founding coordinator of the Minnesota Asylum Collaborative. Areas of interest include health equity/justice for immigrants and patient-centered healthcare financing.
Email: baerb002@umn.edu
Mission Educating and activating health professionals to work toward health equity Vision Health Professionals will use their voice, knowledge, and influence to eliminate the inequities that exist in health and healthcare, while working effectively with their patients, health systems, communities, and decision makers to address health equity wherever they live, work, learn, and play. |