Gastroenterology Advanced Practice Provider Summit

Dr. Vaughn completed his Internal Medicine residency and Gastroenterology fellowship at Beth-Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. There he developed both clinical and research interests in Inflammatory Bowel Disease. He worked with the IBD Center at BIDMC to study the effect of therapeutic manipulation of the microbiome in Crohn's disease as well as optimizing the management of anti-TNF medications. In addition to his research interests he has worked closely with the medical school teaching students and mentoring physicians in training in clinical and quality improvement research. His main clinical interests include Crohn's disease, Ulcerative Colitis as well as Microscopic colitis and Celiac disease. He also sees patients with recurrent C. difficile colitis. His active areas of research involve clinical trials for IBD.

Andrea Pitzl is a certified physician assistant, practicing in the Gastroenterology clinic at the MHealth Fairview Clinics and Surgery Center. She completed her physician assistant training at Jefferson College of Health Sciences (Now Radford University) in Roanoke VA. She completed the advanced practice provider preceptorship program for inflammatory bowel disease at the University of Chicago through the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. Her clinical interests include inflammatory bowel disease and its continuity of care in the outpatient setting. She is also the Advanced Practice Provider manager for medicine subspecialties at MHealth Fairview and enjoys expanding leadership roles for APPs.

Mollie Carr is an APP practicing at M Health Fairview.

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Emma Turnquist is a certified physician assistant, currently practicing in the Gastroenterology clinic at HealthPartners. She completed her Masters in Physician Assistant studies at the Yale University School of Medicine. As part of our outpatient team, she specializes in esohageal disorders, recurrent C difficile infections, intestinal microbiota transplant, as well as general GI.

Dr. Dirweesh is an Interventional and Bariatric Endoscopist. In addition to performing advanced therapeutic endoscopic procedures including EUS, ERCP and complex polypectomies, Dr. Dirweesh routinely performs both primary endoscopic bariatric procedures and a range of endoscopic treatments of bariatric surgical complications, including weight regain or inadequate weight loss following bariatric surgery. Additionally, he routinely prescribes lifestyle intervention and FDA-approved weight loss medications for patients with obesity and metabolic diseases.

Jessica is a physician assistant practicing at the M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center. Her specialties include critical care medicine and nutrition.

Dr. Haglund practices at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System. She currently serves as the Program Director for the University of Minnesota's Gastroenterology fellowship program.

Dr Lim graduated from medical school at University College, Cork in Ireland. After working in Europe and Australia, he moved to the United States to pursue his postgraduate training. Dr Lim completed internal medicine and gastroenterology training at the University of Vermont. Dr Lim then completed subspecialty training in transplant hepatology at Columbia University in New York. Dr Lim's clinical interests include cirrhosis, quality care in patients with cirrhosis who are admitted to the hospital, and liver transplantation.

Dr. Thomson graduated from the Medical College of Wisconsin, and completed all of her residency and fellowship training at the University of Michigan.Dr. Thomson's clinical interests include chronic care management in cirrhosis, including patient education, appropriate medication use, and complex care management. She received an AASLD Transplant Hepatology Grant to fund her clinical research efforts.

A colorectal surgeon at the University of Minnesota Physicians (M Physicians) with over two decades of experience, Dr. Amy Thorsen is committed to providing exceptional care and advancing medical knowledge in the field of surgery With a focus on treating a range of conditions, from benign anal rectal diseases to complex cases of colon cancer, diverticulitis, and inflammatory bowel disease, Dr. Thorsen shares her passion for addressing pelvic floor disorders. Her research is focused on understanding the complexities surrounding conditions like rectal prolapse, aiming for innovative approaches to prevention and treatment. Collaborating with other physicians, she is determined to tackle the many challenges posed by pelvic floor disorders, including bowel incontinence and rectal prolapse.

Dr. Azeem completed his Internal Medicine residency at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. He then stayed on as a Chief Resident at Mayo Clinic for one year helping to train and mentor internal medicine residents. He then went to San Francisco for his gastroenterology and hepatology fellowship at UCSF. Afterwards, he returned back to Minnesota for a final year of training at the University of Minnesota in Interventional Endoscopy. He then joined the faculty at the University of Minnesota.Dr. Azeem specializes in all aspects of interventional/advance endoscopy with special interests in endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) and endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for GI neoplasia and peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) for achalasia.

Amanda Hjeltness is a certified physician assistant who specializes in pancreaticobiliary disorders and interventional endoscopy and primarily sees adult inpatients at the University of Minnesota Medical Center. She completed her masters of Physician Assistant studies at Des Moines University Osteopathic Medical school in 2013 and joined the Unviersity of Minnesota Gastroenterology division with MHealth Fairview in 2016. Her clinical interests include care of the complex hospitalized patient, necrotizing pancreatitis, clinical nutrition science and medical pancreatology. She also supports the GI advanced practice provider team in a supervisor role. She is actively involved in educating, onboarding and promoting process improvement and engagement with her APP colleagues.

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Laurie Larson is a certified nurse practitioner specializing in hepatology and sees patients at M Health Fairview Clinics and Surgery Center - Minneapolis. Her clinical interests include Acute and chronic liver disease including cirrhosis, viral hepatitis, autoimmune hepatitis, PBC/PSC, alcohol liver disease, fatty liver disease, and NASH. She is also interested in the care of patients prior to and following liver transplant as well as complications from chronic liver disease. She is also a member of the University of Minnesota Medical School Department of Medicine’s Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition.

Dr. Leventhal is a Transplant Hepatologist who has obtained additional training in Critical Care medicine. His passion is the treatment of critically ill patients with liver disease, particularly those with acute liver failure, and management of hospitalized patients before and after liver transplantation. His research focus is acute liver failure as well as outcomes in the pre and post transplant period.